Siberia as it is ... With an introduction by ... Madame Olga Novikoff, etc

Introduction

BY HER EXCELLENCY MADAME OLGA NOVIKOFF ("O.K."). "On vous a dit que la Russie est un pays ferine' ; n'en croyez pas un mot. Tout ce que j'ai desire voir, je l'ai vu, et on m'en a meme montre plus que je n'en demandais."— Victor Tissot. LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LD- 1892. [ALL rights reserved.] H0MMAGE DE L'AUTEUR A SON ALTESSE SERENISSIME LA PRINCESSE DE MONACO. AUTHOR'S

Preface

. Truth being the object aimed at, I have en deavoured to make the following account of the prisons of Russia and Western Siberia as plain and matter of fact as possible, without any attempt at colouring or romance. The historical and ethnological portions of the book are partly taken from Mr. C. Eden's " Frozen Asia," while I am indebted to the Rev. Dr. Lansdell for some interesting and reliable information anent the island of Sakhalin. The remainder of the work is compiled entirely from personal observation and exxperiences. HARRY DE WINDT. Paris, January, 1892. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE Introduction XI I. London to St. Petersburg II. St. Petersburg i 15 III. Finland IV. Moscow 47 6 1 V. Nijni-Novgorod— The Volga — Perm . VI. The Ourals — Ekaterinburg — Tiumen « 7 no VII. The Obi— Tobolsk— Tomsk VIII.

Siberian Exile ... *52 258 IX. A Siberian Prison X. Tomsk ... 3°4 3(>3 XI. Tiumen — The Forwarding Prison XII. A Word for Siberia 393 438 APPENDICES. A. Total Number of Political and Criminal Exiles sent to Siberia during the Years 1887-8-9 and 1890 CONTENTS. VIII PAGE 486 B. Table of Distances — Tiumen to Tomsk C. Comparison of Turkish and Yakoute Languages ... ... ... ••■ 487 D. Letter from Dr. Baedeker on Siberian Exile 488 E. Letter from Mr. Charles Davisson on Siberian- Exile ... ... ... ... ... 490 F. Tarif Alimentaire pour les Detenus dans les Prisons Russes ... ... ... ... 494 G. Letter from Captain Pemberton, R.E., on Siberian Exile ... ... ... ... LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Political Prisoners on the Road Monsieur Demetrius Kamorski Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul Nijni-Novgorod Frontispiece 1 6 43 90 ii7 »37 i33 143 163 i85 191 196 200 204 207 230 237 240 Ekaterinburg Nadia Oshalka A Break-down Tobolsk ...

Captain Galtine The "Irtysh" Prison Barge A Noted Swindler A Thief A Murderer Ostiak Encampment, Obi River A Wood Station, Obi River Vera Figner Dr. Weimar b LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. X PAGE 248 A Jew from Bokhara Paddle-boat worked by Horse-power, Obi River Sunset on the Obi 249 252 An Escort Soldier 3°5 Leaving the Landing-stage for Tomsk .. A Political Exile's Cell ... 3^3 348 The Goubernski Prison, Tomsk Tomsk. The Lower Town... A Country Cart, Tomsk 35i 377 387 A Street in Tiumen 402 A Criminal Kamera, Tiumen Forwarding Prison The Forwarding Prison, Tiumen 409

INTRODUCTION.

. Mr. Harry de Windt has undoubtedly shown courage in asking me to write a few words of preface to his book on Russian prisons. Me, of all the world ! Anybody who has ever heard of me knows that I am a thorough Russian, a staunch believer in Greek orthodoxy, in autocracy and nationalism, convinced of the grand future of Russia as of my own existence, and a prison directress to boot ! In fact, never paying the homage of hypocrisy in disguising my real self, I represent all that the English people have the greatest dislike to. I hesitated to comply with Mr. de Windt's request, because I felt that my sympathies with his honest and energetic investigations might

INTRODUCTION.

. injure his book rather than commend it to English readers. Another very important consideration occurred to me. To form a proper opinion of the Russian prisons, it is necessary to possess, what English people certainly do not possess, some knowledge of the ordinary conditions of life in our country. A preface to any book on Russia ought, in fact, to be somewhat of an introduction into the pene tralia of our innermost existence. But in giving real facts about our country, I have the feeling of printing advertisements about ourselves — to us Russians a very antipathetic work indeed. Russia is, over a great extent, a land of stoicism, fortified by Christianity — not a bad basis for the formation of character, after all, but it is a hard school. Our country life is an important study. It is full of self-denial, of hardships, of privations.

Indeed, in some parts peasant life is so hard that we, the upper classes, could scarcely endure it. Landed proprietors are generally in close intercourse with their ex-serfs. The latter

INTRODUCTION.

. XIII though perfectly free and themselves land-owners, from the fact that their former masters have at heart their welfare, naively think that the latter are still under obligation to furnish help when needed. This irrational relationship is generally accepted good-naturedly by the ex-masters, though very often it involves great material sacrifices. We could all give our personal experiences of village life, and I, for one, venture to do so, though there are many others better qualified. To visit the sick and the poor is a common duty recognized by all in our country, although the discharge of this duty sometimes is rather an ordeal. How overcrowded and dark are their dwellings ! How poor their daily food ! (The only approach to the condition that I know of in the United Kingdom is in the poverty-stricken districts of Ireland.)

Yet those who lead that rough life seem strong and happy, on the whole. They will make merry jokes, and after a long day's heavy work, from sunrise to sunset, return home from the fields, singing and dancing. Injudicious and indiscriminate charity would INTROD UCTION. XIV do harm here as elsewhere. In illustration of this I will mention the following from my own experience. My son, a newly appointed Zemski Natchalnik (Zemski chief), has recently founded two schools on our Tamboff estate — as has been done by other landed proprietors in the same province, such as Mr. E. Narishkine, Mr. Garainoff, etc. The principal local representatives of the Church and the chiefs of our local school in spectors were invited to discuss the programme of the teaching and management of these schools — one for boarders (future primary school teachers), the other a daily school for our parish children.

(All our schools for the people are, and have always been, free of charge.) The educational scheme met with almost unanimous approval, but when the boarding arrangements came to be discussed, with sugges tions about "light mattresses and pillows," they were met by a general outburst of disapproval. " Here you are wrong. Why should you spoil them, and make them unfit for their usual life, INTR OD UCTION. XV by accustoming them to unnecessary luxuries ? The utmost you should provide, as a comfort for peasant boys, is some straw, and a plain bench to sleep on. Nothing more." It may perhaps interest my readers to know that there is such a thirst for learning amongst our peasant children, that candidates come in overwhelming numbers, and this happens to all our educational institutions — they are over crowded to the last degree.

The population increases more quickly than church and school accommodation for it. That inconvenience is also noticeable in our prisons. But to people accustomed to a very hard life, would it be a punishment if, instead of suffering discomfort for their crimes, they were surrounded with what to them would appear extreme luxury ? Where is one to draw the line between necessaries and luxuries ? A prison ought to be a punishment, not a reward for crimes. In visiting the prisons I have heard the re mark that some of the convicts would not have committed their misdeeds had they possessed INTR OD UCTION. XVI at home half of the comfort provided in the prison. They also know that whilst they are away, good care is taken of their children. I remember a female prisoner, who had to suffer a year's punishment for theft and smuggling, whose looks of distress and misery forcibly struck me.

Knowing that she was near the end of her term, I asked how it was that she did not look happier. " I am pining for my boy ; I feel sure he is dead. I wrote to him twice, but he never re plied," answered she, sobbing. "He was taken up as a beggar and a vagabond by the Beggars' Committee." "Well," said I, "since you can tell me where he may be found, I will go and see him at once, and you shall know the exact truth about him. Wait patiently till I come back." Off I went to the " Beggars' Institution," which is in close connection with the prisons, and had the boy brought to me. He looked clean and healthy. ''Your mother sends you her blessine," I INTR OD UCTION. XVII began ; " she is in good health, but grieves that you never answered her letters. Have they not reached you ? " " Oh yes, they have, but I cannot write.

I began learning here, and can only write O's and pothooks." As I always provide myself with writing materials on visiting the prisons, and am always ready in deserving cases to write letters, dictated to me by illiterate prisoners, I offered my services to the little beggar. He seemed radiant. " Yes, tell her I am very well fed here, three times every day. Food plentiful." " What else ?" asked I. "Would you not like to see your mother ? Don't you go to church every Sunday, and don't you pray for her ? " " Oh yes. Tell her to come to live with me here." You should have seen the joy of the mother when I brought her this very undiplomatic de spatch, and the interest created amongst her fellow-prisoners !

INTRODUCTION.

. XVIII To help the wretched is a pleasure thoroughly appreciated by Russians. It is absurd to preach to us charity and compassion. We are brought up in those notions from our childhood. Chris tianity with us is not a vague term ; it represents a very clear " categorical principle " which forms a link between all of us, from the Emperor down to the humblest peasant. Our highest classes are very well represented in that respect. First comes our Empress, who is the soul of charity and compassion. I never heard of any appeal made to her in vain. Nor could anybody, I think, be kinder than the Emperor. His aunt, the Grand Duchess Constantine, notwithstanding the endless demands on her generosity, has just undertaken to feed a thousand of famine-stricken peasants in our district till next harvest.

I could also give other examples from amongst the Imperial family. Then, coming to a lower rank, we have for instance the procurator of the Holy Synod, Mr. Pobedonostzeff and his wife. The latter, thoueh far from strong in health, takes care of two large INTRO D UCTION. XIX schools, visiting them almost daily ; with the support and sympathy of her husband she collects large sums of money every year, in order to send to the prisoners of Sakhalin (our worst criminals) quantities of clothes, useful tools, tobacco and toys, writing materials, and religious books. Our lower classes only care for " Divine literature," as they call it. Religious books are in great demand in every part of Russia, which helps to defeat Nihilistic teaching, and saves the people from that criminal folly. Or take another well-known case : a man of good birth and worldly prospects, a distinguished Moscow professor, who, without any of that self advertisement which seems to be the necessary stimulus to similar efforts in Western Europe, buried himself in the country, and there founded a school, which has served as a model for ten or twelve other schools in the same province, and which he superintends and guides with fatherly care, and in strictly Greek orthodox views.

He also organized a large temperance movement, which is now spreading throughout Russia. IN TROD UCTION. XX I could give numerous instances to show that philanthropy, far from being unknown, is widely practised in Russia. In fact, it permeates all our work, including the prisons. Our great Empress, Catherine II., used to say, " Better pardon ten criminals than punish one innocent." This became a favourite saying with us, and perhaps accounts for the leniency of our juries, which is often carried too far. For what right have we to endanger the public safety by allowing crime to reign unchecked ? In England murderers are quietly hanged, and this happens even pretty often. According to us, this is going too far. How are you to manifest Christian compassion and love to sinners when they are so quickly and definitely disposed of?

What chance have they to repent ? Capital punishment is repellent to public feeling in Russia, and has been used in cases which, thank God, were quite exceptional and extremely rare. With us, only the very worst crimes are punished vvith imprisonment for life. And even for these it INTROD UCTION. XXI may at all events be said, " While there is life there is hope." Very great improvements have been introduced in our prison system. More are to follow. We see our shortcomings better than ignorant dilet tante critics, whose only object is to excite artificial indip-nation. o These questions are very important and com plicated ; but, as Thiers used to say, " Prenez tout au serieux, rien au tragique." Those who wish to know the Russian prisons as they are in the year 1891, have now the opportunity of doing so, by studying Mr. Harry de Windt's most interesting and trustworthy book.

I must add that he has seen more of Russian territory than I have. Unfortunately, I have never visited Siberia : he has been there twice. Our prison authorities, both in Europe and in Asia, convinced of his sincere desire to write " the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," opened the prison doors to him whenever asked, by day or by night. I am happy that they have done so. Mr. de Windt deserves INTRO D UCTION. XXII confidence, not only as an able writer and keen observer, but because, if he will permit me to say so, he shows himself to be a gentleman. By this we understand a man imbued with the conviction that honour is not a commercial commodity, to be trafficked with or exchanged for either notoriety or money. The more his interesting work is read the more convinced do we become that whatever he writes, be it in praise or blame, he thoroughly believes !

An Englishman has his own views and feelings. By all means let him express them freely, so long as his criticism is guided by a genuine respect for truth. In that direction Mr. de Windt's book deserves imitation, and is a wholesome contrast to that literature, so popular in England, which is chiefly based upon imagination and our police court reports. Every country having prisons must be supposed to have criminals, and any collector of horrors can easily fabricate the most dreadful pictures. In Russia sketches of this kind, purposely misleading the public, would of course be ridiculed. In England, INTROD UCTION. XXIII unfortunately, the grosser the exaggeration the better it pays ! But not everything should be considered from either a penny-a-liner or a Stock Exchange point of view. Nor, even judged by that standard, is it admissible to obtain money on false pretences.

England has nothing to gain by not only ignoring the truth, but by acting under absolute misrepresentations and calumnies. I declare and insist upon this positive fact. Credulous readers of English newspapers — these latter-day gospels — are misled, shamefully misled, by a great portion of the press. People were angry with me last year when I reminded them of the force represented by Russia. I did say that she is a great military power, with an army of two millions, whom no European country dares to attack single-handed. I might have added what is of even more importance, namely, her capacity to transform her humble everyday life into a heroism which has, more than once in moments of great national trial, astonished the world. Might not a nation of this character be a useful friend and ally ?

IN TROD UCTION. How I wish I had the miraculous gift of curing moral blindness ! What a grand and edifying spectacle would be that of the two great Christian civilizing powers, trustful and united, working together not only in Europe, but especially in Asia, where their present policy is only hindering the work of civilization amongst alien races ! Thus any English writer, helping towards a true knowledge of Russia as she really is, is doing good service to a great Christian cause. Amongst these is Mr. Harry de Windt, and I, as a Russian, can only wish him and his book " God-speed." If noblesse oblige, Christianisme oblige phis encore ! OLGA NOVIKOFF. Claridge's Hotel, Brook Street.

Chapter I. London To St

PETERSBURG. " The prisons of Siberia ! You may be sure the Russian Government will never allow you to see them!' Such is the opinion of the friend with whom I discuss an after-dinner cup of coffee and cigarette on the balcony of that cosiest of hostelries, the New Falcon Inn, Gravesend. It is the evening of the 20th July, 1890. London is stifling and malodorous. Even here there is scarcely a breath of air stirring, as red and green lights, heralded by shrill whistle or screaming steam syren, move slowly and mysteriously through the grey heat mist veiling the river. My B companion sails to-night for the blue fjords and snowy peaks of Norway. His assertion is in correct. Still is he sceptical, when I explain that permission has already been granted me to visit the penal establishments in question, and that, armed with a passport and the necessary credentials, I start to-morrow for St. Petersburg, en route for Siberia.

This was not my first visit to the Russian Australia. A journey from Pekin to Moscow by the Tea Caravan route in 1887 had already opened my eyes to the fact that Asiatic Russia is anything but the land of desolation authors of sensational fiction would have us believe. The majority of people in England picture Siberia as cold, sterile, and under deep snow the greater part of the year ; as peopled chiefly by skin-clad aborigines, prisoners, and wolves. This was once my idea of a country which contains at least half a dozen well-built cities with all the accessories of highest civilization, and is blessed, in summer, with the finest and healthiest climate in the world. The variations os temperature are, however, considerable. This is only natural when we consider that this huge territory measures five thousand miles from east to west, over two thousand miles from north to south, and covers nearly five and three-quarter millions of square miles.

Mr. Kennan, the American traveller, has perhaps given the best and most lucid illustration of the enormous size of Siberia. He says : — " If it were possible to move entire countries from one part of the globe to another, you could take the whole United States of America, from Maine to California, and from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico, and set it down in the middle of Siberia without touching anywhere the boundaries of the latter territory. You could then take Alaska and all the States of Europe (with the exception of Russia), and fit them into the remaining margin like the pieces of a dis sected map, and after having thus accommodated all of the United States, including Alaska, and all of Europe except Russia, you would still have more than three hundred thousand square miles of Siberian territory to spare — in other words, you would still leave unoccupied in Siberia an area half as large again as the Empire of Germany !

" The object of my first voyage across Asia was somewhat vague and indefinite.* Perhaps the fact that but three Englishmen had accomplished the journey, and that with considerable difficulty, finally determined me to embark on that weary pilgrimage of six thousand miles ; a daily record, for nearly three months, of privation, dirt, and discomfort ; the harder to bear from the utter absence of interesting matter met with the whole way from the Chinese frontier to Moscow. Now, at any rate, there would be no cause for complaint on that score. The prisons of Siberia were, by order of the Imperial Government, open to my inspection, without any conditions whatsoever as to date or duration of visit. We are ever in search of new playgrounds. Some of my readers may, after perusing these * See " From Pekin to Calais by Land."

By H. de Windt. Chapman and Hall. 1887. pages, be inclined to desert more familiar and civilized paths of travel, in favour of the (so called) wilds of Siberia. An important item being luggage, here is a list of mine, for the benefit of those who may follow in my footsteps. Two large soft leather bags (with strong locks),* a Gladstone bag, and small medicine chest are my sole impedimenta as I enter the tidal train at Charing Cross on the morning of the 21st July. The bags described as soft must be cornerless, as they form the traveller's bed when posting in sleigh or tarantass.f A thick fur pelisse (reindeer, lined with lynx), a bashlik,J and three railway rugs were also taken, for the nights, even in the height of summer, are very cold. The two former articles must be purchased in Russia.

More luggage than this is unnecessary, but a dress suit is essential. It is the costtime de rigueur for morning calls in Siberia. * Procurable at Silver and Co., Cornhill, E.C. f Russian posting carriage. \ A head covering and neckerchief in one, made of camel's hair, and worn by Russian soldiers. I am to apply for my credentials at St. Petersburg. A journey to this city would, under other circumstances, seem long and tedious, but Tomsk, the capital of Western Siberia, is my destination, and the railway run across Europe pales into insignificance in comparison ; — Tomsk : due north of Calcutta, and nearly three thousand miles from the Russian capital ! The Channel, that " bar sinister"' to the shores of England and France, is swiftly and smoothly crossed. A cool starlit night, followed by a stifling sweltering day in Paris, and I embark, the same evening, on the night mail direct for St. Petersburg.

The distance is little short of seventeen hundred miles, but as, with the exception of the ten hours' daylight run from Cologne to Berlin, the entire transit is made in comfortable wagon His, the sixty odd hours is no great hardship. What a blessing the inventor of these cars conferred upon mankind! Contrast this journey with that of ten or fifteen years ago : cooped up in a first-class compartment for nearly four consecutive days with perhaps half a dozen fellow-passengers. Now, how different. A comfortable bed, permission to smoke, and a wash and change in the morning. Truly we live in an age of luxury ! But the break at Cologne should be done away with. The change from roomy car to a small stuffy carriage, all red velvet and greasy anti macassars, reeking of orange-peel and stale cigar smoke, is a rude shock, especially at 8 a.m. Will the Germans, by the way, never under stand the art of travelling in comfort ?

A cup of tepid, gritty coffee at Cologne, some tough, half raw beef, floating in grease, at Hanover, are the only provisions procurable the whole livelong day. But the weather is bright and cool, and more than atones for these minor discomforts, as we rattle along, through the pleasant, sunny Rhine land, over field after field of golden corn, green valleys with clear, flower-girt brooks, rippling through the deep rich grass, across belts of dark, fragrant pine forest. We have the carriage to ourselves. " None but English and lunatics travel first-class in Germany," say the natives. Maybe, but there is a distinct advantage, never theless, in being able to enjoy the lovely land scape from either side at will. The fields are deserted to-day, the third-class cars crowded, for it is Sunday. Towards sunset we enter a station typical of the country : a pretty chalet-like build ing embowered in lime trees, rose bushes, and honeysuckle.

The narrow platform is crowded with holiday-makers: plain and perspiring German females, still plainer and somewhat inebriated German men, and a sprinkling of infantry soldiers, with high stocks and stiffly starched white trousers, looking as though they had just walked out of a toy-box. Black-coated, white-tied kell ners hurry to and fro with trays of lager beer, fruit, cigars, and a tempting-looking amber coloured beverage, in which float strawberries, slices of peach, and ice. Every one is laughing, talking, and singing, as if la revanche were still in the dark distant future. Suddenly a bell rings : the crowd surges backwards — adieus are exchanged, and to the husky strains of "Die Wacht am Rhein " (in many keys) we move out again into the open country — fresh, pine-scented, and deepening in the twilight.

At dusk we reach Berlin. The capital of Germany is ever associated in my mind with two things : the prettiest women and ugliest monu ment in the world. The " Bois de Boulogne," " Prater," " Nevski Prospect," even Bond Street itself, can show nothing to compare, in point of beauty, with the crowds of lovely faces to be seen on a fine summer afternoon in " Unter den Linden." But who can have devised the hideous gilt figure that commemorates the victories of 1870! Viewed by the unpatriotic stranger, it simply represents a stunted and ungraceful female, in indecently short petticoats, playing quoits in a gale of wind. Here (artistically speaking) France is already avenged ! A celebrated English statesman lately remarked that " railway travelling in Russia is the most luxurious in Europe." This any one who has travelled in the country will fully endorse, but I would add : " the douanes of Russia are the least troublesome in the world."

Many in England are unaware of the former fact — few will believe the latter. But it is so. A German subject is, at the frontier, occasionally put to inconvenience (the political agitators of that nation are legion), but a Frenchman seldom — an Englishman never. Indeed, I doubt if the custom-houses of any European country are as lenient as those of Russia where there are no real grounds for suspicion. In my own case, three hundred cigars and an unlimited supply of tobacco were passed duty free. A " Kodak camera," however, excited some suspicion, and was minutely examined in a private room. Eydtkunen is the last station on the German line. A piece of neutral ground is then passed, wild, and uncultivated, and the train slowly crosses a light iron bridge spanning a narrow stream. On the far side, near a black and white sentry box, stands a solitary figure in drab coloured greatcoat, high boots, and flat white linen cap, leaning on a rifle with a fixed bayonet.

It is a Cossack. We are in Russia, and a few moments later alight at Wirballen, the first railway station in the empire of the Great White Czar. What a change ! At Eydtkunen in Germany, all was dirt, discomfort, and confusion ; here, in Russia, everything is in perfect order, from the cool spacious salle-a-manger with its array of snowy linen, glittering glass, and bright silver, to the huge gendarme in grey and red, who receives your passport as you enter the buffet, and politely requests you not to hurry your self. There is plenty of time for both food and digestion. No greasy scalding soup, no petrified sandwiches, nor warm lemonade here, but the cuisine perfect, wines well iced, and tea (served a la Russe) delicious. In a corner of the waiting-room is a book-stall, kept by a pretty dark-eyed girl in national dress.

The shelves are stocked with the latest French and English novels (among the former Zola preponderates), German and Russian works, but (curiously enough) not a single English newspaper, although Le Temps, Figaro, and Gil Bias are in great demand. A good hour is allowed for dejeuner. Then passports are returned to all save one (a shabby-looking individual from Switzerland), and we resume our journey. The change of coup d'œil is now striking, but scarcely favourable to the country we have entered. Snug homesteads, trim hedgerows, and well-cultivated fields have given place to tumble-down log huts and care lessly sown crops, intersected by vast tracts of wild waste land and pine forest. The peasantry, however, seem industrious. Both sexes are working in the fields till long after eight o'clock, the former in scarlet caftans, bright dabs of colour relieving the monotony of the dull brown landscape.

We travel slowly, and stoppages are frequent, though apparently unnecessary, for we neither take up nor set down passengers. The smaller stations are neat and picturesque. All are alike : one-storied wooden buildings of a reddish-brown colour, with light green roofs of sheet iron. Many are covered with vines, and surrounded by pretty gardens. On the arrival of a train there is no hurry, no confusion. Three bells are rung — one on entering the station, the second when half the stopping time has elapsed, a third on the point of departure. Railway travelling in Russia must be intensely irritating to those pressed for time and anxious to reach their destination ; for others it is the most perfect in the world. Sunrise on the last morning of our journey discloses a flat marshy plain extending on all sides to the horizon, with, at intervals, large lakes of stagnant water, black and sedge bound, and swarming with wild fowl of all kinds.