The Boy Travellers in The Russian Empire Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey in European and Asiatic Russia, with Accounts of a Tour across Siberia, Voyages on the Amoor, Volga, and Other Rivers, a Visit to Central Asia, Travels among the Exiles, and a Historical Sketch of the Empire from Its Foundation to the Present Time

CHAPTER XVI.

Chapter 1653 wordsPublic domain

THE EXILES OF SIBERIA.--THE DECEMBRISTS AND THEIR EXPERIENCE.--SOCIAL POSITION OF EXILES.--DIFFERENT CLASSES OF EXILES AND THEIR SENTENCES.--CRIMINALS AND POLITICALS.--DEGREES OF PUNISHMENT.--PERPETUAL COLONISTS.--HOW EXILES TRAVEL.--LODGING-HOUSES AND PRISONS.--CONVOYS.--THRILLING STORY OF AN ESCAPE FROM SIBERIA.--SECRET ROADS.--HOW PEASANTS TREAT THE EXILES.--PRISONERS IN CHAINS. 313