CHAPTER XLIX.

_THE ISLAND OF SAKHALIN._

Geographical description.--Meteorology.--Flora and fauna.--Population.--Cultivation.--Mineral products.--Coal-mine at Dui and penal settlement.--Prison statistics.--Flogging.--Desperate criminals.--Complaints of prison food.--Prison labour.--Difficulties of escape.--Prison executive and alleged abuses.--General opinion on Siberian prisons.--Comparison of Siberian and English convicts 648