enterprise. At one time 40,000 poods of lead were
produced here annually, most of it being sent to the Altai mountains
to be employed in reducing silver. In most places where explored the
country is rich in gold, and I have little doubt that thorough
prospecting would reveal many placers equaling the best of those in
California.

Very few exiles are now sent to Nerchinsk in comparison with the
numbers formerly banished there. Under the reign of Nicholas and his
father Nerchinsk received its greatest accessions, the Polish
revolutions and the revolt of 1825 contributing largely to its
population. Places of exile have always been selected with relation to
the offence and character of the prisoners. The worst offenders,
either political or criminal, were generally sent to the mines of
Nerchinsk, their terms of service varying from two to twenty years, or
for life. I was told that the longest sentence now given is for twenty
years. The condition of prisoners in former times was doubtless bad,
and there are many stories of cruelty and extortion practiced by
keepers and commandants. The dwellings of prisoners were frequently no
better than the huts of savages; their food and clothing were poor and
insufficient; they were compelled to labor in half frozen mud and
water for twelve or fourteen hours daily, and beaten when they
faltered.

The treatment of prisoners depended greatly upon the character of the
commandant of the mines. Of the brutality of some officials and the
kindness of others there can be little doubt. We have sufficient proof
of the varied qualities of the human heart in the conduct of
prison-keepers in America during our late war. There have been many
exaggerations concerning the treatment of exiles. I do not say there
has been no cruelty, but that less has occurred than some writers
would have us believe. Before leaving America I read of the rigorous
manner in which the sentence of the conspirators of 1825 was carried
out. According to one authority the men were loaded with chains and
compelled to the hardest labor in the mines under relentless
overseers. They were badly lodged, fed with insufficient food, and
when ill had little or no medical treatment.

Nearly all these unfortunates were of noble families and never
performed manual labor before reaching the mines. They had been
tenderly reared, and were mostly young and unused to the hardships of
life outside the capitals. Thrust at once into the mines