, or about L1 16s., an absurdly inadequate
allowance in a place where the necessaries of life are always at famine
prices. During our stay here flour was selling at a rouble a pound, and
an abominable kind of brick tea at two roubles a pound, while candles,
sugar, and salt cost exactly five times as much as at Yakutsk, where
European prices are already trebled. The price of deer-meat was,
therefore, prohibitive, and the exiles were living throughout the winter
upon fish caught the preceding summer, unsalted, and therefore quite
unfit for human consumption. And this at mid-day was their sole
nourishment, breakfast and supper consisting of one glass of weak tea
and a small piece of gritty black bread! Sugar was such a luxury that a
lump was held in the teeth while the liquid was swallowed, one piece
thus serving for several days in succession. Were a house and clothing
provided, even the miserable pittance provided by the Government might
suffice to keep body and soul together, but this is not the case. Some
of the exiles were accordingly occupying almost roofless sheds that had
been vacated by the Yakutes, while many were so poorly clad that in
winter time they were unable to leave their miserable huts.

The house occupied by Monsieur Strajevsky, a Polish gentleman, whose
personality I shall always recall with sincere regard and sympathy, will
serve as a type of the better class of dwelling occupied by these
exiles. It consisted of a low, mud-plastered log hut about 6 ft. in
height, 14 ft. by 10 ft. was the measurement of the one room it
contained, with a floor of beaten earth, glistening with the filth of
years. A yellow light filtered dimly, even on the brightest day, through
the slab of ice which formed the solitary window, but it revealed only
too clearly the dirt and squalor of the room. Some planks on trestles
formed my friend's sleeping-place, and more planks strewn with books and
writing materials, his table. An old kerosene tin was the only chair,
and as I seated myself my friend went to the mud hearth and kindled a
few sticks, which burned brightly for a few moments and then flickered
out. He then left the hut, climbed on to the roof, and closed the
chimney with a bundle of rags. This is the Yakute mode of warming an
apartment, and it is practised for economy, for Sredni-Kolymsk is near
the tree line, and firewood, like everything else, is an expensive
article. Even timber is so costly here that towards sunset e