SIBERIA AND THE EXILE SYSTEM
CHAPTER I
PRISONS AND EXILES IN IRKÚTSK
It was so late when we reached Irkútsk Sunday afternoon, and we were so tired from our thousand-mile ride, that we did not attempt to do anything except bathe, change our clothing, dine, and go to bed. Monday, after we had sent our passports to the police-station, Mr. Frost strolled down to the river-side to make some sketches, while I went out to look at the city and find, if possible, a certain political exile to whom I had a letter of introduction.
Irkútsk is situated on the right, or northern, bank of the Angará, about forty miles from the point where that navigable river flows out of Lake Baikál. At the time of our visit it had a population of 36,000, and was therefore the largest city in Siberia. It contained an excellent weekly newspaper,[1] a public library, a branch of the Imperial Geographical Society, a good theater, and about thirty public schools, and the business of its merchants, traders, and manufacturers amounted annually to more than 11,000,000 rúbles. The city had not yet recovered from the great fire of July, 1879, which destroyed nearly 4000 buildings, rendered homeless 15,000 people, and consumed property valued
- ↑ The Sibír, edited by Mr. M. V. Zagóskin. After a long struggle with the press censorship, this enterprising and ably conducted newspaper has finally been suppressed.
