<)32 Cochruius Journey to the Fr 



chorage is any wlirrc to be found. Tlie 

 winds are most violent, and subject to 

 instant changes icsctnblins Iiurricrincs. 

 The sea is said to run mountains high, 

 and as tiie vessels arc itadly manned and 

 vi^otse officered, it is no wonder th;it 

 numerous acciflents occur. July and 

 August arc considered as tiie worst 

 seasons, May and June are the best; 

 but wliether in l)ad or good seasons, it 

 not nnrre<juently happens that the 

 transports are twenty-five and tliirly 

 <lays iu crossiof!; a distance of filty iniU-s, 

 It is here that the power of steam would 

 best exhibit its inralculable advantages. 

 Vcrchney Udinsk is the grand marl 

 between Irkutsk ai:d Kiakhta, and has 

 risen upon the inins of Selcnginsk. 

 The town contains lour hundred liouses, 

 and about two thousand six hundred 

 inhabitants. From it to Selenginsk aie 

 dcventy miles, which I performed along 

 the transparent Selenga in seven hours. 



ENGLISH MISSIONARIES. 



The banks of the river bore the most 

 romanlic appearance, the hills rising 

 above one anotlier into the loftiest 

 mountains, but presenting no appear- 

 ance of haliitation except in the low 

 Valleys. The villages are, however, 

 within four and five miles of each otlier, 

 ■long both the banks of the river. 1 

 imniedialely repaired to the abode of tiie 

 English missionaries settled in this part 

 of tiie world, anil need not say that I was 

 most kindly received by Messrs. Stally- 

 brass and Yonille, with their wives ami 

 numerous children; forming, as it were, 

 ail English colony in the ( eiitre of bar- 

 barism. 



I passed a couple of days in a most 

 agreeable manner with these secluded 

 and sclf-dcvoted people, who have in- 

 deed undertaken an arduous task. They 

 have been established in the present 



Eilace more than three years, and they 

 lave erected two neat and homely 

 dwellings, with oul-hotiscs, small 

 gardens, &(;. While learning the Mon- 

 golian languasre, they have also become 

 acquainted with the Mantshur, owing to 

 the circumstance of there being no dic- 

 tionary of the Mongolian, except with 

 that of the Mantshur. They now speak, 

 read, an<l write the iMongolian with fa- 

 cility. I saw many Iranslations of parts 

 of the New Testament, which have been 

 distributed about the neighbourhood. 



As yet, however, it is a matter of re- 

 gret fhiit these very inrlcfatigable mi- 

 nisters have not been the iiiEtrument of 

 converting one single individual. Tlieir 

 tracts have been received, but have 



ozen Sea and Kamlchnlka. 



never, save in a solitary instance, been 

 looked into. Even their Bnriat servants 

 secretly laugh at the tVdly of their 

 masters, an<t only remain w itli them for 

 the sake of getting better food with less 

 work. 



'i'lie servants attending the mission- 

 aries are Buriats, deserted and detested 

 by all their own countrymen for having 

 forsaken the religion of their fathers, 

 merely for the sake of bettor food : they 

 are tolerably expert in cooking, washing, 

 and atleiKling table. 



EXILLS. 



I saw nothing at NcrlchirLsk which 

 could inspire nie with any other senti- 

 ments lliaii those of contenijit and indig- 

 nation at the inconsiderate conduct of 

 the persons in authority over the jioor 

 criminals. It is impossible to conceive 

 the haggard, worn-down, wretched, and 

 half starvcil appearance of these victims. 

 Whatever may have been their crimes — 

 and I believe them horrible enough — 

 they never can have authorized the pre- 

 sent inconsiderate mode of employing 

 them. The knout, the whip, the brand, 

 and the fetter, are nothing, when com- 

 pared with the imposition of labour 

 continued from sun-rise to sun-set for 

 six months in the year, and during the 

 other six to keep Ihem in absolute idle- 

 ness. The cutting of wood, getting in 

 of hay, and attendance upon officers, is 

 almost dcni' d to the poor convict, from 

 the fear of his deserting. Alas! whither 

 can he go? — To places ef|ually wild and 

 savage? to those where the brute 

 creation would equally torment him with 

 those of his own sjiecics ? 'i'he man who 

 is sentenced to drag out the remainder 

 of his existence in the mines of Ncrt- 

 cliinsk cannot live long. What have 

 become of the many thousands of beings; 

 sentenced annually to this place? 

 Where are their wives and families? for 

 here the work is carrieil on only by the 

 constant arrival of fresli victims. Of 

 Ekalherinebonrg 1 had certainly formed 

 a low idea, but Nertchiiisk is in reality 

 the only place that I have seen where 

 man is treated harshly thronghoiit the 

 Russian empire — lexceptlheaborigincK 

 of Siberia. 



Nerlchinsk, in all its concerns, re- 

 minds me for(-il)Iy of (hose pathetic de- 

 scriptions of the mines of Siberia drawn 

 by romantic writers; here their ideas 

 are verified ; — yet it cannot be supposed 

 that the government of the country is so 

 lost to feeling, to humanity, and good 

 policy, as to wink at conduct of the 

 kind. They must certainly be ignorant 



