CONVICTS 281 



alleging the presence of my wife and lack of anything 

 like dress clothes. Next morning our encampment was 

 surrounded by an inquisitive crowd, which thronged 

 close to our tents, occasionally peeping in, and making 

 us feel most uncomfortable, especially as the greater 

 part of the people had already paid no slight attention 

 to the bottle, in commemoration of the forthcoming 

 local solemnity. Being unable to rid ourselves of that 

 thirsty lot, we applied for assistance to the colonel, who 

 obligingly sent a couple of soldiers to disperse the mob. 

 We were, moreover, informed that the place we had 

 chosen was by no means a safe one, on account of 

 escaped convicts, who frequently came over from 

 Sakhalin, as well as gold-prospecting adventurers, who 

 gathered from all parts of Siberia. Only lately a party 

 of five convicts had managed to cross the straits, with 

 the aid of native Ainos, after having murdered their 

 guardians, and were still at large. In consequence one 

 of us was constantlv on ouard, and o'reat was our relief 

 when the river steamer was sio-hted at eleven a.m. on 

 August the 14th. 



Our parting with \^asska was quite touching, though 

 he was in no way sorry to return home, and had never 

 felt in perfect security amongst foreigners since the 

 beginning of the war. We entrusted most of our 

 baggage to Gabriel, Littledale's servant, who was 



