COLONISTS AND EXILES IN SIBERIA. 513 



state of society than was supposed, or than is even now recognized, 

 the emigration of the former class ceased at once. Millions of men 

 were set free by a word from their mild and large-hearted ruler; 

 thousands of them forsook the mines and turned their attention to 

 the fruitful soil, which their relatives had already been cultivating; 

 the Czar's mines were almost depopulated, and even now they have 

 scarcely recovered from the effects of the blow. But the great 

 imperial or crown-estate of the Altai gained, instead of its former 

 colonists, a new element which it had lacked, a free peasantry, not 

 indeed possessing heritable property, but yet at full liberty to cul- 

 tivate the rich soil. The suppression of serfdom also altered the 

 condition of those tracts of country which had been chiefly colonized 

 by convict exiles, for there, too, it became possible to establish a free 

 peasantry. But here the continuous emigration -stream proves 

 rather a hindrance than an advantage; for in most cases the convicts 

 who are exiled to parts of the country already peopled introduce an 

 element of disquiet among the settled inhabitants, and prevent such 

 hopeful and prosperous colonization as in the crown-estate of the 

 Altai, which has never been used as a convict settlement, and never 

 will be so used as long as it remains the property of the Czar. On 

 the other hand, many voluntary emigrants make their way to the 

 Altai, and on that account the population increases more rapidly 

 there than in the rest of Siberia. 



It is a magnificent tract of country this crown-estate of the 

 Altai, and, as a landed property, it is also remarkable as being the 

 largest which can be found anywhere. For its superficial area may 

 be stated in round numbers at 400,000 square versts, or about 

 176,000 English square miles. It includes within itself mountain 

 ranges and plains, hill chains and table- lands; it lies between 

 navigable rivers, and contains others which could be made navi- 

 gable without special difficulty; it still contains vast and utilizable 

 forests, and wealth immeasurable above and beneath the ground. 

 Ores of various kinds have been discovered at no fewer than eight 

 hundred and thirty different places within its boundaries, without 

 taking into account other two hundred and seventy spots at which 

 it has been found, but which have never been thoroughly examined. 



(Si 70) 33 



