TCHUDOVO AND THE PRISTAV. 35 



me to believe nothing that I might hear in condemna- 

 tion of the Russian prisons proper, for he knew them 

 to be as good as the prisons of any country in Europe. 

 The authorities were continually devising ways and 

 means of improving prisons and the treatment of pris- 

 oners, and he would be glad to show me the prisons in 

 his district any time I wished to see them. 



The next day I met him at the railway station, when 

 the subject of prisons came up again. The pristav, 

 afraid lest I might leave with erroneous ideas, invited 

 me to inspect his Tchudovo prison before going. I 

 was afraid of missing the train, however, and declined. 

 I had no reason to doubt his word, nor was the condi- 

 tion of a provincial prison a hundred versts from St. 

 Peterburg of much importance. 



The pristav laughed at the idea of Russia wanting 

 India. 



" That was Skobeloff's idea," he said. " Skobeloff was 

 a soldier, not a statesman. He found it a good thing 

 to juggle with in our negotiations with England, but 

 the idea has never been seriously entertained by sen- 

 sible Russians. We hate England because she persists 

 in hating us ; but if we go to war it will be with Ger- 

 many. She is our only natural enemy." 



It is always interesting and instructive to hear the 

 ideas of people about themselves and their country. 

 It is a lesson one should always take, if possible, in a 

 new field, before beginning the serious work of investi- 

 gation on one's own behalf. My brief visit to Tchu- 

 dovo, and the talks with the moujiks and the police of- 

 ficer were the preliminary steps to an extensive tour of 

 investigation. I had determined to ride on horseback 



