LABOURING POPULATION. 107 



occasioa he was able to trace a robbery of his hen roost to 

 one of his serfs ; and he had the man brought before him and 

 charged with the crime. When asked by his owner, who 

 was not in private life a very cruel man, ' Ivan, Ivano- 

 vitch, did you kill that hen ? ' To the surprise of all, and 

 the discomfiture of the sternness of his interrogator, the 

 man replied, with a look and tone which implied that he 

 expected ready approval of what he had done, ' Yes, 

 Baron.' ' You have done very wrong Ivan, Ivanovitch,' 

 said his owner with all gravity, ' You have stolen it and 

 eaten it ; it was very wrong to do so.' ' No, Baron,' was 

 the rejoinder, in a tone of surprise and offended innocence, 

 which made it impossible to tell whether the man was a 

 rogue or a fool, ' It is still your property ; it was yours, 

 and I am yours you know ; so it is still yours.' Well, the 

 man who was doomed to deadly work, though he did not 

 know it, might be allowed to have his joke ! 



By such concessions as have been referred to, a supply 

 of workmen was provided when the mining and metallur- 

 gical works of the district were originated. And as these 

 works are not necessarily very deadly, their children and 

 descendants also supplied workmen for the works. Now it is 

 otherwise. The estates remain the. property of the 

 barons ; but not so the serfs. Even then a serf might 

 obtain permission from his baron to leave the estate for 

 years, and work elsewhere, on payment of what was 

 called obrok, an annual payment varying in amount with 

 the probable earnings of the serf, and ranging from one 

 pound to three hundred, the serf being liable to have 

 his leave of absence recalled at any time. And of this 

 national usage serfs from other estates may have availed 

 themselves, and found employment in the mines and 

 works. 



Now, though serfdom has been abolished, the native 

 labouring population of the district having been employed 

 in these works for successive generations, they probably 

 constitute the great bulk of the men employed. But 



