country that they can with little labour satisfy all their material wants. Any further enterprise they may show is not likely to yield them greater fruit, because the heavy hand of the commune is liable to descend, imposing restrictions upon them and limiting their holdings. On the other hand, without this communal life and the social co-operation which it involves, it is difficult to see how the Slavs could have succeeded in colonizing the vast territories that they possess. Self-reliant as the Siberians are compared with the European Russians, there are, nevertheless, not many of them so independent of mutual support as to be able to exist in wild remote spots without their village communes. A few of the more adventurous peasants in the remoter districts break away from the commune and go off on their own, fur hunting or trading with the native Finns. These hardy Siberians often make their permanent abodes in the heart of the dense forest on the frontier country which divides Siberia from Mongolia. Here they build their solitary huts and live in the depths of primeval nature. Magnificent specimens of humanity, they more closely resemble the Canadian backwoodsmen than any men I have ever seen. I shall take the opportunity of describing them in the next chapter. To the majority of Siberians, however, the village commune seems to be an indispensable part of their lives. They may go off for a time on their own into the forest, but the majority prefer the social life which enables them to pass the long dark winter nights in dancing and singing in their log-houses, or drinking in each other's company. Furthermore, they find that when practical and material difficulties confront them, such as bad harvests or peculant
