habitants of Siberia to such an extent as is generally supposed.
The ill effect was certainly intensified in the early years of the nineteenth century, when the discovery of mineral wealth in certain parts of Siberia led to an hysterical scramble for wealth among all classes of the little Siberian population. As soon, however, as these discoveries came to the ears of the home authorities, the doors to all private exploitation were closed, and in the name of the Tsar and his ministers the mineral wealth of the eastern provinces was annexed by Government officials. It was then that the working of the mines by compulsory convict labour originated, and it was during the first half of the nineteenth century that most of the harrowing tales about convicts in Siberia came to be so extensively circulated in Western Europe. Still, it must be remembered that the convict exiles have by no means played so important a part in the colonization of Siberia as is generally believed. In course of time the number of imported convicts began to decrease. They were, moreover, often physically and mentally weak, and, as they were unable to stand the rigours of the Siberian climate, the death toll was enormous, and their descendants, therefore, are far from numerous. The influence of this criminal element on Siberian society was, however, most baneful at the time. Often a prosperous little Siberian village would be invaded by a gang of convicts, who had been ordered by the authorities to settle in the district. It was difficult to confine them to their proper quarters, and they roamed about the country, no better than gangs of thieves. Even when they settled down to work at the respective
