CHARACTER OF THE SIBERIAN POPULATION.—ABSENCE OF SERFDOM, AND ITS EFFECT.—A RUSSIAN FêTE.—AMUSEMENTS OF THE PEASANTRY.—COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.—CURIOUS CUSTOMS.—WHIPPING A WIFE.—OVERLAND THROUGH SIBERIA AGAIN.—CHETAH AND THE BOURIATS.—IN A BOURIAT VILLAGE.—VERCKNE UDINSK.—SIBERIAN ROBBERS.—TEA-TRAINS AND TEA-TRADE.—KIACHTA.—LODGED BY THE POLICE.—TRADE BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA.  
When the conversation about Siberia was resumed, Frank suggested that there must be a great many people in that country who were descended from exiles, since it had been for a long time a place of banishment, and the exiles were accompanied in many cases by their families.
"Your supposition is correct," said Mr. Hegeman; "the descendants of exiles are probably more numerous to-day than are the exiles themselves. Eastern Siberia is mainly peopled by them, and Western Siberia very largely so. All serfs exiled to Siberia under the system prevailing before the emancipation became free peasants, and could not be restored to their former condition of servitude.
"Many descendants of exiles have become wealthy through commerce or gold-mining, and occupy positions which they never could have obtained in European Russia. When I visited Irkutsk I made the acquaintance of a merchant whose fortune ran somewhere in the millions. He had a large house, with a whole retinue of servants, and lived very expensively. He was the son of an exiled serf, and made his fortune in the tea-trade.
"Many prominent merchants and gold-miners were mentioned as examples of the prosperity of the second and third generations from exiles. Of those who had made their own fortunes in the country the instances were by no means few. One, an old man, who was said to have a large fortune and a charming family of well-educated children, was pointed out as an illustration of the benefits of exile. Forty years before that time he was sent to Siberia by his master out of the merest caprice. In Siberia he obtained fortune and social position. Had he remained in Europe he would probably have continued a simple peasant, and reared his children in ignorance.
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 AN EXILE PEASANT AND HIS FRIENDS.
"The advantages of Siberia are further shown by the fact that a great many exiles decline to return to European Russia after their terms of service are ended. Especially is this the case with those who are doing well financially, or have families with them, either from their old homes or by marriage in Siberia. I talked with several intelligent Poles, who said they did not intend returning to Poland. 'We were drawn unwillingly into the acts that caused our banishment,' they said, 'and may suffer again in the same way if we go home; in Siberia there are no disturbing influences around us, and we prefer to stay here.' On the other hand, the love of home is very strong with many exiles, and they take the first opportunity of leaving the country of their banishment."
[Pg 336]
Fred asked if they had the same system of serfdom in Siberia before the emancipation as in European Russia.
"At the time of the emancipation," said Mr. Hegeman, "there was only one proprietor of serfs in all Siberia; he was the grandson of a gentleman who received a grant of land, with serfs, from Catherine II. None of the family, with a single exception, ever attempted to exercise more than nominal authority, and that one was murdered in consequence of enforcing his full proprietary rights.
 A SIBERIAN LANDSCAPE.
"Siberia was a land of freedom, so far as serfs were concerned. The system of serfdom never had any foothold there. The Siberians say that the superior prosperity enjoyed by the peasants of their part of Russia had a great deal to do with the emancipation measures of Alexander II. The Siberian peasants were noticeably better fed, clothed, and educated than the corresponding class in European Russia, and the absence of masters gave them an air of independence. Distinctions were much less marked among the people, and in many instances the officials associated familiarly with men they would have hesitated to recognize on the other side of the Ural Mountains."
"It sounds odd enough to talk about Siberia as a land of freedom," said Fred, "when we've always been accustomed to associate the name of the country with imprisonment."
Just then the steamer stopped at one of its regular landings; and as she was to be there for an hour or more, the party took a stroll on shore.[Pg 337] There were only two or three houses at the landing-place, the town which it supplied lying a little back from the river, upon ground higher than the bank.
It happened to be a holiday, and there was quite a group at the landing-place. The peasants were in their best clothes, and several games were in progress. Frank and Fred hardly knew which way to turn, as there were several things they wished to see all at once.
 GIRLS PLAYING AT SKAKIET.
Some girls were in a circle, with their hands joined; they were singing songs which had a good deal of melody, and the whole performance reminded the youths of the "round-a-ring-a-rosy" game of their native land. Close by this group were two girls playing a game which was called skakiet in Russian. They had a board balanced on its centre, and a girl stood on each end of the board. The maidens jumped alternately into the air, and the descent of one caused her companion to go higher each time. Mr. Hegeman said it was a favorite amusement in the Russian villages. It required a little practice, as the successful performer must maintain a perfectly upright position. Two girls who are skilled at the game will sometimes keep up this motion for fifteen or twenty minutes without apparent fatigue.
Among the men there were wrestling-matches, which were conducted with a good deal of vigor. Frank observed that some of the wrestlers received very ugly falls, but did not seem to mind them in the least. The Russian peasantry are capable of rough handling. They are accustomed[Pg 338] to it all their lives, and not at all disturbed by anything of an ordinary character. They resemble the lower classes of the English populace more than any other people.
The women are more refined than the men in their amusements. Singing and dancing are very popular among them, and they have quite a variety of dances. A favorite dance is in couples, where they spin round and round, until one of the pair drops or sits down from sheer fatigue.
 A VILLAGE FESTIVAL.
As our friends strolled near the river-bank they came upon a group of women engaged in one of these dances. Three or four of the by-standers were singing, and thus supplied the music; two women stood facing each other in the centre of the group, each with her hands resting on her hips. One of the singers raised her hands, and at this signal the whirling began.
When this couple was tired out another came forward, and so the dance was kept up. Fred thought the dress of the dancers was not particularly[Pg 339] graceful, as each woman wore stout boots instead of shoes. They had already observed that the old-fashioned boot is not by any means confined to the sterner sex among the Russian peasantry.
Some of the women wore flowers in their hair, but the majority of the heads were covered with handkerchiefs. Doctor Bronson explained to the youths that a woman may wear her hair loosely while she is unmarried, but when she becomes a wife she wraps it in a kerchief, or encloses it in a net.
Naturally this explanation by the Doctor led to a question about marriage customs in Russia.
"Courtship in Russia is not like the same business in America," remarked the Doctor, in reply to the query. "A good deal of it has to be done by proxy."
"How is that?"
"When a young fellow wishes to take a wife, he looks around among the young women of his village and selects the one that best pleases him. Then he sends a messenger—his mother, or some other woman of middle age—to the parents of the girl, with authority to begin negotiations. If they can agree upon the terms of the proposed marriage, the amount of dowry the bride is to receive, and other matters bearing on the subject, the swain receives a favorable report. Sometimes the parents of the girl are opposed to the match, and will not listen to any proposals; in such case the affair ends at once, the girl herself having nothing to say in the matter. Quite likely she may never know anything about it.
"The whole business is arranged between the elders who have it in charge. The custom seems to be largely Oriental in its character, though partaking somewhat of the marriage ways of France and other European countries.
"Supposing the negotiations to have resulted favorably, the young man is notified when he can begin his visits to the house of his beloved. He dresses in his best clothes (very much as an American youth would do under similar circumstances), and calls at the appointed time. He carries a present of some kind—and the long-established custom requires that he must never make a call during his courtship without bringing a present. One of the gifts must be a shawl."
"In that case," said Fred, "the young men are probably favorable to short courtships, while the girls would be in no hurry. If every visit must bring a present, a long courtship would heap up a fine lot of gifts."
"That is quite true," Doctor Bronson replied, "and instances have been known where the match was broken off after the patience and pocket[Pg 340] of the suitor were exhausted. But he has a right to demand a return of his presents in such an event."
"And, as has happened in similar cases in America," Frank retorted, "he does not always get them."
"Quite true," said the Doctor, with a smile; "but the family playing such a trick would not find other suitors very speedily. Human nature is the same in all countries, and even the young man in love is shy of being defrauded.
 RUSSIAN PEASANT WOMEN.
"But we will suppose everything has gone favorably," the Doctor continued, "and the suitor has been accepted. As a matter of fact, Russian courtships are short, only a month or two, and possibly for the reason you suggested. A day is fixed for the betrothal, and the ceremony takes place in the presence of the families of both the parties to the engagement. The betrothal is virtually a marriage ceremony, as it binds the two so firmly together that only the most serious reasons can separate them. The betrothal ceremony is at the house of the bride's parents, and is followed in due course by the wedding, which takes place in church.
"Custom requires that the bride shall supply a certain quantity of[Pg 341] linen and other household property, while the husband provides the dwelling and certain specified articles of furniture. Between them they should be able to set up house-keeping immediately, but there are probably many cases where they cannot do so. Among well-to-do people the bride provides a dozen shirts, a dressing-gown, and a pair of slippers for her husband; she is supposed to spin the flax, weave it into cloth, and make the shirts; but, as a matter of fact, she buys the material, and very often gets the garments ready-made.
"For a day or two before the wedding, all the dowry of the bride is exhibited in a room set apart for the purpose; a priest blesses it with holy water, and friends call to gaze upon the matrimonial trophies. Among the middle and upper classes the bridegroom gives a dinner to his bachelor friends, as in some other countries, the evening before the wedding; the bride on the same evening assembles her companions, who join in singing farewell to her. The bridegroom sends them a liberal supply of candy, cakes, bonbons, and the like, and they indulge in quite a festivity.
"Among the peasants the companions of the bride accompany her to the bath on the evening before the wedding, and both going and returning she is expected to weep bitterly and loudly. An English lady tells how she heard a Russian girl, who was about to be married, giving vent to the wildest grief, while her companions were trying to cheer her by singing. The lady felt very sorry for the poor maiden, and rejoiced when she passed out of hearing.
"A little later in the evening the lady went with a friend to call at the bride's cottage, and entered quite unannounced. The bride was supping heartily, her face full of expressions of joy; the Englishwoman was startled and still more surprised when the girl asked,
"'Didn't I do it well?'
"It then came out that the weeping was all a farce, though there may be cases where it is not so.
 MAKING CALLS AFTER A WEDDING.
"On the day of the wedding the bride and groom do not see each other until they meet in church. After the ceremony the whole party goes to the house of the bride's parents, where a reception is held in honor of the event. When it is over, the young couple go to their own home, if they have one; the next morning all the parents and relatives go and take coffee with the newly married; then there are dinner-parties at the houses of both pairs of parents; other parties and dinners follow, and sometimes the feasting is kept up for a week or more. It is a trying ordeal for all concerned, and there is general rejoicing when the festivities are over.
"Among the peasantry it is the custom, at least in some parts of Russia,[Pg 342] for the bride to present a whip to her husband the day after the wedding. This whip is hung at the head of the bed, and, if report is true, it is not unfrequently used."
"I remember seeing a whip hanging at the head of the bed in some of the houses we have visited," said Fred, "and wondered what it was there for."
"The curious thing about the matter is," the Doctor continued, "that a good many wives expect the whip to be used. The same lady I just referred to says that one of her nurse-maids left her to be married. A short time after the marriage she went to the nachalnik, or justice of the peace, of her village, and complained that her husband did not love her. The nachalnik asked how she knew it, and the young wife replied,
"'Because he has not whipped me once since we were married!'
 CEREMONY AFTER A PEASANT'S WEDDING.
"Among the peasantry the married couple goes to the house of the owner of the estate to receive his blessing. He comes to the door and welcomes them as they bow in front of him till their foreheads nearly touch the ground."
The steamer's whistle recalled the party, and in a little while they were again on their voyage. Mr. Hegeman resumed the story of his ride through Siberia as soon as all were seated in their accustomed places.
[Pg 343]
[Pg 344]
"I think we were at Nertchinsk," said he, "when we turned aside to the mines where the exiles were formerly employed."
"Yes," replied Fred; "you had just arrived at the house of the friend of your companion, and accepted an invitation to remain for dinner."
"That was it, exactly," responded the traveller. "We had an excellent dinner, and soon after it was over we continued on our journey. We sent back the tarantasse which we had hired from the station-master, and obtained a larger and better one from our host.
"Two nights and the intervening day brought us, without any incident worth remembering, to Chetah, the capital of the province of the trans-Baikal. It is a town of four or five thousand inhabitants, and stands on the Ingodah River, a tributary of the Shilka. Below this point the river is navigable for boats and rafts, and it was here that General Mouravieff organized the expedition for the conquest of the Amoor. A considerable garrison is kept here, and the town has an important place in the history of Siberian exile. Many of the houses are large and well built. The officers of the garrison have a club, and ordinarily the society includes a good many ladies from European Russia.
"I stopped two or three days at Chetah, and my courier friend continued his journey. Finding a young officer who was going to Kiachta, on the frontier of Mongolia, I arranged to accompany him, and one evening we started. I think I have before told you that a Siberian journey nearly always begins in the evening, and is continued day and night till its close. The day is pass............