mediately making his peace with his offended God, before
whose awful tribunal his merciless government sends him
suddenly to appear, with all his crimes fresh upon him. There
are certainly instances in Siberia, where convicts have again
committed crimes, and some of them even murder, and such are
confined to the mines for life; but there are few examples of
this sort, and the majority of the convicts acquire habits of
industry and good conduct superior to the same class of people
in Russia. Having seen the good effects of the Russian penal
code, what I say on the subject is no more than what truth and
justice demand; and I wish, that for humanity's sake, so bright
an example, which sheds a ray of unsullied glory on her
sovereignty, may be followed with equal success by every nation
of the earth."

The route of Mr. Dobell continued to lead him through the country of the
Yakuts, a pastoral and industrious people, sufficient in numbers to
relieve his mind from the painful idea that so fine a country should be
destitute of inhabitants. Their whole attention is turned to the rearing
of horned cattle and horses. Milk, prepared in various ways, is their
principal sustenance; fish and water-fowl they obtain in abundance,
except in the depth of winter; but pigs, sheep, or poultry, are never
seen. On the 14th of August, he descended into an immense and fertile
plain, through which he beheld the noble Lena flowing along, and reached
the town of Yakutsk early in the evening.

This town was, at that time, composed of two hundred and seventy houses,
and two thousand five hundred Russian inhabitants, besides a very
considerable population of Yakuts, in and about it; since then, however,
it is much increased and improved in every way. As regards climate, it
is in winter the coldest spot in all Siberia, the frost often exceeding
40 deg. of Reaumur; the average heat of summer is not beyond 16 deg., though
there are periods at which it is as hot as in the torrid zone. The
public buildings are well constructed, and kept in excellent order.
There is an ancient citadel of wood, built by the Cossacks nearly two
hundred years ago, which still forms a strong and good defence; and
affords evidence of the courage, perseverance, and intelligence, of the
conquerors of Siberia, who, with a handful of men, could erect such a
fortress in the heart of an enemy's country, and during their