eral that Zashiversk had ceased to exist! The
Governor-General therefore ordered that the prisoner be taken to
Sredni-Kolymsk, another 'town' of forty-five houses, situated on the
River Kolyma north of the Arctic Circle, 3700 miles from Irkutsk and
7500 miles from the capital of the Empire. When, after more than a year,
the unfortunate druggist reached the last outpost of Russian power in
North-Eastern Asia, and was set at liberty, he made his way to the
little log church, entered the belfry, and proceeded to jangle the
church bells in a sort of wild, erratic chime. When the people of the
town ran to the belfry in alarm and inquired what was the matter,
Schiller replied, with dignity, that he wished the whole population to
know that 'by the Grace of God, Herman Schiller, after long and perilous
wanderings, had reached, in safety, the town of Sredni-Kolymsk!' Months
of fatigue, privation and loneliness had probably deprived the poor
fellow of his reason, a not unusual occurrence in this isolated portion
of the great Russian Empire. But the local police reported to the
Governor-General that the exile Schiller was disorderly and turbulent,
and that he had caused a public scandal before he had been in
Sredni-Kolymsk twenty-four hours, and upon receipt of this information
the Governor-General endorsed an order to remove the offender to some
place at least twelve versts distant from the town. His idea was
probably to have Schiller sent to some small suburban village in the
general neighbourhood of Sredni-Kolymsk. Unfortunately there was no
suburban village within a hundred miles in any direction, and the local
authorities, not knowing what else to do, carried the wretched druggist
about twelve versts out into the primaeval wilderness, erected a log
cabin for him, and left him there. What eventually became of him I don't
know."[33]

[Footnote 32: Petty officials.]

[Footnote 33: No wonder Zashiversk figures to this day on most English
maps, when it is shown on an official map of the Russian General Staff
published as late as 1883!]

The first stage out from Verkhoyansk, one of a hundred and fifty versts,
was rapidly accomplished in less than twenty-four hours. This was
wonderful travelling, but the snow was in perfect condition, indeed as
hard and slippery as ice, for at the first _stancia_ the cold was
greater than any we experienced throughout the whole journey from France
to America, the thermometer registering 78 deg. b