Page:Biographies of Scientific Men.djvu/166

 1834-1907

N the reign of Ivan IV., the Terrible (1555), the tribes east of the Urals came into collision with Russian colonists. A tendency to form invading expeditions into Siberia now began, and by 1650, in the reign of Alexis Romanof, Siberia was entirely incorporated into the Russian Empire. The surplus population of the dominions west of the Urals has since been gradually settling in Siberia; and, in addition, the system of severe repression which the empire has always maintained has served to people many districts with political exiles as well as convicts. To a large extent the Russian Government has also peopled Siberia by sending Cossacks to occupy the frontiers, and by subsidizing colonists of various descriptions; but the greater part of the Siberian population has been produced by immigration. Fur-hunting, escape from serfdom, from religious persecution, and from conscription, have been the main incentives to this great exodus—for despotism and servitude are deeply rooted in Russia. Whether the Duma will alter this state of affairs remains to be seen. 126