Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/177

Rh phantoms which haunted my imagination, and the anguish that my heart endured in that solitary place, I could fill volumes, but those narratives would be equally melancholy and useless, and my memory, at this moment, is even reluctant in recalling them. I shall, therefore, confine myself to a few words on my companions in misfortune, confined in the same prison with me, to which I shall add some particulars relative to my mode of living in that captivity, and the few incidents which happened to me until the time of my release.

Siberia and Kamtschatka are the two great bastiles of Russia. Schlusselburg, upon the Lake of Ladoga, is also a fortress where they confine prisoners for life. It is there that the unfortunate Iwan was assassinated by the order of Catherine. The prison in which I was incarcerated formed part of the citadel of St. Petersburg, and was called the Secret Prison. It was used generally for state prisoners, during the time of their examination. I know not why they had departed from this rule in our case. On my arrival I found only two prisoners, of whom