Page:Siberia and the Exile System Vol 1.djvu/166

144 "Notes from a House of the Dead." There was one other building in Omsk that we desired to inspect, namely, the prison that had taken the place of the old ostróg; but we were treated with such contemptuous discourtesy by the governor of the territory when we called upon him and asked

permission to examine it, that we could only retire without even having taken seats in his High Excellency's office.

On Wednesday, July 8th, having fully recovered from the fatigue of our journey from Tiumén, we left Omsk with three post horses and a Cossack driver for Semipalátinsk. The road between the two cities runs everywhere along the right bank of the Írtish through a line of log villages which do not differ essentially in appearance from those north of Omsk, but which are inhabited almost exclusively by Cossacks. Whenever the Russian Government desires