Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/152

146 territory to the Czar, and received in return a pardon for their misdeeds on the Don. History furnishes no parallel to this conquest, which was made by a few hundred outlaws, and carried to a successful end with little assistance from others and no support from the Government. But to return to the Cossacks of to-day:

"The Cossacks are a race of freemen. With only a few exceptions, none of them have ever been serfs. The whole land where they live belongs to them in common, and they have equal rights in hunting and fishing. They pay no taxes to Government, but in place of taxes are required