prisoner, and he characterized it with perfect justice. It is said that the other district and village prisons are in a similar condition.
THE IRKÚTSK PRISONS.
The inmates of the Irkútsk prison, castle have a very hard life—principally on account of the extremely limited space in the cells—but the people who deserve the most sympathy and pity are the exiles. In winter they accumulate in the forwarding prison in such numbers that very many of them have to sleep under the vári, on the cold, damp floor, and suffer incredible privations. Their unfortunate situation is made worse by the fact that they are not supplied with clothing, but have to wear such rags as they possess of their own. Many of them do not know what it is to have a change of under-clothing, and, generally speaking, they are in a state that would justify them in accusing Diogenes himself of living in luxury.
The Irkútsk forwarding prison was overcrowded to the extent of more than twice its normal capacity in 1887.—"The Sanitary Condition of Prisons," Report of the Medical Department for 1887. Ministry of the Interior, St. Petersburg, 1889.
The following are the official statistics of sickness and mortality in all the "prisons of general type" in the province of Irkutsk for the years 1886, 1887, and 1888:
| 1886. | 1887. | 1888. | |
| Average daily number of prisoners | 1335 | 1311 | 1280 |
| Average daily number in hospital | 212 | 192 | 160 |
| Sick-rate—per cent. | 15.8 | 14.6 | 12.5 |
| Total number of deaths | 56. | 84. | 90. |
| Death-rate—per cent. | 4.2 | 6.4 | 7. |
The sick-rate in Belgian prisons is 2.7 per cent., and the death-rate 1.7 per cent.—Rep. of Lond. Meeting of Internatl. Pris. Cong., p. 78.
THE IRKÚTSK CITY PRISON.
The Irkútsk prison is a large brick building, two stories in height, with its front facade just opposite the long bridge over the brook Ushakófka. As you cross the bridge the building has quite a beautiful appearance, and the idea that it is a prison does not at first enter your head. But it
