Being the refuge for all the Siberians of the province, Irkutsk was
at this time very full. Stores of every kind had been collected
in abundance. Irkutsk is the emporium of the innumerable kinds
of merchandise which are exchanged between China, Central Asia,
and Europe. The authorities had therefore no fear with regard
to admitting the peasants of the valley of the Angara, and leaving
a desert between the invaders and the town.
Irkutsk is the residence of the governor-general of
Eastern Siberia. Below him acts a civil governor, in whose hands
is the administration of the province; a head of police, who has
much to do in a town where exiles abound; and, lastly, a mayor,
chief of the merchants, and a person of some importance,
from his immense fortune and the influence which he exercises
over the people.
The garrison of Irkutsk was at that time composed of an infantry
regiment of Cossacks, consisting of two thousand men, and a body
of police wearing helmets and blue uniforms laced with silver.
Besides, as has been said, in consequence of the events which
had occurred, the brother of the Czar had been shut up in the town
since the beginning of the invasion.
A journey of political importance had taken the Grand Duke
to these distant provinces of Central Asia. After passing
through the principal Siberian cities, the Grand Duke,
who traveled en militaire rather than en prince, without any parade,
accompanied by his officers, and escorted by a regiment
of Cossacks, arrived in the Trans-Baikalcine provinces.
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