GOLD-PRODUCE OF SIBERIA. 237 But even Kresdowosdwishensk has been distanced by the mine of Spasky, situated near the sources of the Peskin, which, in the year 1842, yielded its fortunate possessor, the above-mentioned Counsellor Nikita Maesnikow (one of the few men who were already extremely rich before the Siberian auriferous deposits were discovered), the enormous quantity of 100 pouds of gold! From 1840 to 1845, Maesnikow extracted from this mine no less than 348 pouds 6 lbs. of gold, worth 4,135,174 silver roubles, or about 640,000l. Still more recently, in 1860, the Gawrilow mine, belonging to the house of Rjasanow, produced 102 pouds of pure gold. But in Siberia, as elsewhere, mining operations are frequently doomed to end in disappointment, particularly if the space destined to be worked in the following summer has not been carefully examined beforehand, as the ore is often very unequally distributed. A speculator, having discovered a gold-mine, examined four or five samples of the sand, which gave a highly satisfactory result. Delighted with his good fortune, he made his arrangements on a grand scale, and collected provisions for 500 workmen; but when operations began, it was found that he had, unfortunately, hit upon a small patch of auriferous sand, the vicinity of which was totally void of gold, so that his 500 workmen produced no more than a few pounds of ore, and he lost at least 10,000l. by his adventure. The entire gold produce of East Siberia amounted, in 1845, to 848 pouds 36 lbs., and in 1856 to about 1,100 pouds; but latterly, in consequence of the increasing wages and dearness of provisions, which has caused many of the less productive mines to be abandoned, it has somewhat diminished. In 1860, 31,796 men, 919 women, and 8,751 horses and oxen, were employed in the Siberian gold-mines. As may easily be imagined, the discovery of these sources of wealth in the desert has caused a great revolution in the social state of Siberia. The riches so suddenly acquired by a few favourites of fortune, have raised luxury to an unexampled height, and encouraged a senseless prodigality. Some sterlets having been offered for 300 roubles to a miner * * A species of sturgeon highly esteemed by epicures. suddenly raised from penury to wealth, Fool!' said the upstart, with the superb mien of a conquering hero, to the fish-dealer, wilt thou sell me these excellent sterlets so cheap? Here are a thousand roubles; go, and say that thou hast dealt with me!' The small town of Krasnojarsk, romantically situated on the Jenisei, is the chief seat of the rich miners. Here may be seen the choicest toilettes, the most showy equipages, and champagne (which in Siberia costs at least 11. a bottle) is the daily beverage of the gold aristocracy. Unfortunately, Krasnojarsk had, until very recently, not a single bookseller's shop to boast of; and while thousands were lavished on vanity and sensual enjoyments, not a rouble was devoted to the improvement of the mind. Less rich in gold than the province of Jeniseisk, but richer in copper and iron, and above all in platina, is the Ural, where mining industry was first introduced, by Peter the Great, in the last years of the seventeenth century, and has since acquired a colossal development. Though gold was discovered in the Uralian province of Permia as early as 1745, yet its production on a large scale is of more modern date. In the year 1816, the whole quantity of gold furnished by the Ural amounted only to 5 pouds 35 lbs., while in 1834 it had increased to 405 pouds. The discovery of the precious metals on the estates of the large mine-proprietors of the Ural, who already before that time were among the wealthiest men of the empire, has increased their riches to an enormous extent, and given an European celebrity to the names of Jakowlew and Demidoff. Werch Issetsk and Werchne Tagilsk, in the province of Permia, belonging to the Jakowlew family, have an extent of more than three millions of acres, with a population of 11,000 souls. Besides iron and copper, their chief produce, these estates yielded, in 1834, 58 pouds of gold. Nishne-Tagilsk, belonging, since 1725, to the Demidoffs, is a still more magnificent possession; for it may truly be said, that perhaps nowhere in the world are greater mineral riches congregated in one spot than here, where, besides vast quantities of iron and copper, the washing of the sands produced, in 1834, no less than 29 pouds of gold, SIBERIAN GOLD-ARISTOCRACY. 239 and 113 pouds 3 lbs. of platina. The estate extends over four millions of acres, and its population, in 1834, amounted to 20,000 souls. The town of Nishne-Tagilsk has about 15,000 inhabitants, and Helmersen (Travels in the Ural') praises the Demidoffs for their zeal in carrying the civilisation of Europe to the wilds of the Ural. In an excellent elementary school, 150 boys are clothed, fed, and educated at their expense. Those pupils who distinguish themselves by their abilities are then sent to a higher school, such as the Demidoff Lyceum in Jaroslaw, or the University of Moscow, and after the termination of their studies obtain a situation on the estates of the family. The palace of the Demidoffs has a fine collection of paintings by the first Italian masters; but it is seldom if ever inhabited by the proprietors, who prefer Florence Paris to the Ural. The founder of the family was an eminent gunsmith of the town of Tula, whose abilities gained him the favour of Peter the Great, and the gift of the mines on which the colossal fortune of his descendants has been raised. The Sea-Ctter. For what Purpose was Middendorff's Voyage to Taimurland undertaken ?—Difficulties and Obstacles-Expedition down the Taimur River to the Polar SeaStorm on Taimur Lake-Loss of the Boat-Middendorff ill and alone in 75° N. Lat.-Saved by a grateful Samojede-Climate and Vegetation of Taimurland. N following the contours of the Siberian coast, we find, to the east of Novaya Zemlya, a vast tract of territory projecting towards the Pole, and extending its promontories far into the Icy sea. This country-which, from its principal river, may be called Taimurland-is the most northern, and, I need hardly add, the most inhospitable part of the Old World. The last huts of the Russian fishermen are situated about the mouth of the Jenisei, but the whole territory of the Taimur river, and the regions traversed by the lower course of the Chatanga and the Päsina, are completely uninbited. Even along the upper course of these two last-named rivers, MIDDENDORFF'S ADVENTURES. 241 the population is exceedingly scanty and scattered; and the few Samojedes who migrate during the summer to the banks of the Taimur, gladly leave them at the approach of winter, the cold of which no thermometer has ever measured. As may easily be imagined, Taimurland has but few attractions for the trader or the fur-hunter, but for the naturalist it is by no means without interest. We have seen in a former chapter how Von Baer, prompted by the disinterested love of science, travelled to Novaya Zemlya, to examine the productions of a cold insular summer, beyond the 70th degree of latitude. The instructive results of his journey rendered it doubly desirable to obtain information about the effects of summer in a continental climate, situated if possible still farther to the north; and as no region could be better suited to this purpose than the interior of the broad mass of Taimurland, the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg resolved to send thither a scientific expedition. Fortunately for the success of the undertaking, Von Middendorff, the eminent naturalist, whose offer of service was gladly accepted, was in every respect the right man in the right place; for to the most untiring scientific zeal, and an unwavering determination, he joined a physical strength and a manual dexterity rarely found united with learning. In the Lapland moors he had learned to bivouac for nights together, while chasing the waterfowl, and on foot he was able to tire the best-trained walrus-hunter. He understood how to construct a boat, and to steer it with his own hand, and every beast or bird was doomed that came within reach of his unerring ball. In one word, no traveller ever plunged into the Arctic wilds more independent of baggage, followers, or the means of transport. On April 4 we find Middendorff, accompanied by Mr. Brandt, a Danish forester, and a single servant, on the ice of the Jenisei between Turuchansk and Dudino. Here his companions were attacked by measles; but as it was high time to reach the Chatanga before the melting of the snow, the patients were carefully packed up in boxes lined with skins, and the whole party-whose numbers, meanwhile, had been increased by the addition of a topographer and of three Cossacks-emerged from the region of forests on April 13, R |