Discovery of Diamond Mines in Russia. 261 



Art. Kill. — Contributions to Physical Geography, 



1. Account of the Discovery of Diamoiids i?i Russia. In a 

 Letter from St Petersburgh. 



It is not many years since the produce of the Russian gold 

 mines amounted to only forty pud * at the utmost. This quan- 

 tity was raised, with great expence and severe toil, from deep 

 pits. Who would not have smiled then at the assertion, that 

 after a short time, on an immense tract of soil, the richest gold 

 beds, — that masses of solid gold and platina would be found, 

 in quantities so great, as have hitherto not been found in the 

 new world. And yet this has happened. Russia is, in this 

 respect, not behind the countries of the other hemisphere, 

 which, from the discovery of America, were in some degree 

 the monopolizers of the precious metal. Russia has been the 

 first to coin money from platina ; yet these countries had an 

 advantage over her in the possession of the invaluable dia^ 

 mond. This she also now has ; the first Russian diamond was^ 

 found on the 22d June 1829, on the western side of the Ural, 

 at the Biszer gold-wash of Countess Polier, by a boy thirteen 

 years of age, of the name of Pawel Popow. 



The first well-grounded hint of the probable existence of 

 diamonds in Russia, is due to the Professor of the University 

 of Dorpat, Maurice Engelhardt, who, on a scientific journey 

 which he made in the Ural in the year 1826, wrote from thence 

 about this remarkable object to the rector of the university, 

 State Councillor Ewers. In an extract of this letter, which 

 was printed at the time (1826) in the Journal de St Peters- 

 bourg^ No. 118, it is said, among other things — " La sable de 

 platine de Nijny-Toura appartenant a la fabrique de la cou- 

 ronne Koushra, ofFre une resemblance frappante avec celui du 

 Brezil, ou Ton trouve ordinairement les diamans. D'apres la 

 description de M. d'Esckwege (Geognostisches Gemalde Von 

 Brasilien, Weymar, 1822,) celui ci est compose principalement 

 de galets d'un hydrate de fer (le Brauneisenstein des Alle- 

 mands,) et de jaspe, et offre en outre une multitude de petites 

 pierres microscopiques de diverses couleurs et plus de platine 



• About 15001b. avoirdujpois. 



