THE OIL-SUPPLY OF THE WORLD. 259 



in deep valleys, others nearly nine hundred feet above the sea-level. 

 In some places the gas bubbles up through pools and lakes, which are 

 covered with a rainbow-tinted scum ; in others, the thick oil oozes from 

 rock-crevices or bubbles up in mud-volcanoes. In some valleys there 

 are regular terraces of a thick paste resembling asphalt, and smelling 

 of petroleum. Rich deposits of ozokerite and flowing wells of petro- 

 leum have been partly worked, and it is noted that the oil here is 

 of a yellowish-green color, while that at Baku varies from very dark 

 green to transparent lilac. These Kouban deposits are as yet quite 

 undeveloped, but it is evident that, from their local position on the 

 shores of the Black Sea, they must soon attain to considerable im- 

 portance. In all this region the character of the soil differs essen- 

 tially from that of the oil-region of the States ; here layers of solid 

 limestone are comparatively rare, and the general formation consists 

 of thick layers of clay, sand, quicksand, and sea-shells, telling of a pe- 

 riod when the whole formed the ocean-bed. The methods of drilling 

 and pumping have, of course, been adapted to suit these different 

 conditions. 



While Ludwig Nobel continues to be the acknowledged oil-king 

 of the Caspian, his marvelous success has given a tremendous impetus 

 to the whole life of the oil-trade, and numerous capitalists have pressed 

 forward to follow in his footsteps ; so that Baku has rapidly developed 

 into a large city, having a coast-line of about six miles sweeping round 

 a well-protected harbor, crowded with shipping. At the close of 1883 

 the Russian papers noted this increase of shipping as altogether mar- 

 velous, seven thousand vessels having cleared the port within the pre- 

 vious six months, and of those fifteen hundred were actually Caspian 

 vessels, chiefly hailing from Baku itself. Of course, many of these 

 were merely small sailing-vessels ; but no less than seven hundred 

 steamers are now employed on the regular passenger and freight 

 service of the Caspian and Volga, and some of these are splendid 

 vessels, one at least being lighted throughout with Edison's electric 

 lamps. 



These are quite apart from the large and rapidly increasing oil- 

 fleet. In addition to those belonging to Messrs. Nobel, a Russian 

 company (the Caucasus and Mercury Company) owns nineteen steam- 

 ers, and other firms possess many, and are rapidly importing more and 

 more from Finland and elsewhere. Forty new steel steamers, specially 

 fitted with great tanks, were to be delivered to various firms before 

 the close of 1888, and several hundred sailing-vessels have been con- 

 structed for the same purpose. 



For the accommodation of all these, twenty-five piers have been 

 run into the harbor, many of them fitted with pumps and pipes, in 

 order to fill the great cistern - steamers with the least possible de- 

 lay. Sixty miles of pipes connect these piers and refineries with the 

 wells. 



