]52 SIBERIA. 



Pita, <ill in lilt' iiurtliciii sysicm; the basin of tlio river Ouden-i which falls into the tributary 

 of thi' Angara, the Kainenka and tlio bivsins of the rivers Bolshaya Mourozhnaya ami Pita, 

 all in the southern system. In the majority of instances the rivers of both systems have a 

 rapid current owing to the sharpness of their fall. During tiie heavy, spring rains, they rap- 

 idly become swollen and overflow their courses, and although, owing to the steapness of 

 their beds, Ihcy do not overflow to any great extent, nevertheless they frequently cause 

 groat damage to the gold workings. On the other hand during the prolonged summer droughts 

 some of them become so shallow that it is necessary to stop washing the sands. 



'J'iic rivcis ill ihc Yenisei region are not navigable, with the exception of th"' lower 

 portions of the Yenisei, Podkamenaya Toungouska and liolshaia Pita. The more consider- 

 able tributaries of these rivers are only navigable to small boats and rafts. 



The gold extracted in the Yeniseisk region is generally finely granular, tabular and, 

 as it were, rubbed; a coarsely grained gold of high purity is found along the rivers Ogne 

 and Enashimo. 



In the northern system the thickness of the gold bnaring deposits varies from two to 

 eight feet, although there aie some which are as much as 15, 20 and even 35 feet thick. 

 In the southern system the thickness of the deposits generally varies between two and twelve 

 feet. The superficial covering of peat is in both cases between 5 and 30 feet. The average 

 richness of the gold bearing sand in the northern system is about 31 dolias of gold per 

 hundred pouds, but in the southern system it is somewhat less. However, in both system- 

 there arc workings in which the quantity of gold reaches one zolotnik per poud. 



In the Y^eniscisk region the first deposits were discovered in the present southern sys- 

 tem, along the rivers Ouderei and Mamona, in the year 1838. At that time the workings 

 of the Birusinsk system, in the Xizhneoudinsk region of the government of Irkutsk were of 

 great importance, owing to the abundance of gold they yeilded. As however the newly discovereil 

 deposits in the Y^eniseisk region were found to excel those of the Berusinsk system in 

 richness, numerous prospecting expeditions were dispatched to this region, and in 1839 the 

 deposits of the northern system were discovered in the valleys of the rivers Aktolik and Van- 

 gash, while in the beginning of the forties all the present gold districts were covered with 

 claims, although their exploration is being carried on to the present day. In the Yeniseisk re- 

 gion, as everywhere, the richest deposits were discovered first, and therefore the yield of 

 gold from this region attained its maximum soon after its discovery, and then began to grad- 

 ually decline. By the amount of gold produced, the Y^eniseisk deposits stand among the richest 

 in Russia. In the first year after the gold washing was begun, and when only one mine 

 was under exploitation, with 190 miners, the yield exceeded TV-i pouds of gold. Subse- 

 quently the number of mines, and the yield of gold increased year by year; the maximum 

 yield coincides with the year 1847 when 1,212 pounds 12V2 pounds of gold were produced by 

 12,100 miners. This amount formed about 65 per cent of the production in Russia during 

 that year. After 1847 the amount of gold extracted began to lessen, notwithstanding the increased 

 number of miners, which in 1854 amounted to 20,567, and also the increased number of 

 mines and the quantity of sand washed therein. The exploitation of the gold no longer formed 

 an attraction for large companies and gradually began to fallinto the hands of small enterprises. 



