1897,] The Geological Congress in Russia. 953 



our base of operations. A steamer trip from Samara, on the 

 Volga — a walk along the railroad, fifteen miles from Acha to 

 Miniar, giving a fine section of the Carboniferous and Devonain 

 strata — a two day's wagon trip to th.e iron mines (limonite) of 

 Bakal — a visit to the foundry at Simsk and its charming en- 

 virons — such were a few of the earlier excursions which, be- 

 sides showing interesting geological sections, gave us a good 

 opportunity to become acquainted with the customs and mode 

 of living of the people of the region. And at every mine and 

 foundry, in many of the towns and even at the railway sta- 

 tions, we found the heartiest welcome awaiting us, great con- 

 courses of people who looked upon us with undisguised curios- 

 ity but evident good will, receptions by the local authorities, 

 and numerous lunches and banquets of the most lavish de- 

 scription. It is difficult indeed, to express the feeling of grow- 

 ing wonder which all shared at the continuous ovation that 

 greeted us on all sides as we made our progress through these 

 mountainous regions, seemingly so little calculated to afford 

 such entertainment as we found. Still, harsh as it may seem 

 to criticise in such a case, it must be confessed that there was 

 too large a share of our time devoted to social functions, and 

 we might have seen many additional localities of geologic 

 interest had we not been compelled by our kind hosts to 

 arrange our movements in accordance with their too frequent 

 hospitalities. 



The guide book of the excursions was prepared in the form 

 of separate pamphlets for various localities or regions, written 

 by the men who were best acquainted in each and who were 

 to be our leaders. The descriptions were generally good, 

 though often lacking in details ; the sections and illustrations 

 were satisfactory, though the mine sections rarely corresponded 

 with the visible exposures. The accompanying geological 

 map of Russia, scale 1:6,300,000, reduced from the larger map 

 published by the Geological Committee in 1892, scale 1:2,520,000 

 served as a very convenient means of orientation. 



In the region between Moscow and Oufa where our leader 

 was Nikitin, we saw horizontal or slightly disturbed strata 

 ranjiinfi: from Cretaceous downward to middle Carboniferous. 



