July 9, 1896] 



jVA TURE 



rocks, which consist mainly of limestones and sanilstones, are 

 exposcil, it is evident from their highly inclined dips, varying 

 rapidly from point to point, that the whole region has been 

 subjected to great earth-niovements, the presence of overthrust 

 faulting having been specially noted by Dr. Sjogren, of Upsala. 

 As a result of these movements, the strata have been thrown 

 into a series of anticlinal and synclinal folds, upon whose up- 

 turned and denuded edges throughout the Balachani district beds 

 of Aralo-Caspian age have been unconformably laid down, 

 a most notable feature connected with them being the extreme 

 thinness and the abundance of the layers composing them. 



Chemically, numerous suggestions have been made as to the 

 origin of the oil. Mendeleef ascribes it to the carbon enclosed 

 in metallic iron, deep seated in the earth's crust. Daubree and 

 Coquand connect it with combined chemical and eruptive action ; 

 Fuchs and De Launay lay special stress u]3on its relation to 

 disturbed districts, whereas Lesquereux ascribes it without 

 reserve to the decomposition of vegetable remains, and Hofer 

 regards it as being of animal origin. Seeing, therefore, that the 

 ecological and physical characteristics lend support to all the 

 theories enunciated, to none of them can as yet be granted any 

 other than a hypothetical value. 



Since the introduction of boring in 1S71, this system has been 

 exclusively employed. The number of the bores in 1881 reached 

 375, and in 1S86 490, of which, however, only 160 were in actual 

 work, 180 having become exhausted, and 150 Ijeing plugged 

 down as reserves. The enormous supply of the crude oil may 



not only from the bores, but through every fissure and cleft in 

 the soil ; and although every possible precaution is taken against 

 such a catastrophe, many disastrous fires have occurred. Our 

 illustration (Fig. 2) is from a photograph of one that took place 

 in 1887, which was specially notaljle for its duration and devas- 

 tation, all the derricks within a considerable area having been 

 consumed, and all efforts to extinguish it failing until the volume 

 of gas had become weakened and it burnt itself out. 



These exhalations are most powerful in the district of Sura- 

 chani, where the natural gas is made use of for lime-burning, for 

 every domestic purpose, and as fuel for the boilers ; in fact, it is 

 only necessary to sink a ]iipe a few feet into the soil to obtain 

 on ignition a flame of considerable length, and this is practically 

 shown at the works of Messrs. Kokareflf, where one such has 

 been burning many years. 



Adjoining this refinery, and placed by the Russian Govern- 

 ment under that firm's special protection, is the ancient and 

 celebrated temple of Zoroaster, which for over 2500 years was 

 the sacred resort for pilgrimage of the Guebers, or fire-wor- 

 shippers of Asia. (Fig. 3.) Formerly a flourishing monastery, 



be gathered from the following figures. In 1832 the yield was onh 

 150,000 poods (pood = 36 lb.) = 2000 tons ; in 1867, 999,999 

 poods, = 14,500 tons ; in 18S0, 300,000 ; and in 1S90, 3,100,000 

 ton.s. That the supply is not inexhaustible, may be inferred 

 from the fact that the depths of the bores are being progressively 

 increased. We thus find that in 1871 the oil was reached at 

 70 feet, in 1873 'his increased to 120 feet, in 1S83 to 450 feet, 

 in 18S6 to 700 ; whilst a later bore, sunk to a depth of 1000 

 feet, has yielded no oil. It is evident, however, from the cellular 

 character of the oil-bearing strata, and the immense supplies 

 already obtained from a very limited area, that the period 

 of exhaustion is indeterminable, and any conjecture baseless. 



The means employed for raising the oil are of the simplest 

 character ; pumping, as understood in the ordinary acceptation 

 of the term, is, owing to the depth of the bore, of course imprac- 

 ticable, so that after cessation of the flow consequent on the 

 exhaustion of the gas, copper tubes called "jalonkas" are 

 employed. These cylinders, about 12 feet long, are provided 

 with a valve opening inwards on touching the bottom of the 

 lx)re, and close on the tube Ijeing lifted filled with the oil. On 

 reaching the surface the jalonka is lowered on to a platform, 

 thus pressing in the valve and releasing the naphtha, which 

 flows in a greenish-tinted stream to reservoirs connected by 

 pipe-lines with the refineries in Baku. 



It will be readily understood that in a district so saturated 

 with naphtha oils, there must bean ever-present danger from the 

 ignition of the exhalations of hydrocarbon gas, which escape 



NO. 1393, VOL. 54] 



to-day it is liut a decaying and deserted monument of the old 

 religion of the Parsees. It consists of a large .square courtyard 

 enclosed by the cells of the monks, all opening inwards. A 

 double-storied erection in the front was the dwelling-place of 

 the chief priest, beneath which, and closely adjacent, was the 

 chapel cell, on whose rude stone altars burned the Eternal 

 Fires. In the centre of the courtyard is a square building, 

 flanked with four towers, from which the flames ascended, and 

 the arched recess in the basement was used as a crematorium 

 wherein, by means of the sacred fires, the bodies of the faithful 

 devotees were consumed. It is not only on land, however, 

 that natural gas is abundant ; a favourite excursion of the 

 inhabitants and visitors being to lake steamer on a calm dark 

 night to the neighbourhood of the Baibat Point, where the gas 

 rises through the waters of the Caspian sea in bubbling eddies, 

 which, on being ignited with burning tow, covers the water 

 with flames over a considerable area. 



Although owing to its prominent position and natural ad- 

 vantages the attention of Europe has been mainly concentrated 

 on the district and town of Baku, it must not be forgotten that 

 this is but one out of many important petroleum fields awaiting 



