﻿Prof. Milne — Across Europe and Asia. 563 



noteworthy from tbeir ingenuity. One system in particular to whicli 

 I refer is that adopted for sinking shafts in the beds of rivers with- 

 out the necessity of making a dam. This is done in winter when 

 the waters are frozen. First of all holes are cut in the ice the size 

 of the prospecting shaft, to within two or three inches of the water. 

 The shallow pit thus formed is then allowed to rest for a day or two, 

 when underneath the portion that is cut away the water freezes, and 

 the ice is again thickened at the point where it had been made thin. 

 There is now material in which to deepen the excavation, which is 

 again carried on to within two or three inches of the water. Once 

 more it is allowed to thicken, and the shaft is continued. In this 

 way the bed of the river is reached, by means of a tube of ice, round 

 the outside of which water is flowing. Whilst the operation is going 

 on, a small hole is occasionally made through the floor of ice to test 

 its thickness. After this has been measured, the orifice is im- 

 mediately stopped up with a plug of ice, and the excavation con- 

 tinued or allowed to rest, according to circumstances. In this way I 

 am told that many of the rivers are tested during the winter months. 

 When good ground is found, the river is dammed up and the works 

 proceed as I have before described. 



Although Siberian cold is thus turned to account by the pro- 

 spector, it is often a great bugbear to the miners. In the north gold 

 mining is carried on in ground perpetually frozen. After this has 

 been excavated, before it can be washed, it has first to go through a 

 process of thawing. Exposure to the atmosphere is sometimes suf- 

 ficient for this purpose, but at other times it has to be subjected to a 

 process of firing. 



Some of the Tungusians are said to have great skill in prospecting, 

 which they do in a truly philosophical and scientific manner, their 

 chief guide being the general contour of the country. Ascending a 

 high hill, they look down upon the country beneath, intersected 

 with its network of streams and valleys. They then observe those 

 places in the valleys where a line of hills, a projecting ridge, or any 

 other object, would be likely to ofi'er an obstruction to the passage of 

 materials which may at any time have come sweeping down from 

 higher ground. These positions are then marked, and afterwards 

 examined on similar principles, but in detail, and the results are 

 genei'ally said to be most satisfactory. 



After nearly a month's residence in Irkutsk, I at last left it at 11 

 P.M. on the 23rd of November, and took the road towards Kiachta. 

 As there was now so much floating-ice upon the Baikal, and it was 

 in consequence doubtful whether the steamer would be able to 

 cross, I was forced to take the road running round its southei'n end. 

 Although I was now travelling in a sledge, to which I had anxiously 

 looked forward as a pleasure compared with a tarantass, I found the 

 jolting still unpleasantly heavy. When daylight came, I found 

 myself in a hilly pine-covered country. In the distance before me, 

 and also a little to my right, there were many snow-capped peaks, 

 none of which appeared to rise above a common level. From the 

 cuttings which had been made during the formation of the road, I 



