442 SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF PRECIOUS STONES 



in latitude about 36J° N. and longitude 70^'' E. of Greenwich. There are probably other 

 deposits of lapis-lazuli in this inaccessible region, especially in the Hindu Kush, but that 

 in the upper Kokcha valley is the only one definitely known. 



At the part where the mines are situated the valley is only about 200 yards wide and 

 is shut in on both sides by precipitous walls of bare rock. The mines lie about 1500 feet 

 above the bed of the river in a white and black limestone, the mother-rock of the 

 lapis-lazuli. Three varieties of the mineral are distinguished : one of an indigo-blue colour, 

 a second of light blue, and a third which is green in colour. The annual production 

 amounts at the present time to about 36 poods, that is to say, about 5000 kilograms. 



The greater part of the lapis-lazuli mined here, and specially the stones of finest 

 quality, is sent to Bukhara, from thence they are sent to Russia, and being brought into 

 the market at the fairs of Nizhniy Novgorod are distributed by the merchants assembled 

 there to all parts of the world. By the time the mineral has reached the market of Nizhniy 

 Novgorod its value has risen considerably. The material which is not sent to Bukhara 

 goes, together with rubies from the same region, to China and to Persia, and it is probable 

 that the lapis-lazuli said to occur in these countries, and in Little Bucharia and Tibet, has 

 been imported from Badakshan. Descriptions of such occurrences to be found in the 

 literature of the subject are always vague, and definite statements as to localities, &c., are 

 sought for in vain. Moreover, the material sold in other parts of Asia, for example, in 

 Afghanistan, Beluchistan, and India, and stated by travellers to occur in those regions, 

 in all probability is imported from the locality in the neighbourhood of the Upper Oxus. 

 The lapis-lazuli from which the ancient Egyptian scarabs were cut, probably came from 

 Badakshan, as did also the material much used elsewhere in ancient times. 



The mining methods used hundreds or, it may be said, thousands of years ago are 

 still adopted. At the spot where mining' operations are to be undertaken large fires are 

 kindled and the heated rocks soaked with water. In winter the rocks are more easily 

 cracked and fissured by this process, and this season, therefore, is considered most favourable 

 for mining operations. The rock thus loosened and cracked is broken up with large 

 hammers and the barren portions removed until the nests of lapis-lazuli are met with. 

 Around each nest a deep groove is excavated, and the whole mass is then prized out with a 

 crowbar. There are sometimes split off these masses, in a direction parallel to the bed- 

 ding planes of the rock, large slabs equal to several Taurian maunds in weight, a maund 

 being 30 or 40 pounds or more. It has been suggested that the deep blue colour 

 characteristic of lapis-lazuli from Badakshan is due to heating by the fires employed for 

 breaking up the mother-rock. This, however, is probablv not the case, since it appears 

 that in former times pale blue lapis-lazuli, which, it will be remembered, is sometimes 

 changed into dark blue by the action of heat, was found side by side with the dark blue 

 variety. Not infrequently the material from this locality is flecked with yellow iron-pyrites, 

 while at other times this mineral is aggregated in large nests and bands. 



Another group of lapis-lazuli mines is situated at the western end of Lake Baikal in 

 Siberia (Fig. 83). Deposits are known on each of the streams Talaya, Malaya Bistraya, and 

 Sludianka. According to Laxmann, the lapis-lazuli occurs here in a white granular 

 limestone along the line of contact of this rock with granite. These details have been 

 confirmed by later observers, and the mode of occurrence of lapis-lazuli at this locality is 

 thus quite in accordance with what has been said above regarding the origin of this mineral. 

 The material found in the neighbourhood of Lake Baikal is, in many cases, inferior in quality 

 to most of that which comes from Badakshan, and it also contains much less iron-pyrites. 

 Besides dark blue stones, violet, dark green, and pale red specimens are met with, and 



