290 TURUKANSK AND THE WAY THITHER 



bit of a sportsman, but of the heavy-brained type of 

 Russian. The secretary of the Zessedatel was a Pole, a 

 very intelligent man ; he dined with us every day and 

 appeared to be hand in glove with von Gazenkampf, but 

 we heard later that he was very anxious to escape from 

 his bondage. No wonder ! To be compelled to live in 

 such a miserable place is exile indeed. After we had left 

 I had a peep behind the scenes of Russian official life 

 in Turukansk. Captain Schwanenberg told me all the 

 troubles he had to endure in this place the week before 

 we arrived. As Sideroffs agent it was part of his duty 

 to obtain a certificate from the Zessedatel of Turukansk, 

 testifying that this worthy official had visited the graphite 

 mines of Sideroff on the Kureika and satisfied himself 

 that a definite amount of graphite had been dug from 

 them. Without such a certificate Sideroffs monopoly to 

 procure graphite from these mines would lapse. The 

 Russian Government, in order to encourage the develop- 

 ment of the mineral resources of the country, very liber- 

 ally grants to the discoverer of a mine a right of private 

 property in it, but very justly it requires the mine to be 

 worked in order to maintain this right. The difficulties 

 that Schwanenberg had to contend with were threefold. 

 First, the mine had, in fact, been standing idle a sufficient 

 length of time to vitiate Sideroffs claim to it ; second, 

 it had never been visited by the Zessedatel ; and third, 

 Schwanenberg had contracted with Sideroff" to take all 

 the necessary steps to secure his rights. Old von 

 Gazenkampf was quite prepared to sign everything that 

 Schwanenberg required, and a sum had been agreed 

 upon as the price of the Zessedatel's conscience ; but at 

 the last moment the mysterious friend in Omsk had turned 

 up, and poor Schwanenberg had to part with his watch- 

 chain and the rings off" his fingers, at which he was 



