THE URAL MOUNTAINS. 73 



triicts remained in a state of impenetrable forest 

 inhabited by idolatrous Voguls and Ostiaks upon the 

 north, and Mohammedan Baskirs on the south, we ought 

 rather to feel astonishment at the rate with which the 

 region has been cleared and civilised through the intro- 

 duction of European manners and mining industry. 

 When Peter the Great, with a keen perception of the 

 surest methods of advancing his empire, selected the first 

 Demidoff to explore the iron ores of these mountains, he 

 laid the foundation of the great native mineral wealth 

 which now so conspicuously distinguishes Eussia from all 

 the surrounding nations. The earliest mining establish- 

 ments or zavods planted by that great sovereign are still 

 the centres of activity, and have served as models after 

 which numerous other works have been formed, both by 

 the Government and private speculators. In the days of 

 Pallas, geology was so little understood (a few gold mines 

 only being known, and a great portion of the country un- 

 reclaimed), that the descriptions of the great naturalist 

 are chiefly to be viewed as vivid portraits of living nature; 

 as such, indeed, his observations have well stood the test 

 of time, and small gleanings only have remained for those 

 who followed him. Since that time, the Russian miners, 

 learning their first lesson from foreigners, have become a 

 well-informed class, independent of extraneous aid, and 

 their directors (ofiicers of the imperial school of mines) have 

 described the lithological and mineral characters of the 

 country, around their respective posts, with great fidelity.' 

 ' The axis, or central portion of the chain, consists to a 

 great extent of talcose schists, or chlorite and quarzite, 

 ancient sedimentary strata, for the most part in a highly 

 metamorphic condition, in consequence of numerous 

 syenitic and trap rocks, but on account of the presence 

 of certain organic remains, traceable at intervals in lime- 

 stones to the Silurian seiies. Along the eastern flank, the 

 most accessible by reason of the mining establishments, 

 the strata are also greatly altered by the prevalence of 

 igneous rocks ; it was only along the western flank that Sir 



