184/.] Gold from, the Sand of the River Beyass. 269 



ney is delightful, the horses cantering lightly over the springing turf, 

 and the temperature by day and by night being equally pleasant. But 

 after quitting Ufa, the undules swelled into hills, generally of easy 

 ascent, partly forest and partly cultivation, and over these we had reached 

 the summit of the ridge of the Oorahl mountains, without any of the 

 appearances of rock, ravine or precipice, which so usually token the 

 proximity of any considerable mountains. From this height we de- 

 scended a few hundred feet to the valley, and pretty little artificial lake 

 of Zlataoost, celebrated for its fabric of arms and for the gold mines 

 in its neighbourhood : but much better remembered by myself, for the 

 courtesy, the kind hospitalities, the engaging manners, and traits of 

 patriotic feeling which distinguish its inhabitants. 



From Col. AnosofT, a practised geologist and a man of science and 

 sagacity, I gathered the following particulars, which may form a useful 

 introduction to my visit to the mines. 



The gold mines of the Oorahl mountains are very different from our 

 ordinary notion of metallic mines of any kind. For they are not ex- 

 cavations of the rocky strata of plain or mountain, but mere exfoliations 

 of the superficial soil, varying in depth from one to four feet. Their gold 

 is unmixed with any matrix, being almost pure gold in its metallic form. 

 There is nothing in the appearance of the valleys yielding gold to distin- 

 guish them from such as yield none : and the first discovery of the mines 

 was purely accidental, grains of gold having been washed down by the 

 torrents. But by a careful comparison of phenomena, a geologist 

 may now seek them with increased certainty, for, in every case, the 

 gold is found to occur under the following succession of strata, which 

 presents a Geological section across the Oorahl range at Zlataoost.* 



The morning after my arrival I mounted the vehicle prepared for 

 me by the attention of Col. AnosofT, and in company with his whole 

 family proceeded to the gold mines. We passed through a forest of 

 small firs and cedars feathering the high ground above the lake, and 

 after coursing over some 8 or 10 miles of undulating steppe clothed 

 with rich grass and beautiful wild flowers, entered a very extensive but 

 shallow valley, bounded on all sides by scarcely perceptible acclivities 

 of the same steppe. The abundance and beauty of the wild flowers 

 enamelling the turf redeemed the monotonous character of the landscape. 



• See plate 



2 o 



