472 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



I^iggii^gs of this kind exist at present in various spots of 

 the Samland, more especially at Wanzen, Sassan, Gros- 

 kuhren, Kleinkuhren, Kraxtepellen, Kreislacken, and Hub- 

 nicken. Besides these works there are other establishments 

 at Brusterort, where amber is obtained by divers from the 

 bottom of the sea, and at Schwarzort, near Memel, where it 

 is raised by dredging for it at the bottom of the Curish 

 Haff. Its importance and size have of late years increased 

 considerably, and at present about 80,000 lbs. of amber are 

 annually obtained by it. 



The total amount of amber obtained during the year 

 1869 was about 150,000 lbs., the value of which may 

 be taken at about ;£"8 2,500. The quantity collected (by 

 fishing for it) in the sea and upon the shore is about equal 

 to that raised by the digging and dredging works. Accord- 

 ing to the opinion of competent persons, the produce of 

 the diggings could be increased considerably by working 

 them upon a regular mining system. Apart from the fact 

 that no certain knowledge has hitherto been arrived at as 

 to the actual extent of the amber-fields in the blue clay — 

 and these fields exist, most probably, not only in the 

 vicinity of the seacoast, but also in the interior of the 

 Samland, and even beyond that district and the frontiers 

 of Eastern Prussia — it is most likely that below the stratum 

 of clay to which the diggings are at present confined, there 

 are other strata in which amber would be met with. This 

 supposition is based upon the circumstance that consider- 

 able quantities of amber have been found amongst the soil 

 washed away by the sea, during heavy gales, from shore 

 portions of the coastal sand-hills which lie below the layer 

 of blue clay first alluded to. 



The prices of the principal kinds of amber are stated by 

 an official report to be about as follows : — 



