214 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



of bees. "What is the cause of all this activity — of this sudden change from a 

 death-like quiet to a feverish life ? These are the gold-fields ; the sands of 

 these swampy grounds are mixed, like those of the Pactolus, with gold, and 

 their fortunate possessors would not exchange them for the finest meadows, 

 cornfields, or vineyards. 



Fedor Popow, a hunter of the province of Tomsk, is said to have been 

 the first discoverer of gold in Siberia ; and Government having granted per- 

 mission to private persons to search for the precious metal, a few enterprising 

 men directed their attention to the wild spurs of the Sajan Mountains. A bril- 

 liant success rewarded their endeavors. In the year 1836 an exploring-party, 

 sent out by a merchant named Jakin Resanow, discovered a rich deposit of 

 auriferous sand near the banks of the Great Birussa; and in 1839-40, similar 

 deposits were found along several of the tributaries of the Upper Tunguska, 

 and still farther to the north, on the Oktolyk, a rivulet that flows into the Pit. 



The expenses of a searching-party amount, on an average, to 3000 silver 

 roubles (£600) ; and as very often no gold whatever is found, these hazardous 

 explorations not seldom put both the purse and the perseverance of their under- 

 takers to a severe trial. Thus Nikita Maesnikow had spent no less than 260,000 

 silver roubles (£52,000) in fruitless researches, when he at length discovered the 

 rich gold-field on the Peskin, which, as we shall presently see, amply remuner- 

 ated him for his previous losses. 



Of the difficulties which await the gold-searchers, a faint idea may be formed, 

 on considering that the whole of the auriferous region, which far surpasses in 

 size most of the European kingdoms, consists of one vast forest like that above 

 described. Patches of grass-land on which horses can feed are of very rare oc- 

 currence, and damp moss is the only bed the Taiga affords. As the gold-search- 

 ers are very often at work some hundreds of versts from the nearest village, they 

 are obliged to carry all their provisions along with them. Their clothes are 

 almost constantly wet, from their sleeping in the damp forest, from the frequent 

 rains to which they are exposed, and from their toiling in the swampy ground. 

 Scarcely have they dug a few feet deep when the pit fills with water, which 

 they are obliged to pump out as fast as it gathers, and thus standing up to their 

 knees in the mud, they work on until they reach the solid rock, for then only 

 can they be certain that no auriferous layer has been neglected in their search. 

 When we consider, moreover, that all this labor is very often totally useless, 

 their perseverance can not but be admired ; nor is it to be wondered at that 

 exploring-parties have sometimes encamped on the site of rich gold-deposits 

 -without examining the spot, their patience having been exhausted by repeated 

 failures in the vicinity. When the winter, with its deep snowfalls, suddenly 

 breaks in upon the searchers, their hardships become dreadful. The frost and 

 want of food kill their horses, their utensils have to be left behind ; and drag- 

 ging their most indispensable provisions along with them on small sledges, they 

 are not seldom obliged to wade for weeks through the deep snow before they 

 reach some inhabited place. 



But even the severity of a Siberian winter does not prevent the sending out 

 of exploring-parties. Such winter explorations are only fitted out for the more 



