Prof. Milne — Across Eitrope ancl Asia. 
391 
lively water-wagtails, and an occasional woodpecker were the chief 
birds we saw. A few flowers still remained in bloom ; a pretty 
yellow Snap-Dragon ( Linaria vulgaris) and tbe white heads of the 
monopetalous Chrysanthemum inodorum were common. The bell- 
shaped heads of a few Campanulfe, a purple Pansy ( Viola tricolor), 
the spike-like purple heads of Veronica spuria, and a few other 
plants, including a Melgedium hispodum, wliich I believe is rare, 
were also to be seen. But about the few plants I collected I will 
say more farther on. Above the flowers a few butterflies were 
flying, — the heavy flutter of a Camberwell Beauty, some brown 
Fritillaries and a white Pieris, all reminding me of the fauna 
I had left at home. Notwithstanding the cheering aspect of 
these bright relics of a fading summer, a yellow tinge upon the 
drooping birches told me that the “ fall ” was near. Düring the 
night — for we rattled along in our springless carriage continuously, 
as is customary when travelling in Bussia — it was now cold, and 
in the morning everything had a coating of hoar frost. After 
Crossing the River Chesovoi, we passed through a gap in some high 
hills, which had for some time been before us, and which in fact 
formed the central hard granitic core of this portion of the Urals, 
and then descended rapidly towards Ekaterinburg. We were now 
faii'ly over the borders. Just before we reached the town, we 
crossed an undulating expanse of ground, where I collected, almost 
for the last time upon my jommey, a few more flowers. This undu- 
lation is a boss of crystalline rocks, partly dioritic. These are 
apparently traversed in a north and south direction by numerous 
veins of quartz. Near some of these veins the rock had quite 
a fissile structure, and looked as if shales had been tumed on 
end parallel with the veins of quartz. All the surface soil appears 
to be derived from the disintegration of the subjacent rocks. It is 
not more than 1^ feet in thickness, and is filled with angular frag- 
ments of stone. The town of Ekaterinburg, which we reached late 
in the afternoon of September 9th, is one of the finest towns in 
Siberia. It appears to have been built in a shallow saucer-like 
hollow. One of the employments of its inhabitants is the cutting 
of various minerals for ornamental purposes. The minerals chiefly 
used are malachite and rock crystal. This latter, when of a smoky 
tinge and often when clear, is called by its vendors topaz. One 
thing that is striking, not only in Ekaterinburg, but also in most of 
the Siberian towns, is the green colour of the roofs, especially the 
churches. This, I believe, is made from crushed malachite. 
When in England, and during the greater portion of my journey 
across Russia, I had the impression that on reaching Ekaterinburg 
I should find myself in the centre of the Ural Mining District. 
The grass-grown lieaps of rubbish, long-forgotten “ dumps,” which 
are dotted over the surrounding country, told me that Ekaterinburg 
at one time might perhaps have realized my expectations. Except- 
ing one or two small alluvial workings carried on in search of gold, 
the mining days of Ekaterinburg are for the present past. The 
nearest works of any consequence are those of Beresovsk, which 
