404 
Prof. Milne — Across Europe and Asia. 
about 350 versts N.W. from Ekaterinburg, which is reported as 
being forty-two feet in thickness. It is described as being bitu- 
rninous and containing many eartby partings. 
These coal-fields on the eastern tianks of the Urals are by no 
means the only coal-fields which have been discovered in Siberia. 
Farther east, in the neighbourhood of Tomsk, anthracite has been 
found, whilst more towards the south, in the Kirghis Steppes, no 
less than sixteen seams have been found at the Buanda Mines. 
These were described by Mr. Wardroper, an English resident at 
Turnen. They occur in a hilly country, traversiDg both hill and 
dale over a large area, as shown in the accompanying sketch, where 
three seams are shown in section, two of which are seen cropping 
out upon the slope of the distant hills. 
Beneath some of the seams there is an underclay, and ahove 
them bands of ironstone. One of the seams is about 5 ft. lOin. 
thick, and dips about three inches to the foot. The associated 
rock is a soft sandstone, of which I saw several specimens. The 
character of the coal is not unlike some of the Scotch splint coal. 
The smaller seams are generally better than the larger ones, being 
freer from impurities. Still farther east. in the neighbourhood of 
Irkutsk, on towards the Amoor and on the Amoor itself, considerable 
quantities of coal have been found. The characters of these seams 
are those of better dass lignites, and their age is apparently Juras sic. 
Whilst in Ekaterinburg, my attention was daily attracted by 
batteau firing in the neighbouring woods ; going in that direction, 
I found that it arose from the guns of squirrel-hunters. Squirrels, 
like other animals, wander in search of food, and they were then 
in numbers round Ekaterinburg. though not seen at other seasons. 
Comparing the Fauna on the two sides of the Urals, there does not 
appear to be any striking difference, except in the case of one 
small mammal, the common house or brown Bat, which is at present, 
I believe, only to be found upon the Western side of these mountains, 
— that is, in their central and northern parts. The head-quarters of 
this rat appear to be at Astrachan, where it exists in such numbers 
as to give rise to stories, which, if repeated, would be thought in- 
credible. It extends all over Europe, and up the Yolga and its 
tributaries, to the very foot of the Urals, and here it appears to stop. 
So far as boats and railways have gone, the rat has gone also. It 
was conveyed by ship from Scandinavia to England, where it has 
almost exterminated its black congener (Mus rattus), the aboriginal 
species. In a similar manner it reached California, and probably 
also China, Japan, and Amoorland. Wherever it has landed, it 
