Prof. Milne — Across Europe and Asia. 
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noteworthy from their ingenuity. One S3'stem in particular to which 
I refer is that adopted for sinking shafts in the beds of rivers with- 
out the necessity of making a dam. This is done in winter when 
the waters are frozen. First of all lioles are cut in the ice the size 
of the prospecting shaft, to within two or three inches of the water. 
The sliallow pit thus formed is tlien allowed to rest for a day or two, 
when underneath the portion that is cut away the water freezes, and 
the ice is again thickened at the point where it had been made tbin. 
There is now material in which to deepen the excavation, which is 
again carried on to within two or three inches of the water. Once 
more it is allowed to thicken, and the shaft is continued. In this 
way the bed of the river is reached, by means of a tube of ice, round 
the outside of which water is flowing. Whilst the Operation is going 
on, a small hole is occasionally made through the floor of ice to test 
its thickness. After this has been measured, the orifice is im- 
mediately stopped up with a plag of ice, and the excavation con- 
tinued or allowed to rest, according to circumstances. In this way I 
am told that many of the rivers are tested during the winter months. 
When good ground is found, the river is dammed up and the works 
proceed as I have before described. 
Although Siberian cold is thus turned to account by the pro- 
spector, it is often a great bugbear to the miners. In the north gold 
iuining is carried on in ground perpetually frozen. After this has 
been excavated, before it can be washed, it has first to go through a 
process of thawing. Exposure to the atmosphere is sometimes suf- 
ficient for this purpose, but at other times it has to be subjected to a 
process of firing. 
Some of the Tungusians are said to have great skill in prospecting, 
which they do in a truly philosophical and scientific manner, their 
chief guide being the general contour of the country. Ascending a 
high hill, they look down upon the country beneath, intersected 
with its network of streams and valleys. They then observe those 
places in the valleys where a line of hills, a projecting ridge, or any 
other object, would be likely to offer an obstruction to the passage of 
materials which may at any time have come sweeping down from 
higher ground. These positions are then marked, and afterwards 
examined on similar principles, but in detail, and the results are 
generally said to be most satisfactory. 
After nearly a month’s residence in Irkutsk, I at last left it at 11 
p.m. on the 2urd of November, and took the road towards Kiachta. 
As there was now so mnch floating-ice upon the Baikal, and it was 
in consequence doubtful whether the steamer would be able to 
cross, I was forced to take the road running round its Southern end. 
Although I was now travelling in a sledge, to which I had anxiously 
looked forward as a pleasure compared with a tarantass, I found the 
jolting still unpleasantly heavy. When daylight came, I found 
myself in a hilly pine-covered country. In the distance before me, 
and also a little to my right, there were many snow-capped peaks, 
none of which appeared to rise above a common level. From the 
cuttings which had been made during the formation of the road, I 
