ACCUMULATION OF GOLD DETRITUS, BOTH OF RECENT DATE. 475 
line since the period of their deposit ; for if the present watershed of the Ural had 
then been in existence, scarcely any fragments or pebbles of porphyry, greenstone, 
or Lydian stone, could have found their way into the region of Permia, — all, or 
nearly all such, would naturally be transported to the depressions on the Siberian 
flank of the chain where these rocks abound in situ. But the contrary has been the 
case : the Permian deposits on the west contain the detritus of such igneous 
and metamorphic rocks, whilst nothing like it is to be seen in Siberia. 
Whether, therefore, we judge from the total absence of all auriferous matter in 
the ancient conglomerates on the west, and in the tertiary grits upon the east, or 
from the absolute materials in the whole series of regenerated deposits, we conclude 
that the chain became auriferous during the most recent disturbances by which it 
was affected, and that this took place when its highest peaks were thrown up, when 
the present watershed was established, and when the syenitic granites and other 
comparatively recent igneous rocks were erupted along its eastern slopes. 
The only detritus in which grains and portions of gold and platinum have been 
found is, in truth, that in which remains of mammoths and rhinoceroses have also 
been detected ; and coupling this last fact with the omission of all auriferous veins 
in the more ancient alluvia of the chain, there can be no doubt, that in this region, 
gold was one of the most recent mineral productions anterior to the historic sera. 
The very nature and form of the ground in which the auriferous debris have been 
heaped up, shows that, unlike the ancient or Permian detritus, this took up its po- 
sition when the present configuration had been to a great extent brought about, and 
when valleys existed, in which large quadrupeds, closely allied to those which now 
live among us, were entombed. We believe, then, that before the surface assumed 
its present outline, the tract we now call the Ural Mountains was a low ridge, ex- 
tending from north to south, and forming the western shore of a continent on which 
such animals lived and died during long ages. 
In proceeding to describe a few of the auriferous spots which came under our 
notice, we at once disavow any pretension to explain their statistical and mining 
details. Our time was too much limited for such inquiries, concerning which 
we must again refer to the works of Humboldt, Rose, Helmersen, and of many 
officers of the Imperial School of Mines who have written upon their respective 
stations. Our sole object is to bring before the mind of the reader, the mode and 
period in which the auriferous detritus was accumulated. 
Whoever may take in his hand the detailed geological map of any auriferous 
