FROM TULA 
254 
CHAP. 
X. 
derived, and the Sossna. This place was en- 
tirely destroyed by fire in 1745, and since 
rebuilt. It stands upon a lofty and steep hill, 
and maintains a considerable commerce in 
cattle and in corn. Agriculture here is in a very 
flourishing stat , and the environs abound 
with wood. The inhabitants consist of mer- 
chants, artisans, Puschari and Streltzi. Its 
merchandize is derived from Moscow and from 
the Ukraine ; and it. carries on a great internal 
trade, in the sale of honey and leather to the 
people of the town and neighbourhood. The 
number of persons belonging to the Crown, pay- 
ing tribute, amounts to two thousand three 
hundred and twenty-three. We observed seve- 
ral forges at work; and found that the number 
of smiths, and other artificers in iron alone, 
equalled two hundred. Eletz is renowned for 
the celebrity of its forges. Part of the iron is 
derived from a mine near the village of Visnist- 
denez; the whole district around which place, 
• 
for several versts in extent, exhibits a ferruginous 
soil. Peasants raise the surface with spades, 
until they reach the ore ; but as the superficies 
forming the roof of the mine consists of clay and 
sand, the sides of the apertures they make are 
very liable to fall: therefore they form the 
opening so narrow, that the work is carried on 
with difficulty ; the operation being entirely in 
3 
