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their comfort; and every promise made to them was fulfilled in the course of the undertaking. The Southern provinces of Russia, including Mount Ararat, were also offered for their investigation; but this did not enter into their plan.

Sixteen months after his return from this journey (of 14,500 versts, or 2000 geographical miles of 6,955 versts ench-the German geographical mile is about two hours,) M. von Humboldt, in February 1831, re. ceived a second offer from the Russian Government, to visit at choice either Finland or the Caucasus but he was prevented by cir. cumstances from accepting it.

London, Edinburgh, and Calcutta, that the first impression must necessarily surpass that made by any city inferior to it in this respect. But the excitement is soon diminished by a totally opposite feeling. The first admiration subsided, these splendid façades of gigantic palaces and enormous vistas that mock the common dimensions of usefulness, offer only houses which no inhabitants can fill, and streets that no crowd can throng. It is neither a city nor a solitude. Man is there indeed, but his utmost numbers dwindle into scattered groups of diminutive pigmies that haunt and infest the scenes they cannot inhabit. In contrast to the Public edifices of The Author with his fellow-laborers, MM. former ages, mere art is mighty, man seems von Humboldt and Ehrenberg, quitted Ber- nothing; lost in that giant display, shorn of lin on the 12th April, 1829, and took their his just importance, and no longer the lord course through Königsberg and Dorpat, Es- of creation nor the master of his own work. thonia, and Livonia, to Petersburg. The Petersburg strikes the mind as an emblema. details of the journey are not unamusing,and tic miniature of Russian Empire and ambi. are interspersed with observations more im- tion:-its designs too vast for human achievemediately relating to the Mineralogy of the ment, too exaggerated for social life its country. At Konigsberg and the neighbor-long Perspective, the gorgeous high-road of ing towns the sea shore is almost a forbidden ground to the inhabitants, being farmed at a high rate, and jealously watched; so that the fishermen can only put to sea at certain prescribed points of the coast; and the loiterer who is found in the prohibited places incurs annoyance and detention. The value of the Amber may be judged from the fact, that the coast between Dantzic and Memel is let to a Mr. Douglas for 10,000 dollars per annum. His magazine contained 150,000 lbs. of this precious commodity; greatly deteriorated, it would seem, in price, by the political and other changes in Turkey, formerly the chief consumer. It was kept in rooms vaulted and secured with iron doors, to guard against fire, it being highly inflammable.

dreaming imagination, spreading out towards a something, which yet is nothing, and never can be more. When Russia shall produce giants Petersburg will be their lofty dwelling. place; while she produces but men they seem strangers in their own capital:-and such have been her views; mistaking magnitude for might, ambition for vigor, and enlargement for concentration. And yet it is splendid.

They left Petersburg June 20th with a Rus sian mining officer as guide, a courier, and a cook; the latter a most indispensable attendant, since at the stations beyond Moscow travellers are obliged to cook for themselves in the kitchens. In the larger towns, where the wealthier citizens receive strangers, the At Petersburg the author enters more into traveller is directed by the police to one of detail. The district itself, the rich Mineralo. those in his turn and Siberian hospitality, gical collections of the Capital, and the size offering a lodging, not unfrequently includes and splendor of the Crown Jewels, naturally board also. The new Arsenal of the Kremexcited a strong interest. He gives a plate lin at Moscow contains the crowns, sceptre, of the diamonds, drawn of their proper size, throne, arms,and jewels of the Russian Czars, as the most distinguished gems of that extra-with a variety of other costly curiosities,form. ordinary collection. The one on the top of the Imperial Sceptre weighs 1943 carats,and its largest diameter is one inch 34 lines. long adorned the throne of Nadir Shah, and was bought with other jewels from the Afghan plunderer by M. Schafrass, an Armenian, at Bagdat for 50,000 piastres. Catherine II. purchased it twelve years afterwards at the price of 450,000 silver rubles and a patent of nobility.

It

ing, we are told, a larger, a more extraor dinary and precious collection than perhaps can be found elsewhere: exceeding in value even that of the Jewel Office in London, estimated at 2,000,000 pounds sterling. In the Zoological Museum is preserved a large tiger killed in Siberia, where it seems they sometimes wander from the South; the dis. covery of their bones in these regions therefore must not always be looked upon as connected with past phenomena.

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Professor Rose, like every other stranger, is much struck with the magnificent propor. At Kasan the Tatars for tions of St. Petersburg. This is not sur-population of about 50,000 souls. They prising its scale of building so far exceeds live chiefly by trade, and have there several

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manufactories of soap and leather, which are the Dniester to the Jemba in the Kirghis much valued and in great demand. They steppe, called themselves Tatars or Mongols; sailed hence down the Volga to Bolgarü, a though tradition affirms that Zinghis, the head village beyond Bolghar, the capital of the of the Khalkas or Calcha-Mongols, was of ancient Volga-Bulgarians, and the largest and Turkish blood, and that the mother of Timour oldest ruins in the Russian empire. Here was a Turkish woman. The Khans who they were received by the whole population ruled Kasan, Astrachan, and the Crimea, of the village drawn up on the bank of the after the division of Zinghis' Kingdom, were river; and the Elders, after the Russian called Tatars; their subjects and soldiers fashion, presented salt and bread to M. von were principally Turks. They themselves Humboldt. They found among the ruins of soon adopted the Turkish language, and the town traces of the water-pipe, and even hence arose the custom of confounding the specimens of Arabesque ornament on the rulers with their subjects, under the Tatar walls, of a Bath. Silver and copper coins, name. Alluding to the well-known pun of copper rings, earrings, &c. are frequently St. Louis, of sending the Tatars to their found and offered freely for sale. These Tatarean realms, the author adds: In like Bulgarians formed in the 7th century an in- manner the first Spanish discoverers of Amedependent people, extending from the East rica, from the dog-like character of the Caribs, bank of the Volga to the Caspian Sea, and altered their proper name Carina or Calina constantly at war with the Russians. Kla- into the word cannibal. proth and Frähn suppose their name to have been derived from the river. This we ac. cept only as a modern derivative, the termination ar (unexplained hitherto) being, we suggest, a dialectical possessive, originally of Royalty. We need not dwell upon the Historical details furnished of this race, but must content ourselves with noticing a rather singular law, venerable doubtless for its antiquity, and which possibly was needed to no great extent; namely, that of hanging all especially clever persons. This munificent reward of distinguished talent was instituted less, we presume, for the encouragement of merit than for the reason assigned by an Eastern traveller :-That such persons were most acceptable in the presence and for the immediate service of the Deity!

Professor Rose gives the following account of the correct meaning of the much mooted word Tatar, on the authority of M. von Humboldt.

"In the last half century, (he proceeds), the confusion of Tatar and Turk has inMeiner, Adelung, and Cuvier, Remusat, who, creased amongst the best writers, such as with Klaproth, had determined the original identity of the Mongols and Tartars, proposed to confine the latter appellation to the former race. But in the utter commixture of the Northern tribes to use Tatar as a generic name, would lead but to further confusion, as if we were to distingush Deutschen from Teutschen.

"When we speak of Tatar features, understanding by it a certain inclination of the angle of the eye and projecting cheek bones, this certainly is justified by the identity of the Mongols and Tatars: but the Russian Tatars have, like the Turks and Indo-Germanic races, a Caucausian physiognomy. The TaTataric in the proper sense of the word, nor tars of Kasan and Tobolsk are by no means is it so applied to the Mongol races, the Kalmucks, Sungari, Torguts and Burats."

In the Russian dominions, the term Tatar We have not time to enter here upon the always refers to a Turkish race, and these wide field of discussion which these remarks do not present the Mongol features. The open to us; and shall content ourselves for Tatars of the Crimea, of Kasan, and of To- the present with observing, that the Chinese bolsk, belong to what is called the Caucasian vocabularies of the 15th century are of lit family Tatars are Turks; but the former tle value in identifying a race so ancient as appellation originally with Asiatic writers re- the Tatars: the meaning of their name, ferred to the Mongols. This last word, in though overlooked or forgotten, is surely not the Chinese vocabularies compiled in the 15th lost to the learned research of Europe; and century under the Ming Dynasty at Pekin, is certainly bears no affinity whatever to the translated by Tata or Tataeul; the r being sense of the word Mongol. On the contrary constantly substituted for 7 in Chinese. The it has its precise equivalent of meaning in the incorrect application of the word Tatar, which language of every oldest race in existence,and signifies a Mongol (Mohu, Mongu), to the of these alone, but the question would lead noble Turkish race, originated in the Mongol too far, and we must return to it hereafter. invasion. When Djudji, son of Zinghis Khan, The Chinese word Tataeul, is obviously a overran the north west of Asia and the east compound, and not the mere substitution of of Europe, the Turks between the Volga the final r by eul. But for the original word, and the Dnieper fell under Mongol dominion. we are satisfied for the moment to take it, as The Princes of Kipchak, which reached from it is usually received, with a comparatively

modern derivation; from a prince or a river, like the instance in the preceding paragraph, till we have an opportunity of showing, as we trust to be alle to do, whence it really originated.

On the way to Perm, the travellers first fell in with a party of exiles destined for Siberia, and consisting of from 60 to 80 women and girls. They were unfettered, conse. quently not of the worst class of criminals; for these last are all fastened by one hand to a long rope. Each party is escorted by Bashkirs armed and mounted in their usual fashion.

At Malmüsch they found the Post-master imbued with a taste for Mineralogy; large quantities of teeth and bones of the Mammoth, found on the banks of the Wjatka, lay before and even within his house.

The forest in the neighborhood is composed of Pines and Firs (Pinus abies et sylvestris) and extends two days' journey. Conflagrations are frequent; and sometimes for miles together nothing is seen but charred trunks of trees. The negligence of travellers and shepherds is the cause here as else. where; but wood of course is of no value in these districts.

At the large village of Werchne-Mulinsk are large copper-mines belonging to Count Polier: the copper ores obtained and smelted here are termed sand-ores (Sanderze) and are found on the oldest layers of white Sandstone. This Sandstone formation on the Western side of the Ural is of great extent, not only in the Government of Perm, but of Wjatka and Orenburg also; and mining proceeds on many points along the banks of the Wjatka, Kama, Dioma, and Sakmara. On the East side, however, it is not to be found, and the celebrated copper-mines of Gumes. chewsk, Nischne-Tagilsh, and Bogoslowsk, offer a totally different arrangement.

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The average of the lower strata of sand, and these are the richest, affords from 1 to 2 Solotnik in 100 Poods of sand, or 0,0005 per cent.; a proportion apparently small; but, considering the facility of procuring and washing, it is in reality large. The expense of washing is 2-3ds the cost of the gold; so that in a pood the expense is 20,000 rubles, its value being about 50,000 rubles. It is requisite, however, to observe that in 1828, the cost at Katharinenburg was considerably diminished :—the gold there contains also about 7 per cent. of silver. At Schabrowski are the principal establishments for washing gold of the whole Ural. The process is simple, and the quantity obtained depends on the skill employed. Great improvement has been made of late years in the art; and the gold-sand of former times has been latterly subjected to another operation.

From Katharinenburg to the North Works is nearly level, though so near the Ural; which, however, is of no great height here, but rises towards Kuschwinsk. The country presents little variety, and the general uniformity is increased by the continuous forest, which covers all the declivities along the course of the road.

Nischne Tagilsk, and the whole district, of about 8000 square versts, belongs to the Demidoff family, though none of them reside there now.

Their ancestor, Nikita Demi. doff, a simple smith at Tula, received, in the year 1702, the recently discovered magnetic hill (Magnet-berg), and the iron-forges of Newjansk, as a present from Peter the Great, and founded Nischne Tagilsk, and The Beroswaja Gora, not very far from the the numerous works in its vicinity. His village of Nowaja-Alexejewskaya,approaches son, Akimfitsch Demidoff, Councillor of to within four versts distance of the small ri- State, materially enlarged the works; and ver Rascheta, which flows into the Isset, and his successors have considerably increa thus communicates with the Tobol, Irtish, and sed them, particularly Nicolas Nikitisch, Ob; so inconsiderable is the mountain-chain the father of the present brothers Demidoff; between the Tschussowaja and the Rascheta, so that the town, in 1826, contained 3000 that a canal has been already projected of houses and 17,000 inhabitants: the_populafour versts in length, to unite, not only the tion of the district is 28,000. There is two rivers, but, in fact, the Icy and Caspian scarcely a place in the world so rich in ores. Scas. as Nischne-Tagilsk: at two versts distance stands the celebrated Magnetberg, which supplies all the surrounding forges with ore; and in the immediate vicinity copper-ores, not inferior to that of Gumeschewskoi, were discovered in 1812. Subsequently, mines. of gold and platina have been worked there; the latter incomparably superior in richness. to the rest of the Ural.

The Mineralogical Collections at Katharinenburgh were not extensive, but extremely interesting as consisting principally of Urali. an Minerals. In the vicinity are establishments for Gold washing; and a grain of the gold analysed at Schabrowskoi contained the following proportions

The principal chain of the Ural through the district of Kuschwinsk consists of laminated talc and chlorite, running perpendicularly from north to south, or at an acute angle to. wards the cast. The rock is scarcely perceptible, being every where overlaid with wood, earth, and marsh: such is the general feature of the country.

The general feature of the mountains con- juco gold and diamonds; and platina and tinue much the same till about fifteen versts diamonds near the river Abaste. These refrom Tscherno-Istotschinsk, where a plateau marks had excited a strong expectation of of about 1140 feet high separates the waters finding diamonds in the Ural, not only in his of Europe and Asia. On the East arise the own breast, but also, and still earlier, in Prosprings of the Bobrowka, a rivulet flowing fessor Engelhardt and in M. Mamyscheff, into the Tagil; and on the west those of the the director of the mining works at GoroWissim, which flows into the Utka and blagodatsch. On our travellers' arrival at Tschussowaja. About the centre of the any one of the works, they subjected the plateau, towards the right, stands a lofty pine, gold-sand to microscopic observations, in or. with the words Asia and Europe carved se- der to find out the accompanying substances verally on the right and left sides. The stone of gold and platina, and directed their princomposing this plateau is principally thin la- cipal researches to the diamond. We alminated hornblend (dünnschiefrieger Horn- ways, says Dr. Rose, procured a quantity of blendschiefer),consisting of finely rayed horn- gold-sand to be partially washed, so as to get blend, with white feldspar or albit. To the rid of the lighter portion, and enable us better west of this elevation, and south of the road, to examine the remainder. To carry the are six platina works, in small vallies, within process too far would be losing with the a space of ten versts. quartz the lighter unmetallic substances, and there would remain with the gold and platina onlymagnetic iron ore,andsometimes chrome. iron ore (Magneteisenerz und Chromeisenerz). By these microscopic examinations we were so fortunate as to find chrystals unknown in the gold-sand of the Ural, and which attracted our notice most strongly, as they occur with the diamond in the gold-sand of Brazil. We almost every where disco. vered small zircoons, which by their diamond like brilliancy frequently deceived us, and at Nischne Tagilsk we found anatase. But our search for the diamond was vain, and though the discovery was made by Count Polier and M. Schmidt on the western slope of the mountain, on the 5th July (O. S), but four days after our parting from them, we obtained the intelligence only on the 3d September, at Miask, after travelling through a great part of Siberia. Count Polier sent M. Schmidt from Nischnei-Novogorod, with one of the discovered diamonds, to M. Von Humboldt, requesting him not to render the discovery public till our arrival at Petersburg; inasmuch as he himself had not yet presented one to the sovereign. The diamond so sent to M. von Humboldt is now in the museum at Berlin. So confident, in fact, had this learned traveller felt of the approaching discovery that, in quitting Petersburg, he had jestingly declared to the Empress that he would not return without Russian diamonds. On our return to that capital, in November, the Emperor alone had seen Polier's diamonds; and M. Von Humboldt was the first Von Humboldt had already, in his Essai to show one to the Empress. A circumstanGeognostique sur le gisement des Roches, tial report of the discovery was made by the published in 1823, directed attention to the Count on his return to Petersburg to M. singular analogy of mineralogical character. Cancrin, minister of finance, and communiistics in certain different parts of the globe, cated also to M. Humboldt. The publication as regards platina and gold-sand. Thus at of this document is due to the deceased no. Corrego, in Brazil, gold, platina, palladium, bleman; the more, as a letter on the same and diamonds are found together; near Te-subject, intended for M. Arago, and to be in

At Kuschwinsk the travellers parted from Count Polier, who was proceeding to his es tates on the Koiva, in the western declivity of the Ural. They had intended accompanying him to see his gold and iron works, but the direct path was only practicable on horseback, and another route would have caused too great a loss of time. They therefore

abandoned the idea.

This separation unfortunately prevented their being present at the important discovery to which the journey of Count Polier led; though the Count did not long survive the fatigues of the aforesaid journey, which Dr. Rose considers to have brought on a fatal disease of the lungs. It may be worth while to dwell upon the particulars of this discovery, since the diamond was long considered the product only of tropical climates; while its occurrence so high as the 59th deg. of latitude, has excited the greatest interest, establishing it as a Russian and European stone also. Several errors, too have arisen in the accounts of this event, which Dr. Rose thinks it necessary to correct; as his party were for a time the companions of the discoverers, Mr. Schmidt and Count Polier.

serted in the Annales de Chimie, remains wife, the Princess Schakowskoi, and form unfinished. We condense some passages of part of the lands appertaining to the works this report. Count Polier says, at Bissersk. They are about 25 versts N. "Strongly impressed with the ideas of E. of this place; more than 200 versts E. Von Humboldt, I parted from him on the 1st of Perm; and about 70 N. W. of KuschJuly, and inspected fruitlessly all the works winsk. They can be reached only on horsefor gold washing near Bissersk, till I came back, by an execrable path from the village to the last, about 25 versts from that place. of Kalinskoje, near to Tschussowaja. There On the 5th July (O. S.) I entered this with is in winter a tolerably good road for sledges M. Schmidt, a young mineralogist of Frey- transporting wood, coale, ores, and founded berg; and the same day, in the sand brought and forged iron; which latter articles are pro. before me, amongst a quantity of iron chrys duced in the works." tals and quartz, appeared the first diamond The first discovery and exploration of the of the Ural. It had been found the day be. gold-sand occurred in 1824, but has, until fore by Paul Popoff, a boy of fourteen, em- now, been unattended with any material ad. ployed in the works, a native of the village of vantage; either on account of the bad state Kalinskoje. As a reward was promised to of the machinery and management, or from those who should discover any valuable stones, the poverty of the sand, which required a he hastened with his unrecognized prize to more economical process. the overseer; who, however, attached no At a short distance, 14 verst S. of Kresto. value to the stone, and, taking it for a topaze, wosdwischenskoi, are other works, which placed it with the other minerals for my in- have recently furnished gold at about 14 to spection. Its transparency was perfect; 14 Solotnik to the 100 poods of Sand. This and this, and its brilliance, would have satis-sand is richer the deeper it goes, and its fied us of its being a diamond, even had its mineralogical basis the same as the former rounded chrystalisation left us any doub: of works, but with a larger portion of rock. the fulfilment of Humboldt's prophecy. Within three days afterwards a second was found by another boy; and, a few days subsequent to my departure from the works, I received a third, larger than the two others put together.

chrystal and flint-iron, mixed in the lower portions with chalk-stone forming its base, and with much quartz. Between two such masses was found the first diamond of the Ural; the others were discovered in the same works.

Professor Engelhardt, from whom, in 1826, the first hint of the existence of Diamond in the Ural was confessedly derived, was led by this brilliant confirmation to undertake a second journey there in 1830, and he states that the diamonds, though small, are not inferior in beauty and value to the Brazilian.

" M. Schmidt had all the requisite instruments for mineralogy at hand to examine the three chrystals, and verify the discovery. We first took the specific gravity-the two former gems weighed together 3,520; the exact medium between the extremes assigned by mineralogists as the specific gravity In the Professor's opinion, the boy's disof the diamond; these are 3, 4. & 3, 6. covery has been even more advantage to The absolute weight of the first was 0,105, himself than to his employer; as the latter or something more than half a carat: of the has gained but precious stones, the former second 0,132; and of the third 0,253, or that more precious jewel, his liberty, and a about 1 carat -205 millegrames make one sum of money given him by his master. The carat. The specific weight of the third was result of Professor Engelhardt's researches 3,514. We were therefore certain that the gives, amongst other interesting matter, a hardness of these stones was superior to that probability that the hitherto unascertained of quartz, which they scratched easily, and parent-stone of the Diamond is, in all likelithe korundum had no effect on them. But hood, a black Dolomite. The chemical the smallness of these diamonds, and their analysis of Professor Göbelt, of Dorpat, and rounded corners, prevented our scratching the last-named stone with them. The second of these diamonds we sent at once to M. von Humboldt; for it was but just that he to whom the discovery was principally owing should be the first apprized of it.

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the specimens of this stone from the Ural, as well as those discovered by Professor Engelhardt in the Government of Olonetz, give room to imagine that diamonds may be found in this latter district also.

We must refer our readers to Dr. Rose's volume for the details of the component parts of the soil that produces the diamond, of which, it appears, however, only thirty-seven had been found up to July, 1833. Some of these had flaws within, and others, black spots, probably from the coal formation.

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