I found at Krasnoyarsk more beggars than in Irkutsk, in proportion to
the population. Like beggars in all parts of the empire, they made the
sign of the cross on receiving donations. A few were young, but the
great majority were old, tattered, and decrepid, who shivered in the
frosty air, and turned purple visages upon their benefactors. The
peasantry in Russia are liberal to the poor, and in many localities
they have abundant opportunities to practice charity.
With its abundance of beggars Krasnoyarsk can also boast a great many
wealthy citizens. The day before my departure one of these Siberian
Croesuses died, and another was expected to follow his example before
long. A church near the market place was built at the sole expense of
this deceased individual. Its cost exceeded seven hundred thousand
roubles, and its interior was said to be finely decorated. Among the
middle classes in Siberia the erection of churches is, or has been,
the fashionable mode of public benefaction. The endowment of schools,
libraries, and scientific associations has commenced, but is not yet
fully popular.
The wealth of Krasnoyarsk is chiefly derived from gold digging. The
city may be considered the center of mining enterprises in the
government of Yeneseisk. Two or three thousand laborers in the gold
mines spend the winter at Krasnoyarsk, and add to the volume of local
commerce. The town of Yeneseisk, three hundred versts further north,
hibernates an equal number, and many hundreds are scattered through
the villages in the vicinity. The mining season begins in May and ends
in September. In March and April the clerks and superintendents
engage their laborers, paying a part of their wages in advance. The
wages are not high, and only those in straitened circumstances, the
dissolute, and profligate, who have no homes of their own, are
inclined to let themselves to labor in gold mines.
Many works are extensive, and employ a thousand or more laborers each.
The government grants mining privileges to individuals on certain
conditions. The land granted must be worked at least one year out of
every three, else the title reverts to the government, and can be
allotted again. The grantee must be either a hereditary nobleman or
pay the tax of a merchant of the second guild, or he should be able to
command the necessary capital for the enterprise he undertakes. His
title holds good until his claim is worked out or abandoned, and no
one can disturb him on any pretext. He receives a patent for a strip
of land seven versts long and a hundred fathoms wide, on the banks of
a stream suitable for mining purposes. The claim extends on both sides
of the stream, and includes its bed, so that the water may be utilized
at the will of the miner.
Sometimes the grantee desires a width of more than a hundred fathoms,
but in such case the length of his claim is shortened in proportion.
It requires a large capital to open a claim after the grant is
obtained. The location is often far from any city or large town, where
supplies are purchased. Transportation is a heavy item, as the roads
are difficult to travel. Sometimes a hundred thousand roubles will be
expended in supplies, transportation, buildings, and machinery, before
the work begins. Then men must be hired, taken to the mines, clothed,
and furnished with, proper quarters. The proprietor must have at hand
a sufficient amount of provisions, medical stores, clothing, and
miscellaneous goods to supply his men during the summer. Everything
desired by the laborer is sold to him at a lower price than he could
buy elsewhere, at least such is the theory. I was told that the mining
proprietors make no profits from their workmen, but simply add the
cost of transportation to the wholesale price of the merchandise. The
men are allowed to anticipate their wages by purchase, and it often
happens that there is very little due them at the end of the season.
Government regulations and the interest of proprietors require that
the laborers should be well fed and housed and tended during sickness.
Every mining establishment maintains a physician either on its own
account or jointly with a neighbor. The national dish of Russia,
_schee_, is served daily, with at least a pound of beef. Sometimes the
treatment of the men lapses into negligence toward the close of the
season, especially if the enterprise is unfortunate; but this is not
the case in the early months. The mining proprietors understand the
importance of keeping their laborers in good health, and to secure
this end there is nothing better than proper food and lodging. Vodki
is dealt out in quantities sufficiently small to prevent intoxication,
except on certain feast-days, when all can get drunk to their liking.
No drinking shops can be kept on the premises until the season’s work
is over and the men are preparing to depart.
Every laborer is paid for extra work, and if industrious and prudent
his wages will equal thirty-five or forty roubles a month beside his
board. While in debt he is required by law to work every day, not even
resting on Saints’ days or Sundays. The working season lasting only
about four months, early and late hours are a necessity. When the
year’s operations are ended the most of the men find their way to the
larger towns, where they generally waste their substance in riotous
living till the return of spring. As in mining communities everywhere,
the prudent and economical are a minority.
The mines in the government of Yeneseisk are generally on the
tributaries of the Yenesei river. The valley of the Pit is rich in
gold deposits, and has yielded large fortunes to lucky operators
during the past twenty years. Usually the pay-dirt begins twenty or
thirty feet below the surface, and I heard of a mine that yielded
handsome profits though the gold-bearing earth was under seventy feet
of soil. Prospecting is conducted with great care, and no mining
enterprise is commenced without a thorough survey of the region to be
developed. Wells or pits are dug at regular intervals, the exact depth
and the character of the upper earth being noted. This often involves
a large expenditure of money and labor, and many fortunes have been
wasted, by parties whose lucky star was not in the ascendant, in their
persistent yet unsuccessful search for paying mines.
Solid rock is sometimes struck sooner or later after commencing work,
which renders the expense of digging vastly greater. In such cases,
unless great certainty exists of striking a rich vein of gold beneath,
the labor is suspended, the spot vacated, and another selected with
perhaps like results.
Occasionally some sanguine operator will push his well down through
fifty feet of solid rock at a great outlay, and with vast labor, to
find himself possessed of the means for a large fortune, while another
will find himself ruined by his failure to strike the expected gold.
When the pay-dirt is reached, its depth and the number of zolotniks of
gold in every pood taken out are ascertained. With the results before
him a practical miner can readily decide whether a place will pay for
working. Of course he must take many contingent facts into
consideration, such as the extent of the placer, the resources of the
region, the roads or the expense of making them, provisions, lumber,
transportation, horses, tools, men, and so on through a long list.
The earth over the pay-dirt is broken up and carted off; its great
depth causes immense wear of horseflesh. A small mine employs three or
four hundred workmen, and larger ones in proportion. I heard of one
that kept more than three thousand men at work. The usual estimate for
horses is one to every two men, but the proportion varies according to
the character of the mine.
The pay-dirt is hauled to the bank of the river, where it is washed in
machines turned by water power. Various machines have been devised for
gold-washing, and the Russians are anxious to find the best invention
of the kind. The one in most general use and the easiest to construct
is a long cylinder of sheet iron open at both ends and perforated with
many small holes. This revolves in a slightly inclined position, and
receives the dirt and a stream of water at the upper end. The stones
pass through the cylinder and fall from the opposite end, where they
are examined to prevent the loss of ‘nuggets.’ Fine dirt, sand, gold,
and water pass through the perforations, and are caught in suitable
troughs, where the lighter substance washes away and leaves the black
sand and gold.
Great care is exercised to prevent thefts, but it does not always
succeed. The laborers manage to purloin small quantities, which they
sell to contraband dealers in the larger towns. The government forbids
private traffic in gold dust, and punishes offences with severity; but
the profits are large and tempting. Every gold miner must send the
product of his diggings to the government establishment at Barnaool,
where it is smelted and assayed. The owner receives its money value,
minus the Imperial tax of fifteen per cent.
The whole valley of the Yenesei, as far as explored, is auriferous.
Were it not for the extreme rigor of its climate and the disadvantages
of location, it would become immensely productive. Some mines have
been worked at a profit where the earth is solidly frozen and must be
thawed by artificial means. One way of accomplishing this is by piling
wood to a height of three or four feet and then setting it on fire.
The earth thawed by the heat is scraped off, and fresh fires are made.
Sometimes the frozen earth is dug up and soaked in water. Either
process is costly, and the yield of gold must be great to repay the
outlay. A gentleman in Irkutsk told me he had a gold mine of this
frozen character, and intimated that he found it profitable. The
richest gold mines thus far worked in Siberia are in the government of
Yeneseisk, but it is thought that some of the newly opened placers in
the Trans-Baikal province and along the Amoor will rival them in
productiveness.
[Illustration: HYDRAULIC MINING.]
In Irkutsk I met a Russian who had spent some months in California,
and proposed introducing hydraulic mining to the Siberians. No quartz
mines have been worked in Eastern Siberia, but several rich leads are
known to exist, and I presume a thorough exploration would reveal many
more. I saw excellent specimens of gold-bearing quartz from the
governments of Irkutsk and Yeneseisk. One specimen in particular, if
in the hands of certain New York operators, would be sufficient basis
for a company with a capital of half a million. In the Altai and Ural
mountains quartz mills have been in use for many years.
The Siberian gold deposits were made available long before Russia
explored and conquered Northern Asia. There are many evidences in the
Ural mountains of extensive mining operations hundreds of years ago.
Large areas have been dug over by a people of whom the present
inhabitants can give no account. It is generally supposed that the
Tartars discovered and opened these gold mines shortly after the time
of Genghis Khan.
The native population of the valley of the Yenesei comprises several
distinct tribes, belonging in common to the great Mongolian race. In
the extreme north, in the region bordering the Arctic Ocean, are the
Samoyedes, who are of the same blood as the Turks. The valley of the
Lena is peopled by Yakuts, whose development far exceeds that of the
Samoyedes, though both are of common origin. The latter are devoted
entirely to the chase and the rearing of reindeer, and show no
fondness for steady labor. The Yakuts employ the horse as a beast of
burden, and are industrious, ingenious, and patient. As much as the
character of the country permits they till the soil, and are not
inclined to nomadic life. They are hardy and reliable laborers, and
live on the most amicable terms with the Russians.
Before the opening of the Amoor the carrying trade from Yakutsk to
Ohotsk was in their hands. As many as forty thousand horses used to
pass annually between the two points, nearly all of them owned and
driven by Yakuts.
Most of these natives have been converted to Christianity, but they
still adhere to some of their ancient practices. On the road, for
example, they pluck hairs from their horse’s tails and hang them upon
trees to appease evil spirits. Some of the Russians have imbibed
native superstitions, and there is a story of a priest who applied to
a shaman to practice his arts and ward off evil in a journey he was
about to make. Examples to the natives are not always of the best, and
it would not be surprising if they raised doubts as to the
superiority of Christian faith. A traveler who had a mixed party of
Cossacks and natives, relates that the former were accustomed to say
their prayers three or four times on evenings when they had plenty of
leisure and omit them altogether when they were fatigued. At Nijne
Kolymsk Captain Wrangell found the priests holding service three times
on one Sunday and then absenting themselves for two weeks.
South of Krasnoyarsk are the natives belonging to the somewhat
indefinite family known as Tartars. They came originally from Central
Asia, and preserve many Mongol habits added to some created by present
circumstances. Some of them dwell in houses, while others adhere to
yourts of the same form and material as those of the Bouriats and
Mongols. They are agriculturists in a small way, but only adopt
tilling the soil as a last resort. Their wealth consists in sheep,
cattle, and horses, and when one of them has large possessions he
changes his habitation two or three times a year, on account of
pasturage. A gentleman told me that he once found a Tartar, whose
flocks and herds were worth more than a million roubles, living in a
tent of ordinary dimensions and with very little of what a European
would call comfort. These natives harmonize perfectly with the
Russians, of whom they have a respectful fear.
Like their kindred in Central Asia, these Tartars are excellent
horsemen, and show themselves literally at home in the saddle.
Dismounted, they step clumsily, and are unable to walk any distance of
importance. On horseback they have an easy and graceful carriage, and
are capable of great endurance. They show intense love for their
horses, caressing them constantly and treating their favorite riding
animals as household pets. In all their songs and traditions the horse
occupies a prominent place.
One of the most popular Tartar songs, said to be of great antiquity,
relates the adventures of “Swan’s Wing,” a beautiful daughter of a
native chief. Her brother had been overpowered by a magician and
carried to the spirit laird. According to the tradition the horse he
rode came to Swan’s Wing and told her what had occurred. The young
girl begged him to lead her by the road the magician had taken, and
thus guided, she reached the country of the shades. Assisted by the
horse she was able to rescue her brother from the prison where he was
confined. On her return she narrated to her people the incidents of
her journey, which are chanted at the present time. The song tells how
one of the supernatural guardians was attracted by her beauty and
became her _valet de place_ during her visit.
Near the entrance of the grounds she saw a fat horse in a sandy field,
and a lean one in a meadow. A thin and apparently powerless man was
wading against a torrent, while a large and muscular one could not
stop a small brook.
“The first horse,” said her guide, “shows that a careful master can
keep his herds in good condition with scanty pasturage, and the second
shows how easily one may fail to prosper in the midst of plenty. The
man stemming the torrent shows how much one can accomplish by the
force of will, even though the body be weak. The strong man is
overpowered by the little stream, because he lacks intelligence and
resolution.”
She was next led through several apartments of a large building. In
the first apartment several women were spinning incessantly, while
others attempted to swallow balls of hemp. Next she saw women holding
heavy stones in their hands and unable to put them down. Then there
were parties playing without cessation upon musical instruments, and
others busy over games of chance. In one room were men and dogs
enraged and biting each other. In a dormitory were many couples with
quilts of large dimensions, but in each couple there was an active
struggle, and its quilt was frequently pulled aside. In the last hall
of the establishment there were smiling couples, at peace with all the
world and ‘the rest of mankind.’ The song closes with the guide’s
explanation of what Swan’s Wing had seen.
“The women who spin now are punished because in their lives they
continued to spin after sunset, when they should be at rest.
“Those who swallow balls of hemp were guilty of stealing thread by
making their cloth too thin.
“Those condemned to hold heavy stones were guilty of putting stones in
their butter to make it heavy.
“The parties who make music and gamble did nothing else in their life
time, and must continue that employment perpetually.
“The men with the dogs are suffering the penalty of having created
quarrels on earth.
“The couples who freeze under ample covering are punished for their
selfishness when mortals, and the couples in the next apartment are an
example to teach the certainty of happiness to those who develop
kindly disposition.”
The region of the Lower Yenesei contains many exiles whom the
government desired to remove far from the centers of population. These
include political and criminal prisoners, whose offences are of a high
grade, together with the members of a certain religious order, known
as “The Skoptsi.” The latter class is particularly obnoxious on
account of its practice of mutilation. Whenever an adherent of this
sect is discovered he is banished to the remotest regions, either in
the north of Siberia or among the mountains of Circassia. It is the
only religious body relentlessly persecuted by the Russian government,
and the persecution is based upon the sparseness of population. Some
of these men have been incorporated into regiments on the frontier,
where they prove obedient and tractable. Those who become colonists in
Siberia are praised for their industry and perseverance, and
invariably win the esteem of their neighbors. They are banished to
distant localities through fear of their influence upon those around
them. Most of the money-changers of Moscow are reputed to believe in
this peculiar faith.
Many prominent individuals were exiled to the Lower Yenesei and
regions farther eastward, under former sovereigns. Count Golofkin, one
of the ministers of Catherine II., was banished to Nijne Kolymsk,
where he died. It is said that he used to put himself, his servants,
and house in deep mourning on every anniversary of Catherine’s
birthday. Two officers of the court of the emperor Paul were exiled to
a small town on the Yenesei, where they lived until recalled by
Alexander I.
The settlers on the Angara are freed from liability to conscription,
on condition that they furnish rowers and pilots to boats navigating
that stream. The settlers on the Lena enjoy the same privilege under
similar terms. On account of the character of the country and the
drawbacks to prosperity, the taxes are much lighter than in more
favored regions. In the more northern districts there is a
considerable trade in furs and ivory. The latter comes in the shape of
walrus tusks, and the tusks and teeth of the mammoth, which are
gathered on the shores of the Arctic Ocean and the islands scattered
through it. This trade is less extensive than it was forty or fifty
years ago.
[Illustration: TAIL PIECE]