[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.