might we declaim agaiiifl; agriculture; becaufe thé- cultivation of rice is
unhealthy. No propofitipris can be more plain than that England'has
derived her vaft manufaftures and commerce from her mines of coal,
without which material they muft long agtThave terminated ; that the
iron of Sweden is the great refoUrcevof the ftate ; arid that thé hiver
mines of Saxony have been the grand caufe of the flouriffling agriculture
and general profperity of'that country. It is eqûally clteat ànd
hmple that if valuable mines. Were difcovered/ in a barren country, they
would not only employ many iifcful labourers, but the produtt might
be exchanged to advantage for the neceflarfes _ br -dee#âdoh§ ^fdiféi^pr
espended in agricultural improvements- Hence the minps/of Siberia
’have fupplied; great refOiirces to Ruffia ; while, merely by a miferable
forci 6f adminiftration, thofe of Mexico and Peru have been ranked
among the. caufes of the decline of Spain. ~r
The chief gold mines of Siberia are .thofe of Catherinburg or Ekathe-
ringburg, on the eaft of the Uralian mountains, about lat._57?, [where
an office for the management of the mines was inftituted in 1719.
The mines of various forts extend to a corifiderable diftahee on the N.
and S. of Catherinburg ; arid the founderies, chiefly for copper "and
iro n , are confuted at'mj. ‘But the gold mines * of/ Berpfof, in this,
vicinity, were of little confequence till the reign of Elizabeth. The
mines of Nerfhinlk,difcovered in 1704, are principally of lead mixed with
hiver and gold ; and thofe of Kolyvan, chiefly in the Schlangenberg,
or mountain- of ferpents, fo called by the German miners, began to be
worked for the crown in 1748.
The gold is fometimes found native, but. .generally mingled with
various fubftances, (the aürum; larvatiim of Gmelin,) particularly hiver,,
•which. conftitutes the eledtrum of the - ancients. The gold mines of
Bérefof are the chief in the empire ; thofe of Kolyvan and Nerfhinfk
being denominated hiver mines, their produce of gold being o f much
fmaller confequence.*
• . * For Berefof, a few!miles N. E. of Catherinburg, fee the Decouvertes Ruffes, hr. 162, See., and
the map in that volume.. The gold mines are near the river Pyfhrria, which falls into the Tobol.
That entire volume deferibes Ufa, the Baftikirs, and,the Uralian chain, inftead of being a Voyage
en Perfe, as the running title bears.
The
ThJl(sIve'r is rarely-! naHVe7bu|ri-'oSerij''.miqgk,d with- gold, ,as already Min
menfiqnbd :» and - in^the >I>)a'puttian "ifgpntairil with ,lead. K That; kind
xafled horpff^Uis, 5 .^nfl-what is ca|led
the.' glibly,ore,. and,|b^fe k-jpds' fLndw«/Ve«j| By Gmelin,'as
alfo1 the- Tedtarfenical ojre, anfl-the qff4feMi%|u^phpratedJ,lver orpfo£
Kirwan, moftly- |buod in t]^ s^l^riggabugr »andqsolhqr,, mountains,"
b r a n c h in g ®or,th frpm tbofe oflAltaj, toy ar;ds. -Koliyvan;;
.'«rAffideSvitbe .copper mines'1 in the Ur^iian^poqntiii^s^thfrei-aTe ^fo
fn|p ^ n..thofeo.LAltai%, The^moh hp^uteiclr^sj’ tjie dendrite^ feme- ' .
wEat referiibling' /fernL of a pal%®|Mr,:f and-(pe^|^^ft|foimg hlver.
M^achiteVjOr 'ftalaakj^® '-t||||tej^
Tniriafthbiit 30 oJiCathapilAurg^ What,i^ oSled the Armenian
|ftone is’a! hjue malachite.'5 The _ red 'lead dPSiheria^rS^Brind in the
minds ol Berefof, on a miqai(eousTafd ftone. This fubftahee it is well
knOyn &as. difeloted!a'new ^eMthalled chrome,
But the iron un&nes" of Ruflia of the rpoft iblid3md:Vnwg,tri\-*
‘riprtan.ee,.pafticulkfly thofe' WhichCfopriiy; hh^eb|usTobrideries,.l of
thl^rklian iriounrauW.**' Yet Ruffia^ftill import^hrfikfri^er/ and' iincf;
^khfl^th&flrrii-metals are" rare.-‘ * ‘
I -Rock- faltTs chief! V '-found near the Ilek', riot;far honi] Orenburg.
«Coal fc’lrcely ’knoWn • - hutfulphur;alum,-falLammpniac, .vitriol; nitre,
arid natron, are ’found in abundance^/’ Ur “V L ’ ’ *•
'Nor mpfljthe gems^efSiberui'be omitted,
variety, paflifffiiaMy in the mouhtairi Adrinfhd&rielr the rivef ^ArgpQn,
-|n the -provirice' of l^erfliinfk otftMmria. jt THe’d&ftwad'&y'dseVej? "a£- '
peared,exceptin Plindoftan'andBraifll,- wbere>'it’fe.always dolaelea; -as
lis the ftone chiefly founds in Ceylon,> and called according' tor its »colour
the ruby', fapphire, and orierital.|oj^aZi Cp^hi^'lPpa^es-riiie' foundun
Adunfhollo, in' quadrangular prifms,\as is alfo the-jadnU.- The emerald
' ‘ S Guthrie, Table of Gems. Bee xv. p. 212. In 'the ftepp near Orenburg fs-a'fiigulir mine
of copper with petrified trees': Dec. R. iii. 147.
* Near Mount Emor, or Nemir, not fa|||^om the river Yenifei, in the fouth of-Sibcriaj Dr.
Pallas-difcovered' a large mafs of native irori. See Dec. Riifs. vi. 328, which places it near Kraf-
nojarlk. In the fame volume, p. 189, is a carious account of the rich -iron- mines- near Rybna,,
S E . of that place; covered with mineralized trunks of trees,
is
ERALO