But suddenly the sound of the axe or the creaking of the water-wheel is heard; the forest opens, a long row of huts extends along the banks of a rivulet, and hundreds of workmen are seen moving about as industrious as a hive of bees. What is the cause of all this activity—of this sudden change from a death-like quiet to a feverish life? These are the gold-fields; the sands of these swampy grounds are mixed, like those of the Pactolus, with gold, and their fortunate possessors would not exchange them for the finest meadows, cornfields, or vineyards.
Fedor Popow, a hunter of the province of Tomsk, is said to have been the first discoverer of gold in Siberia; and Government having granted permission to private persons to search for the precious metal, a few enterprising men directed their attention to the wild spurs of the Sajan Mountains. A brilliant success rewarded their endeavors. In the year 1836 an exploring-party, sent out by a merchant named Jakin Resanow, discovered a rich deposit of auriferous sand near the banks of the Great Birussa; and in 1839–40, similar deposits were found along several of the tributaries of the Upper Tunguska, and still farther to the north, on the Oktolyk, a rivulet that flows into the Pit.
The expenses of a searching-party amount, on an average, to 3000 silver roubles (£600); and as very often no gold whatever is found, these hazardous explorations not seldom put both the purse and the perseverance of their undertakers to a severe trial. Thus Nikita Maesnikow had spent no less than 260,000 silver roubles (£52,000) in fruitless researches, when he at length discovered the rich gold-field on the Peskin, which, as we shall presently see, amply remunerated him for his previous losses.
Of the difficulties which await the gold-searchers, a faint idea may be formed, on considering that the whole of the auriferous region, which far surpasses in size most of the European kingdoms, consists of one vast forest like that above described. Patches of grass-land on which horses can feed are of very rare occurrence, and damp moss is the only bed the Taiga affords. As the gold-searchers are very often at work some hundreds of versts from the nearest village, they are obliged to carry all their provisions along with them. Their clothes are almost constantly wet, from their sleeping in the damp forest, from the frequent rains to which they are exposed, and from their toiling in the swampy ground. Scarcely have they dug a few feet deep when the pit fills with water, which they are obliged to pump out as fast as it gathers, and thus standing up to their knees in the mud, they work on until they reach the solid rock, for then only can they be certain that no auriferous layer has been neglected in their search. When we consider, moreover, that all this labor is very often totally useless, their perseverance can not but be admired; nor is it to be wondered at that exploring-parties have sometimes encamped on the site of rich gold-deposits without examining the spot, their patience having been exhausted by repeated failures in the vicinity. When the winter, with its deep snowfalls, suddenly breaks in upon the searchers, their hardships become dreadful. The frost and want of food kill their horses, their utensils have to be left behind; and dragging their most indispensable provisions along with them on small sledges, they are not seldom obliged to wade for weeks through the deep snow before they reach some inhabited place.
But even the severity of a Siberian winter does not prevent the sending out of exploring-parties. Such winter explorations are only fitted out for the more accurate examination of very swampy auriferous grounds that have been discovered in the previous year, and where it is less difficult to work in the frozen soil than to contend with the water in summer. A winter-party travels without horses, the workmen themselves transporting all that they require on light sledges. They are obliged to break up the obdurate soil with pickaxes, and the sand thus loosened has to be thawed and washed in warm water. After their day’s work, they spend the night in huts made of the branches of trees, where they sleep on the hard ground. It requires the iron constitution of a Siberian to bear such hardships, to which many fall a prey, in spite of their vigorous health.
A gold-deposit having been found, the fortunate discoverer obtains the grant of a lot of ground, 100 sashens (600 feet) broad, and 2500 sashens (or 5 versts) long. Two adjoining lots are never granted to the same person, but a subsequent purchase or amalgamation is permitted. At first Government was satisfied with a moderate tax of 15 per cent. of the produce; subsequently, however, this was doubled, until within the last few years, when, the gold production having been found to decrease, the primitive impost was returned to, or even reduced to 5 per cent. for the less productive mines. Besides this tax, from four to eight gold roubles per pound of gold, according to the richness of the diggings, have to be paid for police expenses. Only a twelve years’ lease is granted, after which the digging reverts to the crown, and a new lease has to be purchased. As the severe climate of the Taiga limits the working-time to four months (from May to September), the period of the concession is thus in reality not more than four years.
The first care of the lessee is, of course, to collect the necessary provisions and working apparatus. The distant steppe of the Kirghese furnishes him with dried or salted meat; his iron utensils he purchases in the factories of the Ural; the fairs of Irbit and Nishne-Novgorod supply him with every other article; and rye-meal and fishes he easily obtains from the Siberian peasants or traders. By water and by land, all these various stores have to be transported in summer to the residence or establishment of the gold-digger on the border of the Taiga. The transport through the Taiga itself takes place during the winter, on sledges, at a very great cost; and the expense is still more increased if time has been lost through inattention, as then all that may still be wanting has to be conveyed to the spot on the backs of horses.
Most of the men that are hired for working in the diggings are exiles—the remainder generally free peasants, who have been reduced in their circumstances by misfortunes or misconduct. The procuring of the necessary workmen is an affair of no small trouble and expense. Before every summer campaign the agents of the gold-diggers travel about the country like recruiting-sergeants, and after giving many fair words and some hand-money, they take the passport of the man engaged as a security for his appearance. But although a passport is an indispensable document in Siberia, yet it not seldom happens that the workman finds means to obtain a new one under some other name, and, engaging himself to a new master, defrauds the first of his hand-money.
It may be easily imagined that, as the workmen only consist of the refuse of society, the greatest discipline is necessary to keep them in order. The system of a secret police, so cherished by all arbitrary governments, is here extended to its utmost limits; scarcely has a suspicious word fallen among the workmen, when the director is immediately informed of it, and takes his measures accordingly. Every man knows that he is watched, and is himself a spy upon his companions.
Hofmann relates an instance of a plot singularly nipped in the bud. In one of the gold-diggings on the Noiba, the workmen, at the instigation of an under-overseer, had refused to perform a task assigned to them. It was to be feared that the spirit of insubordination would gain ground, and extend over all the neighboring diggings. The director, consequently, sent at once for military assistance; this, however, proved to be unnecessary, for when the Cossacks arrived at the Noiba, a thunder-storm arose, and at the very moment they came riding up to the digging a flash of lightning killed the ringleader in the midst of the mutineers. As soon as the men recovered from the first shock of their surprise and terror, they all exclaimed, “This is the judgment of God!” and, without any further hesitation, at once returned to their duty.