an settlers.

Many little streams enter the Amoor on both sides, but chiefly from
the north. There is a famous cliff called Sa-ga-yan, where the river
has washed and undermined the high bank so that portions fall away
every few years. The current strikes this hill with great force, and
where it is reflected the water is broken like the rapids above
Niagara. It is a dangerous spot for small boats, and very difficult
for them to ascend. When the expedition of 1854 descended the Amoor
several barges were drawn into an eddy at this cliff and nearly
swamped. Captain Fulyelm and Mr. Collins, in 1857, were in danger and
trouble, especially where the current rebounds from the shore.

When our steamer struck this rapid it required all the strength of our
engines to carry us through. I desired to examine the shore, but had
no opportunity. Mr. Collins found the bank composed of amygdaloid
sand, decomposed rock and sandstone, with many traces of iron. On the
beach were chalcedony, cornelian, and agate. Two veins of coal have
been traced in the cliff, and it is thought a large deposit exists
there. The natives have a story that the cliff smokes whenever a human
being approaches it, but I saw no indications of smoke as I passed.
They consider it the abode of evil spirits, and hold it in great
dread.

[Illustration: SA-GA-YAN CLIFF.]

The Russians told me that a few wreaths of smoke were visible in
summer, caused probably by the decomposition of several coal seams on
the upper side of the mountain.

Up to the present time no coal has been mined along the Amoor, though
enough is known to exist. The cheapness and abundance of wood will
render coal of little importance for many years to come. Nicolayevsk
is supplied with coal from Sakhalin Island, where it is abundant and
easily worked. Iron ore has been discovered on the upper Amoor and in
the Buryea Mountains. Captain Anossoff proposes to erect a smelting
establishment at Blagoveshchensk, supplying it with iron ore from the
Buryea region and with coal from the Zeya. Copper and silver exist in
several localities, but the veins have not been thoroughly examined.
The mountains are like those in the Nerchinsk district that have
yielded so richly in precious metals.

Captain Anossoff is the brother of my companion across the Pacific,
and has seen ten years service in Eastern Siberia. Most of that time
he has passed on the Amoor and its tributary streams. In many places
he found rich