at would have shaken
skimmilk into butter? You bet we did.

[Illustration: TAIL PIECE]

CHAPTER XXIII.

The heaviest fortunes at Nerchinsk have been made in commerce and gold
mining, principally the latter. I met one man reputed to possess three
million roubles, and two others who were each put down at over a
million. Mr. Kaporaki, our host, was a successful gold miner, if I may
judge by what I saw. His dwelling was an edifice somewhat resembling
Arlington House, but without its signs of decay. The principal rooms I
entered were his library, parlor, and dining-room; the first was neat
and cozy, and the second elaborately fitted with furniture from St.
Petersburg. Both were hung with pictures and paintings, the former
bearing French imprints. His dining-room was in keeping with the rest
of the establishment, and I could hardly realize that I was in
Siberia, five thousand miles from the Russian capital and nearly half
that distance from the Pacific Ocean. The realization was more
difficult when our host named a variety of wines ready for our use.
Would we take sherry, port, or madiera, or would we prefer
Johannisberg, Hockheimer, or Verzenay? Would we try Veuve Cliquot, or
Carte d'Or? A box of genuine Havanas stood upon his library table, and
received our polite attention. We arrived about ten in the morning,
and on consenting to remain till afternoon a half dozen merchants were
invited to join us at dinner.

Mr. Kaporaki's gold mines were on the tributaries of the Nertcha,
about a hundred miles away. From his satisfied air in showing
specimens and figures I concluded his claims were profitable. The
mining season had just closed, and he was footing up his gains and
losses for the year. The gold he exhibited was in coarse scales, with
occasional nuggets, and closely resembled the product I saw a few
months earlier of some washings near Mariposa.

The gold on the Nertcha and its tributaries is found in the sand and
earth that form the bed of the streams. Often it is many feet deep and
requires much 'stripping.' I heard of one _priesk_ (claim) where the
pay-dirt commenced sixty-five feet from the surface. Notwithstanding
the great expense of removing the superincumbent earth, the mine had
been worked to a profit. Twenty or thirty feet of earth to take away
is by no means uncommon. The pay-dirt is very rich, and the estimates
of its yield are stated at so many _zolotniks_ of gold for a hundred
poods of earth. F