and altogether as arid and desolate as the ancient | them into steel, and again into cannon, all on the spot. bed of some inland sea. Nature has done nothing What none of his competitors can do he manages. towards giving life and movement to the place, but In France ingots of steel are obtained, eighty thouman has brought a wonderful amount of energy and sand pounds in weight. In England a hundredvigour to bear on it. ton gun has been cast. At Essen M. Krupp has contrived to cast blocks of steel of ten hundred thousand pounds! Herr Schultz does not stop at that, he knows no limits. Order a cannon of him, of whatever weight and power you like, he'll turn you out that cannon, as bright as a new halfpenny, exactly at the time agreed on. In five years there sprang up on this bare and rocky plain, eighteen villages, composed of small wooden houses, all alike, brought ready built from Chicago, and containing a large population of rough workmen. In the midst of these villages, at the very foot of the Coal Butts, as the inexhaustible mountains of coal are called, rises a dark mass, huge and strange, an agglomeration of regular buildings, pierced with symmetrical windows, covered with red roofs, and surmounted by a forest of cylindrical chimneys, which continually vomit forth clouds of dense smoke. Through the black curtain which veils the sky, dart red lightning like flames, while a dis tant roaring is heard resembling that of thunder or est cannon-founder, of the two hemispheres. PUDDLERS AT WORK. He casts guns of all shapes and of all calibres, smooth and rifled bores, for Russia, Turkey, Roumania, Italy, for Japan and for China, but particularly for Germany. With the aid of his enormous capital, this large establishment, which is at the same time a regular town, started up as at the wave of a conjurer's wand. Thirty thousand workmen, Germans for the most part, crowded to it, and settled themselves in the suburbs. In a few months its products, owing to their overwhelming superiority, acquired universal celebrity. Professor Schultz digs out iron and coal from his own mines, which lie ready to his hand, changes But he makes his customers pay for it! It is as if the two hundred and fifty millions of 1871 had only given him an appetite for more! In gun-casting, as in everything else, the man who can do what others cannot is sure to be well off. Indeed, Schultz's cannon not only attain to an unprecedented size, but, although they may deteriorate slightly by use, they never burst. Stahlstadt steel seems to have special properties. There are many stories current of mysterious chemical mixtures; but one thing is certain, that no one has discovered the invaluable secret. Another thing certain is that, in Stahlstadt, that secret is guarded with the most jealous care. In this remote corner of North America, sur rounded by deserts, isolated from the world by a rampart of mountains, five hundred miles from the nearest town or habitation of any sort, we may search in vain for the smaliest vestige of that liberty which is the foundation principle of the United States. On arriving under the walls of Stahlstadt it is useless to try and enter one of the massive gateways which here and there break the line of moats and fortifications. The sternest of sentinels will repulse the traveller. He must go back to the suburbs. He cannot enter the City of Steel unless he possesses the magic formula, the password, or, at any rate, an order duly stamped, signed, and countersigned. One November morning a young workman arrived at Stahlstadt, who doubtlessly possessed such an order, for after leaving his well-worn portmanteau at an inn, he directed his steps to the gateway nearest the village. He was a fine, strongly-built young fellow, dressed in a loose coat, woollen shirt, with no collar, and trousers of ribbed velveteen, tucked into big boots. He pulled his wide felt hat over his eyes, as if to conceal the coaldust with which his skin was begrimed, and walked forward with elastic step, whistfing through his brown moustache. Arrived at the gateway, the young man, showing a printed paper to the officer of the gate, was immediately admitted. "Your order is addressed to the foreman, Seligmann, section K, road ix, workshop 743," said the sentinel. "You must follow the round way to your right till you come to the K boundary, and there show yourself to the porter. Do you know the rule? Expelled if you enter another section than your own," he added, as the new-comer went away. The young workman followed the direction indicated to him along the roadway. On his right lay a moat, above which marched numerous sentinels. On his left, between the wide circular road and the mass of buildings, lay first a double line of railway, and then a second wall, similar to the outer one, which entirely surrounded the Steel City. It was of so great an extent that the sections, enclosed by the fortified walls like the spokes of a wheel, were perfectly independent of each other, although surrounded by the same wall and moat. The young workman soon reached the boundary K, placed at the side of the road before a lofty gateway, surmounted by the same letter sculptured in the stone, and presented himself to the porter This time, instead of having a soldier to deal with, he found himself before a pensioner with a wooden leg and medals on his breast. The pensioner examined the paper, stamped it again, and said, "All right; ninth road on the left." The young man entered this second entrenched line, and at last found himself in section K. The road which debouched from the gate was the axle, and at right angles on either side extended rows of uniform buildings. The noise of machinery was almost deafening. Those grey buildings, pierced with thousands of windows, were like living monsters. But the newcomer was apparently accustomed to such scenes, for he bestowed not the slightest attention on the curious sight. In five minutes he had found road ix, workshop 743, and having entered a little office full of portfolios and registers, stood in the presence of the foreman Seligmann. The man took the paper with all its stamps, examined it, then looked the young workman up and down. "Hired as puddler, are you?" he asked; "you seem very young." "Age has nothing to do with it," was the answer. "I shall soon be six-and-twenty, and I've been puddling for the last seven months. If you like, I can show you certificates on the strength of which I was engaged at New York by the head overseer." The young man spoke German quite easily, but with a slight accent which seemed to arouse the suspicions of the foreman. "Are you an Alsacian?" he demanded. "No; I am Swiss-from Schaffhausen." added, taking out a leather pocket-book and showing a passport, testimonial, and certificates. "Very good. After all, you are hired, and it's my business simply to show you your place," returned Seligmann, assured by this display of official documents. He then inscribed in a register the name of Johann Schwartz, copying it from the order, and gave to the workman a blue card, bearing his name and the number 57,938, adding, "You must be at the K gate every morning at seven o'clock; show this card, which will already have passed you through the outer wall. Take from the rack in the lodge a counter, with your number on it, and show it to me when you come in. At seven in the evening, as you go out, drop the counter into a box placed at the door of the workshop, and only open at that time." "I know the system. Can I live in the town?" asked Schwartz. "No; you must find a lodging outside, but you can get your meals at the canteen in the shed at a very moderate price.. Your wages are a dollar a day to begin with, but they will be raised quarterly. Expulsion is the only punishment. It is pronounced by me at first, and by the engineer on appeal, for any infraction of the rules. Will you begin to-day?" "Why not?" "It will be but half a day," observed the foreman, as he guided Schwartz to an inner gallery. The two men walked along a wide passage, crossed a yard, and entered a vast hall, like the platform of an immense terminus. Schwartz, as he glanced round, could not restrain a movement of professional admiration. On each side of the long hall were two rows of enormous columns, as big as those in St. Peter's at Rome, their tops rising through the glass roof. These were the chimneys of the puddling furnaces, and there were fifty of them in a row. At one end engines were continually bringing up waggon-loads of iron to feed the furnaces, at the other empty trucks appeared to receive and carry away the metal transformed into steel. This metamorphosis is accomplished by means of the operation of "puddling," at which gangs of half-naked Cyclops, armed with long iron rakes, were working with might and main. The "pigs" of iron are thrown into a furnace brought to an intense heat. As soon as melted, the metal is stirred about for a considerable time. When it acquires a certain consistency, the puddler, by means of his long hook, turns and rolls about the molten mass, and makes it up into four blooms, or balls, which he then hands over to others. The operation is continued in the midst of the hall. Opposite each furnace stands a shingling hammer moved by steam. Protected by boots and armlets of iron, the head covered with a metallic veil, and wearing a thick leathern apron, the "shingler," with his long pincers, takes up the red-hot ball and places it under the hammer. Down on it comes the weight of the ponderous machine, pressing out a quantity of dross, amidst showers of sparks. When it cools it is taken back to the furnace, to be brought out again and hammered as before. There was incessant movement in this monster forge. To a spectator it was a terrifying scene, the cascades of molten metal, dull blows heard above "Look! here are all my papers, quite correct," he the roaring, showers of brilliant sparks, the glare of red-hot furnaces. In the fearful din and tumult, | railroad for the conveyance of the bars of steel, at the man appeared like a helpless infant. other, one for taking away the cannon as they came out of the mould. Powerful fellows must these puddlers be. To stir and knead four hundredweight of metallic paste in that Near each mould stood a man armed with an iron temperature, to see nothing for hours but the blind-rod, to test the state of fusion of the metal in the ing glare of the furnace and molten iron, is trying work, and wears a man out in ten years. Schwartz, as if to show the foreman what he could do, at once stripped off his coat and woollen shirt, exhibiting a well-knit frame, and arms on which the muscles stood out like cords, seized a hook which one of the puddlers had just put down, and set to work. Seeing that he was likely to do well, the foreman soon left, and returned to his office. The new-comer worked on until the dinner-hour. But he was either too energetic, or he had neglected to take sufficient food that morning to support his strength in his unusual toil, for he soon appeared tired and faint. Indeed, so worn out did he seem that the chief of his gang noticed it. "You're not fit for a puddler, my lad," he said, "and you had best ask at once to be changed into another section, for they won't do it later." Schwartz protested against this. It was but a passing faintness. He could puddle as well as any one! The gang's-man made his report, however, and Schwartz was immediately called up before the chief engineer. This personage examined his papers, shook his head, and asked, in inquisitorial tone, "Were you a Were you a puddler at Brooklyn ?" The young man looked down in confusion. "I must confess it, I see," he answered. "I was employed in casting, and it was in the hope of increasing my salary that I wished to try my hand at puddling." "You are all alike," returned the engineer, shrugging his shoulders. "At five-and-twenty you think you can do what few men at five-and-thirty are fit for. Well, then, are you good at casting?" "I was two months in the first class." "You had better have stayed in it! Here you will have to begin in the third. All the same, you may think yourself lucky in being allowed to change your section so easily." The engineer then wrote a few words on a pass, sent a telegram, and said, "Give up your counter, leave this division, and go straight to section O, chief engineer's office. He has been told." The same formalities were gone through again that Schwartz had met with at the K gate. As in the morning, he was questioned, accepted, and sent to the foreman of the workshop, who introduced him into the casting-hall. But here the work was more silent and more methodical. "This is only a small gallery, for casting forty-two pounders," observed the foreman; "first-class workmen alone are allowed to cast the big guns." The "small" gallery was not less than four hundred and fifty feet long and two hundred wide. Schwartz, as he glanced round, calculated that there must be at least six hundred crucibles being heated, by four, eight, or twelve together in the side furnaces. The moulds destined for the reception of the fused steel were placed down the middle of the gallery, at the bottom of a trench. On each side of the trench was a moveable crane, which, running on a line of rails, was constantly in use for moving enormous weights. As in the puddling-hall, at one end was a crucibles. The processes, which Schwartz had seen put in praetice elsewhere, were here brought to a remarkable state of perfection. When a cast was to be made, a warning bell gave the signal to all the watchers of the crucibles. Then, two by two, workmen of equal height, bearing between them on their shoulders a horizontal bar of iron, came with measured stop, and placed themselves before every furnace. An officer, armed with a whistle, his chronometer in his hand, stood near the mould, conveniently placed for all the furnaces in action. On each side channels of refractory earth, covered with metal, converged in gentle slopes to a funnel-shaped reservoir, placed just above the mould. The officer whistled; immediately a crucible, taken from the fire with pincers, was slung on the iron bar supported by the two workmen. The whistle commenced a series of modulations, and the two men, keeping time to it, approached and emptied the contents of their crucible into the corresponding channel. Then they tossed their empty, still red-hot receptacle into a vat. Without interruption, at regular intervals, so as to keep up a constant flow, gangs from the other furnaces went through exactly the same operation. It was all executed with such wonderful precision, that just at the appointed time the last crucible was emptied and flung into the vat. The manoeuvre seemed rather the result of a blind mechanism than the co-operation of a hundred human wills. Inflexible discipline, the force of habit, and the power of the measured musical strain, worked the miracle. The sight appeared familiar to Schwartz, who was soon coupled with a man of his own height, tested in a small cast, and found a capital workman. Indeed, the head of his gang at the close of the day promised him a speedy rise. On leaving the section O, at seven that evening, he went back to the inn to fetch his portmanteau. Then, following one of the exterior roads, he soon came to a group of houses, which he had remarked that morning as he passed, and easily found a lodging in the cettage of a good woman who "took in a lodger." After supper our young workman did not, like too many of his class, stroll out to the nearest publichouse. He shut himself into his room, took from his pocket a fragment of steel evidently picked up in the puddling-shed, a little crucible earth from the O section, and examined them carefully by the light of a smoky lamp. Then, taking from his portmanteau a thick manuscript book half full of notes, receipts, and calculations, he wrote the following in good French, though, for precaution, in a cipher of which he alone knew the key. "November 10.-Stahlstadt.-There is nothing particular in the mode of puddling, unless, of course, it is the choice of two different temperatures, relatively low for the first heat and the re-heating, according to Chernoff's rules. As to the casting, it is done after Krupp's process, but with a perfectly admirable uniformity of movement. This precision in manœuvres is the great German power. It results from the innate musical talent in the German race. The English could never attain to this perfection; they have no ear, and want discipline. The French may reach it easily, as they are the most perfect dancers in the world. So far there appears to be nothing mysterious in the remarkable success of this manufacture. The mineral specimens which I picked up on the mountain are similar to our best iron. "The coal is certainly uncommonly fine, of an eminently metallurgic quality, but still there is nothing unusual in it. "There is no doubt that in the Stahlstadt manufacture special care is taken to purify the principal materials from any foreign matter that they may be employed only in a perfectly pure state. The result may easily be imagined. To be in possession of the remainder of the problem, I have only to determine the composition of the refractory earth of which the crucibles and the channels are made. This discovered, and our gangs of workmen properly drilled, I do not see why we should not do what they do here. All the same, as yet I have only seen two sections, and there are at least four-and-twenty, without counting the central building, the plans and models department, the secret cabinet! What dangerous schemes may not be maturing in that den? What may not our friends have to fear, after the threat uttered by Herr Schultz when he took possession of his fortune?" After these questions, Schwartz, who was tired enough with his day's work, undressed, laid himself down in a liltle bed, which was about as uncomfortable as a German bed could be--and that is saying a good deal-lighted his pipe, and began to smoke, and read a well-worn book. But his thoughts were apparently elsewhere. The odorous clouds issued from his lips as if they were saying, "Pooh! pooh! pooh! pooh!" He soon put down his book, and remained lost in thought for a long time, as if he was absorbed in the solution of a difficult problem. "Ah," he exclaimed, at last, "though the prince of darkness himself should try to prevent me, I will find out the secret of Professor Schultz, and, above all, what he is meditating against Frankville!" Schwartz went to sleep murmuring the name of Dr. Sarrasin; but in his dreams it was the name of Jeannette, sweet little Jeannette, that was on his lips. He had never forgotten the little girl, although Jeannette, since he last saw her, had grown into a young lady. This phenomenon is easily explained by the ordinary laws of the association of ideas. Thoughts of the doctor brought up that of his daughter-association by contiguity. Then, when Schwartz-or rather Max Bruckmann-awoke, having still Jeannette in his mind, he was not at all astonished, but found in this fact a fresh proof of the excellence of the psychological principles of John Stuart Mill. HANSTEEN'S TRAVELS IN SIBERIA. ASTRAKAN, one of the most important cities of merchandise from India; lamb-skins, sheep-skins, the Russian Empire, is situated on an island of the Volga, called Dolgoï-Ostrov (or Long Island), at about fifty versts from the mouth of that river. The Caspian Sea was formerly nearer to the city, but the sand brought down by the Volga gradually formed a delta, consisting of a number of small islands. Its summer is extremely warm, although the winter is severe. To profit by the hot weather, its inhabitants have planted vines on the slopes descending to the river, walled round by high terraces of earth. The vines are watered by means of machinery placed near the river, which conducts the water up to the gardens by wooden conduits, put in motion by camels or by horses. Many different kinds of wine are made-even champagne, red and white, which seemed to me almost as good as French champagne. There are in Astrakan no less than twenty-five Greek churches, a monastery, and a convent of nuns; two Armenian, a German Lutheran, and a Roman Catholic church; nineteen mosques, and a religious "hall of prayer " for the Hindoos. The city is inhabited by Russians, Tartars, Georgians, Germans, English, Persians, Hindoos, Khivans, and other Europeans and Asiatics. Altogether, the population is about 30,000, and occasionally, including strangers resorting thither for trade, the aggregate may amount to 70,000. Astrakan is the centre of an important trade, not only with the interior of the empire, but also with Persia, Khiva, Bokhara, and India. Its imports are silk, cotton (raw and manufactured), otter-skins, Persian stuffs, and precious from the Caucasus and from Circassia; warın dresses from Bokhara, corn from Turkey, pulse and grain from Persia, and an abundant quantity of fruit. The exports are cloth, wax, soap, gold and silver, diapered copper, lead, iron, steel, mercury, alum, vitriol, sal ammonia, and morocco. It is from this city that the fine varieties of fish caught in the Caspian and at the mouths of the Volga, Terek, and the Kur are sent. Within the city there is a botanical garden, and one of medicinal plants. In a large house belonging to an Armenian, which was pointed out to us by the police, we were permitted to occupy as many rooms as we required, the proprietor being absent. At Selinginsk (south of Lake Baikal), near the Chinese frontier, I had made the acquaintance of an English missionary, who gave me a letter for one of his countrymen, named William Glen, who was living at Astrakan. I sought him out, and sometimes I met a Persian called Abdullah Vizieroff at this Englishman's house. He had been vizier to the Shah of Persia, but an insurrection to remove the Shah from the throne, in which Vizieroff was implicated, being discovered, he was obliged to take flight, and found refuge in Astrakan. In memory of his ancient grandeur he had adopted the name of Vizieroff. He had obtained the place of Persian professor in the Gymnasium for instruction in Oriental languages, and was assisting the missionary to translate the Bible into Persian. General Willielminoff, formerly commander-inchief of Georgia, had strongly advised me to make an excursion from Astrakan to Georgia, which he | a hollow made, encircled by a border of stones, on described to me as being attractive, and exhibiting which a cauldron to cook their food is placed. Straw very curious phenomena. "By asking your Minister, or dried herbs are collected, which, lit at the "eternal Baron Palmstjerna, to address himself to the Emperor, fire" outside, are then placed under the cauldron. his Imperial Majesty will give the order to the The hollow ignites immediately, and keeps burning Admiralty at Astrakan to convey you in a Govern- on, without smoke or smell. Thus a kitchen fire is ment vessel from Astrakan to Baku, on the Caspian, lit much more rapidly than with wood. The hollow whence you may proceed to Tiflis, capital of Georgia.' is afterwards covered with felt, and the flame thereby Thus encouraged, I wrote to M. Palmstjerna, and extinguished. Hermits during the winter warm learnt that such an order had been given to the themselves at these burning hollows; nor do they authorities at Astrakan. require any other light than that which it affords. This country offered yet another phenomenon. During the fine days of autumn, when the evening air was warm and sultry, the fields round Baku appeared on fire; sometimes flames of considerable size were seen to glide along the summits of the rocks, whilst the surrounding mountains emitted a bluish light. Innumerable tongues of flame, sometimes separated, sometimes uniting, cover the plains when the nights are dark and warm, terrifying the horses, mules, and, indeed, all animals. But this singular phenomenon lasts for four hours only, and generally during the months of October and November. After sunset, should a strong easterly wind prevail, they are no longer discernible; and this aërial element-if we may so call it will not burn inflammable matter as other fires will. The reeds and rushes never take fire-a most singular circumstance-though the surface of the earth be covered with flames. And, more than this, if you place yourself in the midst of these fires you do not feel any heat from them! The most remarkable phenomena in these parts are the springs of naphtha, the "growing mountains," and the so-called "eternal fire." The sources of naphtha are found near the town of Baku, and on the peninsula of Apscheron. Some wells from which it is taken produce white naphtha, which sells at a high price. The wells are sealed up, and opened only once a month. Besides these, about fifty others exist, which yield an immense quantity of black naphtha. They are emptied daily, and the naphtha is sent to Baku, and is there used for lamps and kitchen fireplaces, and in the ovens which bake bread-for, indeed, the village does not possess any other material for producing heat. Russians, however, prefer to have their bread baked over a fire of dried herbs. The most abundant wells of naphtha, which belong to Government, yield 7,500 lb. daily! The so-called "eternal fire" on the peninsula of Apscheron is perhaps the only phenomenon of the kind in the whole world. It burns in a hollow space of irregular form. The hollow never becomes deeper by the emission of this continually-burning fire, the stones at the bottom resist its action. Nevertheless, the limestones become friable, and are easily reduced to powder. The "eternal fire" produces neither smoke nor smell, and exists within a circumference of two versts. Wherever a hole is dug FIRE TEMPLE AT BAKU. the fire kindles up and burns with a quick flame until covered over with earth. The fire in the largest nollow could, no doubt, be extinguished in the same way, but would burn up again whenever free vent were given it. It is remarkable that grass grows green and fresh on the borders of this burning hollow, and that at some little distance there are two wells of excellent water and a large, productive garden. Some fire-worshippers are always to be found near the principal focus of the fire, descendants of the ancient Parsees, who regard all fire as a symbol of the Deity. These people live in little huts near the hollow. In the middle of each hut there is The "growing mountains" are found between Baku and Navagi, along the road, within a space of about fifteen versts. They are of various heights, never attaining any very great elevation. Their colour is grey, they are devoid of vegetation, and their form is conical. The soil is argillaceous earth; each mountain seems to contain within itself a source of salt-water, thick and slimy, which, ascending up to its summit, overflows when it reaches the edge of the opening. The deposit becomes petrified, and thus gradually increases the dimensions of the mountain. Some of these springs-those at the highest elevation-have been dried up, but others have burst forth from openings at the sides, and are continually spouting a thick slime. Not only in this locality, but in other parts of the country, "growing mountains" exist. Near the sea there is a mountain which is constantly emitting flames. We quitted Astrakan on the 25th February, but scarcely had we proceeded 300 versts to the north when the great depth of now forced us to halt at one of the stations provided v the State (real blessings for poor travellers), that some sledges might be constructed by the peasar ts on which to place our carriages. By dint of advancing, though slowly, we reached Sarepta, an interesting German colony of Moravian Brothers, where we passed a very agreeable day. It was strange to find ourselves all at once in Germany, as it were, and in the midst of European life and customs. At Zarizen, about thirty-one versts from Sarepta, we heard that the shortest route to Moscow, which we had decided on taking, would be impracticable for our heavy carriages, owing to the immense quantity of snow that had fallen. We were obliged, therefore, to pursue the road along the Volga as far as Saratov. This change of route enabled us to see the German colonies established near that river. To the north of |