[157] One occurs near the mines of Lurgikan, on the east side of
a hill about 450 feet high, not far from the confluence of the Lurgikan
stream with the Schilka (a tributary of the Amur), in the province of
Nertschinsk. In the course of driving an adit in one of the lead-mines,
in the year 1770, the workmen were struck by the hollow sound given
forth by the rock, and, on investigation, they found an immense grotto
or fissure, of which the entrance was so much blocked up by ice that
they had much difficulty in sliding down by means of ropes. The fissure
extended under the hill, in a direction from north to south, and was 130
fathoms long, from 1 to 8 broad, and from 3 to 12 high. Where it
approached nearest the surface, the thickness of the roof was about 10
fathoms. The rock is described by Georgi as _quarzig, braeunlich, und von
einem starken Kalkschuss_. He found the greater part of the walls
covered with ice, and many pillars and pyramids of ice on the floor. The
cold was moderate, and was said to be much the same in summer and
winter. Patrin has given a fuller description of the same cavern in the
_Journalde Physique_.
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