92
GUIDE TO THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY.
trade with the ports, sending the grain direct to its destination. A considerable quantity of rye flour is exported from this point, after having been ground in small water mills of most primitive construction. It is bought up straight from the village carts.
26)  Glukhovskaya. (444. v.).
Here ;the line reaches the highest point of the watershed of the rivers Kama and Belaya, and commences its descent to the Belaya.
27)  Aksen ovo. (464 v.). Prom this station to Ufa, the line for a distance of 143 v. follows the valley of the river Dema, the left tributary of the Belaya. The river is scantily supplied with water and not navigable. Its picturesque and steep banks consist of friable schistous sandstone, containing copper ores, those of Karakalinsk being the most important. Remains of Chud mines occur along the banks. The^picturesque banks of the Dema with their oak and linden groves were sung by S. T. Aksakov.
28)   Shafranovo. (479 v.). On its course to the next station, the line crosses a tributary of 'the Dema, the river Kyly by a bridge 25 sazhens in length.
29)  Raevka. Buffet (499 v.). Between this and the next station the line passes over a bridge of 20 sazhens spanning the river Tiulen, a tributary of the Dema.
30)  Davlekanovo. (517 v.). The station is situated near a small Bashkir settlement, Itkulovo which, previous to the opening of the railway traffic, had no commerce of its own; at the present time Itkulovo is transformed into a corn market. Trade is carried on exclusively in winter. A special granary holding 30,000 puds of grain stands near the station. A number of estates with considerable areas under cultivation lie in the neighbourhood of the station.
Approaching the next station, the line traverses the river Urdiak, a tributary of the Dema, by a bridge 25 sazhens long.
31)  Shlng'ak-KuL Buffet (539 v.). Pursuing its course to the next station, the line crosses the river Balyshly, tributary of the Dema, by a bridge of 10 sazhens.
32)   Chishma. (563 v.). Further on, it passes over the tributaries of the Dema, the rivers Kolomysh and Uza spanned by bridges of 20 sazhens each.
A peculiar geological phenomenon called funnels" is observed throughout the whole course of the line Chishma-Yumatovo-Ufa-Urakovo. These funnels are produced by the sudden sinking of the surface, forming pits of considerable dimensions. An immense funnel having a diameter of 15 sazhens *and a depth of 10 sazhens is to be seen 6 versts from Ufa on the way to Urakovo.
New funnels appear every year in spring and summer, and are a usual occurrence at the time of the spring floods. It has been observed that the strata of the Permian system, generally containing a great number of caves, are liable to sink. The limestone mountains rising above the Belaya abound in natural caves among which those of Baislan and Shulliugin consist of a number of superposed hollows united by passages.
33)  Yumatovo (586 v.) Approaching the next station Ufa, the line crosses the river Belaya spanned by a bridge of 300 sazhens, having six spans of 50 sazhens each of the semi-parabolic [.system, with the track upon the lower chord; the piers and abutments are laid on caissons lowered to a depth of 8.14  sazhens below the ordinary water level.