Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/359

Rh Governments stipulated in their treaty that the products and manufactures of each country should be exchanged for those of the other, and no money was to be used in their commercial transactions."

"That was the stipulation," said Doctor Bronson, "but the merchants soon found a way to evade it."

"How was that?"

"The balance of trade was greatly in favor of China, as the Russians wanted great quantities of tea, while they did not produce or manufacture

many things that the Chinese could use. Furs were the principal articles of Russian production that the Chinese would take, but their demand for them was not enough to meet the Russian demand for tea. The treaty forbade the use of gold or silver coin under severe penalties, but somebody discovered that it did not prohibit articles of Russian manufacture being made of those metals. So they used to melt gold and silver coin, and cast them into Chinese idols which were sold by weight. The Government prohibited the melting of its coin, and then the merchants bought their crude gold and silver directly from the miners. With this source of supply always at hand they were able to supply 'articles of Russian manufacture' without difficulty. As late as 1860 every visitor to Kiachta was searched, to make sure that he had no gold coin in his possession." 23