EXPLORING THE OIL WELLS. 199 CHAPTER XIII. A DRIVE TO THE OIL WELLS. The Phaetons at Baku-Driving to Balakhani-The Salines of the Apsheron Penin. sula-Passing the Black Town-The Gardens and Vineyards of the Peninsula― Aspect of the Great Droojba Fountain from Baku-The Pipe-lines-Too Clever by Half-Baku Oil Transport before the Pipe-line Period-Grandiose Schemes for Pipe-lines to Europe-The Projected Oleoduct to the Persian Gulf-Duty on Iron Pipes-Capacity of the Pipe-lines-Aspect of the Balakhani Oil Plateau -How America Gained Upon and Beat the Old Baku Oil Supply-Statistics of the Monopoly Period-Present Free Trade Enjoyed by the Industry-The Excise Period-Recent Revolutions in the Trade-Stimulus Given by the Swedish Engineers-Robert and Ludwig Nobel-Prices of Crude Petroleum for the last Twenty Years-Number of Drilled Wells-Effect of the Batoum Railway upon the Industry. THE petroleum wells lie eight or nine miles distant from Baku. The journey is mostly done by phaeton. It may also be accomplished by railway by means of the Petroleum Branch (Neftiani Ootchastok) of the Transcaucasian railroad; a train running from Baku Station to Surakhani at 11.45 A.M., arriving there at 12.28. P.M. and returning in the afternoon at 2.15. To Saboontchi and Balakhani two trains run daily, at 9.25 A.M. and 5.10 P.M., doing the distance in half an hour, and returning respectively at 10.25 A.M. and 6.25 P.M. But a phaeton drive is far preferable to the railroad. To get to Baku Station, in the first place, one must take a phaeton, the road being too bad for walking, and when the Saboontchi or Surakhani Station is reached another phaeton is needed to convey the traveller through the oil fields. The best plan, therefore, is for him to step out from the hotel, and, having selected a good phaeton, bargain with the driver for the trip. If the suburban streets in Baku are horribly paved, or rather not paved at all, consisting simply of jutting rock and shifting sand, there is an excellent set-off in the superiority of the vehicles. These "phaetons," as they are locally designated, are roomy and furnished with splendid springs; and in most instances are driven by a pair of horses, which for vigour and endurance afford a marked contrast to the horse flesh we are accustomed to in our London streets. The drivers are Tartars, and a superior class of men compared with the isvostchiks usually met in Russian towns. The charge for driving to any part inside Baku is 15 copecks, or 4d.* The journey to Balakhani or Surakhani occupies more than two hours. For going there and back, and waiting at different points while his fare inspects the wells, the driver expects three or four roubles. As no refreshments are to be had on the road or at the wells, the traveller should take something with him, particularly something to assuage his thirst, the journey most of the year round being a warm and dusty one. In inspecting the derricks, he can hardly escape having his helmet and coat splashed with oil, and even if he turns up the bottom of his trousers he is sure to soil them in traversing the sand, ankle-deep, and moist with oil, round about the wells. It is a mistake, therefore, to go out to the wells too well dressed. Should he do so, however, and spoil his clothes, there are several tailors' shops opposite the Hôtel d'Europe where the grease *This is for two persons; for three or four the charge is 20 copecks. By the hour the charge is 50 copecks. To the Black Town, as far as Nobels' Works, the fare is 50 copecks, and 50 copecks back. To the railway station the fare is 20 copecks for two persons, and 30 copecks for four; to the goods' station 30 copecks for two persons, and 40 copecks for four; from the railway station to the town 30 copecks for two persons, and from the goods' station 40 copecks. Luggage, not carried in the hand, is charged 15 copecks extra at the end of the journey. The fares are fixed by the town authorities. After two o'clock in the morning the driver may charge double fare. THE COUNTRY OUTSIDE BAKU. 201 will be extracted as cheaply and as thoroughly as in England. If the weather be not too warm, the journey to the wells is not an unpleasant one, even for anybody unaccustomed to a good hard bit of travelling; the novelty of the drive provoking an interest rendering him insensible to the dust and the heat. The track, for there is no road, lies the whole way across sheer desert. The surface consists of rugged limestone, the ruts and the jagged projections being eased here and there by a layer of dust. Vegetation there is none, save the everlasting camel thorn, which, when thick, imparts occasionally a green tinge to the landscape. Now and again a black patch is seen; this is one of the numerous petroleum springs dotting the Apsheron peninsula. Close to Balakhani depressions are observed, covered with a dazzling white efflorescence; these are salt lakes, of which there are any number in this part of the Caucasus. When one gets into Balakhani itself, the white lakes are replaced by black ones-lakes of crude petroleum oil, in many of which there is plenty of room for boats to row. These lakes are often set on fire and burnt, to get rid of the oil, while millions pine for more light and fuel in Western Europe. The town of Baku left behind, the traveller has on his right the Tchorni Gorod, or Black Town, where the 200 refineries are situated. These stretch along the bay, and belch forth smoke like a concentrated Birmingham. Afterwards the ground rises, and while the phaeton is crawling up it, there is a fine view of Baku Bay. If the wind be blowing from the sea, the breeze is pleasant, and moderates the intense heat of the sun, shining from a turquoise-blue firmament upon the rugged Apsheron peninsula. Further on, the railway is crossed, and then a whole bunch of pipe-lines are met running in a higgledy-piggledy fashion towards the Black Town, conveying the crude oil thither from the wells. The hills about are dotted with reservoirs, containing thousands of tons of oil. No villages or settlements exist between Baku and Balakhani, and not a structure is seen the whole distance, except a ruined stone watch-house at intervals, erected by Ludwig Nobel to protect his first pipe-line-the first in the countryfrom the infuriated Tartar carriers, whose lucrative pursuit was cut short when the pipe-line superseded the conveyance of oil in barrel. But although there are no habitations, there is plenty of traffic along the track. Crowds of donkey-boys are passed, with panniers crammed with grapes, going to Baku, or returning with empty ones from it. Most travellers describe the Apsheron peninsula as a total desert, but this is a mistake. On the northern side are many miles of gardens stretching along the shore, one strip-from the village of Gerodeel to Beelgia—having a length of twelve miles with a breadth in one place of five. This lies on the neck of the peninsula exactly opposite Baku, about twenty miles by road, and from it every day hundreds of camels and donkeys are sent to the town, laden with fruit and vegetables. For two or three copecks, the donkey boys will part with as many grapes as the greediest person would desire on a hot day. After driving a few miles, the traveller sees before him a whole series of wooden sentry-box looking structures, clustered together. These are the 400 derricks surmounting the wells of Balakhani. Should a fountain be spouting, a black cloud will be observed hanging over one of the derricks. The Droojba fountain, which during the first few days spouted 300 feet high, I saw easily without a glass from some rising ground near Baku eight miles distant. It had the |