A stone that 'burns like a candle' in Witsen's Tartary book
Editorial contextAmong the rocks of the district Schrenk lists a black, combustible shale soaked with bitumen from the Ukhta, known locally as Domanik, and in a footnote he notes that the naphtha springs there were already known to Witsen. He translates the passage from the first edition of Witsen's 'Noord en Oost Tartarye' (Amsterdam 1692): a shallow in the river drives a black oil to the surface, and a stone found there burns like a candle with a black light. Schrenk calls it the oldest report of the Domanik, a real oil-bearing rock, and goes on to later Russian accounts of an old timber enclosure built over the oil spring.
the river Oegta [Ukhta] is a day's journey from the Pechora; on this river … there is a shallow in it (drooghte die daer in is) which drives a fattiness onto the water, which is black naphtha; which stone is also found there, and burns like a candle, giving off a black light.
Working translation
Original wording
der Fluss Oegta [Uhta] ist eine Tagereise vom Petschorastrom entfernt; an diesem Flusse … findet sich darin eine Untiefe (drooghte die daer in is), die eine Fettigkeit aufs Wasser treibt, welche schwarze Naphta ist; welcher Stein dort auch gefunden wird, und brennt wie eine Kerze, ein schwarzes Licht von sich gebend.
Keep in mind
The 'black light' is Witsen's wording, and his source for it is not given here. Schrenk confirms that the shale exists and burns, but not Witsen's exact description.