With some account of the River Amoor. 239 



knots per hour, which, with the steep hilly banks, render this locality 

 uninhabited. Nevertheless, the soil shows good capabilities, and every 

 accessible height is adorned with white and black birch, oak and elm, 

 nor are larch and pine awanting. Notwithstanding of the great cur- 

 rent, not a slip has been canied from either bank, excepting two islands 

 which lie near the end of the rapid, — the one on the left, the other on the 

 right side of the stream, which here has an equal depth all the way across 

 of twenty-eight feet, with a stony bottom. The one island, about two- 

 thirds of a mile long, narrow, and only a few yards high, is covered with 

 trees, under whose shadow grow lofty grasses, some of which attain the 

 height of man, intertwined often with the creeping shoots of the wild- 

 vine, — the grapes upon which attracted the eye of the travellers. The 

 right bank of the river is here low, and covered with rich vegetation ; 

 the left bank is steep, high, dark, and wild. A few miles farther on, 

 the one side loses its wood, and becomes a fertile but monotonous flat ; 

 and the rocks of the left rapidly depart from the river, and leave it flat 

 like the other. After this quick change, the river for a time maintains 

 its southerly course — then turns suddenly east. Here begins an island 

 sea, with long projecting reefs at the side, which continues to the mouth 

 of the Soongari, and, even with little interval, to the island St. Kirile 

 (lat. 49° 50'). These islands present little interruption to naviga- 

 tion, as far as the mouth of the Soongari ; for they lie sometimes on the 

 one, sometimes on the other side of the stream, and there is always 

 plenty of room to pass them. The principal strata observed on this 

 stretch of the river were mica and chlorite slate. Many indications 

 render it probable that the more valuable metals may be found here. 



The Soongari joins the Amoor on the right bank, in lat. 47° 42', Ion. 

 133° E., and is the largest of its afiluents. According to some accounts, 

 indeed, it should be regarded as the main stream, the Amoor being the 

 affluent. The Soongari joins in a N.E. direction, and in consequence of 

 forming a semi-cii'cle near the end of its course, and the mouth being 

 covered by a number of islands, the junction is not very remarkable. 

 One phenomenon which is observed here may be noticed. The waters 

 of the Soongari brought down from a broad fertile valley, with low 

 banks and loose sandy soil, are very much discoloured, while those of 

 the Amoor, flowing along a bed, as we have seen, chiefly composed of 

 granite, syenite, clay, and mica-slate, are of a clear black colour. For a 

 short way below the junction, a struggle is maintained between the 

 waters of the two streams, and a sharply defined line marks the mutual 

 boundary between them. As in the case, however, of the muddy Arvc 

 and the clear blue Rhone, the Soongari soon gains the victory, and 

 thence to the sea the Amoor becomes a turbid stream. The Soongari 



