i02 



GEOGEAPHIOAL EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES. 



fering from a severe illness, the result of the 

 hardships he had undergone, made his way to 

 Pesth and thence to England. His work is 

 valuable for the information it imparts on the 

 language, customs, and manners of the Turco- 

 mans, who have hitherto been comparatively 

 unknown to the nations of the West. He was 

 unable, in the character he assumed, to make 

 any scientific observations, or to take any notes. 

 To have attempted either would have led to his 

 death by torture. 



The Russian explorers have been very ac- 

 tive, and have brought to light much that has 

 hitherto been unknown in this central zone of 

 the great Asiatic continent. With the prestige 

 of the Russian Government (which is fast 

 bringing these Tartar and Tungusian tribes un- 

 der its sway) to sustain and protect them, they 

 have been able to penetrate into regions hith- 

 erto inaccessible to civilized man. During 

 the last year MM. Carl Struve, Babkof, and 

 Zriakoff have visited Lake Tszaizan (the Saisan- 

 nor of the old maps), which they ascertained to 

 be the source of the river Irtish. This lake, 

 once frequented by the Chinese, as it is within 

 the bounds of the Chinese Empire, is now 

 visited only by the Aknaiman Kirghis, who 

 come hither during the winter to fish. The 

 lake is accessible only on the north side, being 

 surrounded elsewhere with a marsh and a 

 dense growth of reeds. Its bottom is sandy, 

 and toward the south the Black and the White 

 Irtish both flow from it. The basin of the 

 Black Irtish is entirely distinct from that of 

 the Ulangur. East of this they found the 

 Lake Marka, not inserted on the maps gen- 

 erally, which is the source of the river Koldjir. 

 This beautiful lake is surrounded on all sides by 

 high mountains covered with forests of birch. 

 During the summer the Kara-Kirey Kirghis 

 pitch their tents around it, and in the autumn 

 Russian fishermen from the source of the Tarim 

 succeed them, and obtain from its waters a 

 supply of food for the winter. The Koldjir is a 

 very rapid stream, having a descent in the 

 space of ninety miles of 3,937 feet. They also 

 ascended the mountain summit called by the 

 Tartars Sara-Taou, and ascertained its height to 

 be 9,842 feet. Coal, though not of the best 

 quality, has been found in the mountains of 

 Karatau by Colonel Tchernaieff, and will prove 

 of importance to Russia, as it can be brought 

 down the Syr-Daria (ancient Jihon) to supply 

 her new steam flotilla on the Sea of Aral, 

 which has been supplied hitherto at immense 

 cost from Donetz in South Russia, over 1,200 

 miles of transportation, a part of it a desert. 

 Another expedition, organized under the di- 

 rection of the Imperial Geographical Society 

 of St. Petersburg for the exploration of East- 

 ern Siberia, has accomplished its work. In 

 this expedition the explorers, amply supplied 

 with all that was necessary for their work, 

 divided it among themselves ; M. Schwartz, 

 of Dorpat, and his assistants preparing all 

 the topographical maps and drawings; MM. 



Schmidt and Glehn taking upon them the 

 geological and mineralogical inquiries, and M. 

 Radde and his assistants being responsible for 

 the botanical and zoological departments. 

 The great basin of the Upper Amoor and its 

 affluents was found to be very incorrectly rep- 

 resented on all existing maps. The lofty Tab- 

 lonoy Mountains, so long represented as form- 

 ing the connecting link between the Altai 

 range and the Stanovoy Mountains in N. E. 

 Siberia are now found to have no existence, a 

 low plateau to the north of Lake Baikal, from 

 which the affluents of the Lena on the north 

 and those of the Amoor on the south have 

 their source, forming the real water shed of 

 Eastern Siberia. The Amoor makes a sud- 

 den deflection southward from the Cossack 

 station of Pashkoff, forcing its way through a 

 profound fissure with precipitous cliffs on either 

 side, in a mountain ridge, striking from east to 

 west and not from north to south as has 

 formerly been represented. The form of the 

 Saians Mountains which range eastwardly 

 from the Altai is materially different from pre- 

 vious representations. The Island of Sakhalin 

 has also been explored by the expedition, and 

 its physical geography ascertained. A chain 

 of mountains extending from north to south 

 without interruption along the eastern shore, 

 forms its principal frame. In the streams 

 which water the island as in those of Eastern 

 Siberia, the right bank of the river is uni- 

 formly steep and precipitous, the left bank 

 low and flat. The northeastern shore pre- 

 sents the flora of Kamtschatka and the Sea 

 of Okhotsk, the southwestern that of Japan. 

 The small fruits, the grape, raspberry, black- 

 berry, whortleberry, and strawberry abound. 

 The Gilanes people the north of the island 

 and the Ainos the south. The latter are the 

 original inhabitants. They are shy, timid, and 

 simple, small of stature and badly formed, but 

 possess great strength. Their complexion is 

 white, and their hair and beard heavy. They 

 are of mild and amiable disposition. Their 

 language is peculiar, differing from that of the 

 people of the adjacent coasts radically. It has 

 never been reduced to writing. They are said 

 to pay religious homage to the bear and to the 

 different kinds of fish which furnish them food. 

 Their dwellings are mere huts of poles covered 

 with boughs. 



The telegraph line from St. Petersburg west 

 to the mouth of the Amoor, and thence across 

 Sakhalin and the Kurile and Aleutian Islands, 

 and down the coast of Russian America and 

 British Columbia through Washington Territory 

 and Oregon, to San Francisco, is in rapid pro- 

 gress from both ends. The mouth of the Amoor 

 will be reached during the summer of 1865, and 

 the connection made probably in 1866. 



Passing southward we find less activity in 

 geographical research in China than two or 

 three years ago, though some new portions of it 

 have been described. At the session of the 

 American Geographical and Statistical Society 



