11 



. i-.r: i.\- A. 



CURG. 



II 



ad are ustd for drau*>t The cheep furnish good wool 

 are very numerous. 1** mUbiteti.. keep likewie. gnat quan 

 i of bees. The mineral product* an lime, m'lH-m- and grind- 

 toast, alabaster, saltpetre, and MOM bog iron. No us* is made of the 

 peat whkh i* found in the government 



The country-people make for ihssasalm almost everything that 

 they kv* awed of. Then an however some iron-works, mills, Ac. In 

 UM town* there an tvunuraetnrUs of eoane woollen cloths, linen, sail- 

 cloth, abie-UMO, leather, cordage, pap*r, colour*, rloM, .arthenware, 

 soap, Ac. Then an naneroo7brandy distilleries. The chief article* 

 of exportation an bar iron, spirit*, has* mate, cordage, corn, flour, 

 hemp, fir maata, balk* and planks, tobacco, hone*, oxen, tallow, honey, 

 wax, Ac. All article* of foreign produce, an procured from Moscow. 



The inhabitant* an partly Oreat Russians, partly Little Russians 

 tad Consr.i; the gnat majority an of UM Russian Greek Church, 

 and UM head of UM irgy b UM bishop of Orel and Siawik. 



(W, UM chief town of the government, U situated in 62* 56' 40' 

 X. Ut, 8* 6 K. long. It stands on the river Oka, when it U joined 

 by the Oriik. The houses an in general of wood, and the interior of 

 UM town i< gloomy. Up to the 17th century, Orel seem* to have 

 been an iiaigiilni-ant place; but it was then fortified, and a citadel 

 built, part of which still remains. During the war* with the Poles, 

 and in the Urn* of the fal** Demetrius, it was frequently taken and 

 retaken. Since that time it ha* rapidly increased ; in 1840 the popula- 

 tion was estimated at 40,000. Oreat part of the city was destroyed 

 by fin June 7, 1849, when 1287 house*, four bridges, and several Urge 

 corn granaries wen burnt Orel i* well situated for trade ; it U the 

 entrepot for the corn of Little Russia, and the place from which Moscow 

 draws iu chief supply. Other export* an corn, hemp, wine from the 

 southern province*, tallow, butter, honey, wax, wool from Little 

 Russia, hogs' bristle*, and leather. Then are some manufactories of 

 linen, cordage, and soap. The annual fain an very well attended. 

 Bali iic the buildings belonging to the crown, there an 20 churches, 

 two of which an of wood, 2 convents, and a bazaar. The street* an 

 very badly paved. The town, which is a bishop's see and the seat of 

 government, ha* a gymnasium, a district school, and a seminary for 

 UM education of prierts for the Greek Church. In the vicinity then 

 are public garden* prettily hud out, and commanding good views. 



The other principal towns in this governmeut are Siawik, which is 

 UM see of a bishop, and ha* 5000 inhabitants, a seminary for 4 00 pupil*, 

 and manufacture* of earthenware, colour*, Ac, ; Jiriaiui on the Desna, 

 with 5000 inhabitant*, has a seminary, a cannon foundry, tanneries, 

 and much trade with Kherson; Knrattcla/, with 6000 inhabitants; 

 gVuksetnsdr, on the Desna, an ancient town, with 8500 inhabitants; 

 Dmititm*, with 8000 inhabitants ; Litmy, on the Sosna, with 6000 

 inhabitant, ; Jdo, on the Sosna, with 8000 inhabitant*, ha* a great trade 

 in iron ware* and corn ; Mtaulc, at the junction of the Mezna and the 

 navigable river Sudacha, has 6000 inhabitants ; BoLcnow, on the Kugra, 

 a well-built town, with 14.000 inhabitant*. These towns, including 

 Orel, an the capitals of circles of the same name*. Then are 12 

 circle* in the government 



VNA. [AJIAZOXAS.] 



ORENBURG, a government of Russia, partly in Asia and partly in 

 Europe, is situated between 47* and 66" K. Ut, 50 20' and 64* M* 

 E. long., and is bounded N. by the government of Perm, N.W. by 

 Wiatka; W. by Caaan, Simbirsk, Saratov, and Astrakhan; E. and S. 

 by the Kirghiz steppe, and N.K. by Tomsk and Tobolsk. The area of 

 the government U 118,094 square mile*. If the country of the Uralian 

 Coxa Irs, which is generally looked upon u a dependency of Orenburg, 

 and i* by some included under that name, be added, the total area of 

 Un-uburg will amount to 148,817 squan mile*. The area given above 

 is taken from the last official return. But since that return was issued 

 a new government named SAHARA ha* been formed by imperial ukase 

 (December 18, 1850), on the left of the Volga, from district* formerly 

 belonging to Simbirsk, Orenburg, and Saratov. A Urge portion of 



of Samara. Accordingly the area of the government of Orenburg is 

 reduced to 96,701 sqnan mile*, with a popuUtion of 1,192,828. It i 

 divided into 12 circle*. 



Toward* the south, in the country of the Cossaks of the Ural, 

 the surface U a steppe, which i* destitute of tree*, and only produces 

 the plant* peculiar to saline countries. Beyond the mountains it 

 U a plain intersected by monases and a great number of lake* ; on tlio 

 European aid* of the mountain* the surface is undulating, remarkably 

 varied, and often very pictureeque. To the north, where the Ural 

 chain enter* the government, it is called the Bacchkirian Ural ; the 

 part which run* directly south, parallel with the river Ural to iu 

 woMen bend from east to west, is called the Oouberlin Mountains, 

 branebe* of which, .tretehing from east to went, extend into the 

 government, and form what is called the Obchei Siert The base 

 of UM Ural chain is granite ; the upper rook* are calcareous and 

 quart*, sometimes ban and covered with erratic block*, and some- 

 time* covered with a sufficient depth of sand and earth for the tree* 

 to take toot. Immense caverns open into the interior of tbeee mo.m- 

 The whole of the western or European part of the government 

 The principal river is the Ural, which form* pert of the 



h MM 



boundary between Europe and Asia. It rise* in the Ural Mountains 

 in the district of Troitsk, and forming in part of it* course the western 

 boundary between Orenburg and Astrakhan, discharges itself by sevi-r.il 

 mouths into the Caspian in 47' X. lab, Its entire course, which is 

 rapid and winding, but without falls, is above 1600 miles ; its breadth, 

 which is only 60 feet at Orekaia, and 150 feet at Orenburg, increase* 

 feet, but the water is so shallow that it is navigable only !' T 

 very light vessels. Other rivers are the Kama, the Sakmara, which 

 falls into the Ural, and the Belaia, at the conflux of which with the 

 Ufa, the chief town Ufa U situated. There axe numerous lakes, colt 

 a* well as fresh, on both sides of the Ural Mountains. The cliuiaio 

 varies considerably between the north and the south ; and it is much 

 more rigorous to the east than to the west of the Ural chain. In the 

 steppe* the heat iu summer U very great The winter is generally 

 cold, and even in summer the nights ore cool. Whirlwinds and 

 hurricane* are frequent, and transitions from beat to cold arc su-iil.-n. 

 The want of rain and the swarms of locusts ore very distressing, 

 especially hi the south. 



Xatural Production*. Agriculture is tolerably flourishing, and U 

 favoured by the goodness of the -nil. The chief groins are rye, : 

 oats, buckwheat, and millet The inhabitants grow but liu. 

 hemp, tobacco, and vegetables. The forests are of immense extent, 

 but there is an enormous consumption of wood iu the forges, for i 

 charcoal, for the preparation of tor and potash, and for building i: 

 and barks. Game is abundant in the forests, and the lakes abound 

 in water-fowl The golden eagle of the Ural is tamed and trained for 

 the chase. The chief wealth of the government consists in ite horses 

 and cattle. The former, which are of Tartar or Baschkirian breed, 

 are handsome and strong ; the Baschkirs and MeUcherioks have herds 

 of 200, 1000, and even 2000 horses; the Russians, the Cossaks, and 

 the Tartars, of 50 or 100 horses. All have great numbers of oxen, 

 goats, and more especially sheep, of which a nomad will have from 

 600 to 4000, and the stationary inhabitants 400 to 500. The Christians 

 possess great numbers of swine ; the nomad rears camels or drome- 

 daries. The fishery in the Belaia and the Kama suffices for the con- 

 sumption of the inhabitants ; and that in the Ural is a source of 

 considerable advantage to the Cocaaka. This governmeut possesses 

 likewise great mineral wealth gold in the Ural Mountains, copper, 

 iron, and a great quantity of salt, which is procured from the mines of 

 Iletik, where the rock-salt is found 4 or 5 feet under the sand iu beds 

 covered with gypsum ; the Cossaks however obtain their salt from 

 the lakes. The other mineral products are asphalt, sulphur, vitriol, 

 marble, alabaster, agates, &c. 



The population is extremely mixed. The great majority are 

 Russians ; next to them are the Turks or Tartars, and the Baschkirx 

 (about 15,000 families). Almost the whole of these ignorant, rude, nud 

 warlike people inhabit a district at the foot of the Ural chain, which 

 is called after them, Baschkiria. They live by the breeding of cattle 

 and bees, by the chase, and agriculture. They dwell in the sumnn-r 

 under tent* made of felt, and in winter in villages. Other components 

 of the popnUtion are Finns, Cossaks, Teptjiarc, MeUcheriaks and 

 Kalmuks, Tchonvaches, Tchoremkses, Mordwius, Kissilbachea, and 

 Armenians. 



The women are extremely skilful in weaving and dyeing. The 

 working of the mines employs a great number of hands. But manu- 

 facturing industry properly so-called is exerted chiefly on operations 

 connected with mining, in smelting-houses and foundries of the Ural 

 Mountains, in the manufactory of arms at Zlatoust, and in the 

 numerous tanneries, potash factories, and distilleries. Some woollen 

 cloth is manufactured for the army. The tallow-malting houses in 

 the government arc numerous. 



The commerce of the government is carried on partly with the 

 nomad tribes, who exchange their horses, cattle, furs, carpets, and 

 blankets of felt or wool, for manufactured goods, brass, copper, and 

 iron articles, and partly with the Kirghises and people of Bokhara, 

 whose caravans come to Orenburg or Troitsk, the two chief com- 

 mercial towns, where there are custom-houses. Through the same 

 channel many goods are exported to Khiva, Bokhara, Taschkeud, and 

 the Kirghis steppe, the caravans numbering altogether several tin 

 camels exclusive of horses. The articles exported to the interior of 

 Russia in Europe are chiefly the mineral products, many of which are 

 sent to the port* on the Baltic. The caravan* from Bokhara bring raw 

 and manufactured silk and cotton, and also Cashmere and Persian 

 shawls, indigo, Chinese goods, tea, Jtc. Asiatic produce is brought to 

 the fair of XijueV-Novgorod by way of Orenburg, the merchandise 

 being forwarded thence in waggons. 



For public instuction Orenburg depends on the university of Casan, 

 but education is very limited. The Mohammedans study at the high 

 school of Gargali. Moat of the Christian inhabitants are of the Russian 

 Greek religion. The Tartan, the Baachkin, Kalmuks, Teptjiars, and 

 Metscheriaks an Mohammedans. 



The civil government is organised like those in Great Russia, but does 

 not extend to the Kirghises and Cossak*. These are under a military 

 governor, whose chief business is to provide for the security of the 

 frontier, which it defended towards the Kirghis steppe by a line of 

 fortresses, and by the Cossaks, the MeUcheriaks, the Baschkirs, ntid 

 the Kalmuks, who in consideration of this service are exempt froia 

 all taxes to tb" coverument Tho forts on, tho line of tho Orenburg 



