SIBERIA. 



SIBERIA. 



fc oo*aaUy MTOT* to the feelings. The wind which U called the hot 

 wind blow* from jt tmith t"1. n>l raises the temperature suddenly 

 from between -45* and -80* to + 29* and upwards, but it generally 

 doe* not Ut more than 24 hour*. A ludden rite of the thermometer 

 take* pUo* during the month of June. It aometimee attaint + 72-50 

 I Boon. In July the heat U greatett, and the weather more constant, 

 bat there are innumerable swarms of gnato, which torment men and, 

 animal*. These gnata compel the numerous herds of reindeer to 

 leave the forest*, and to retire to the treeless country on the shores of 

 the aaa, when vast numbers of these animal* are killed by the natives. 

 In August the heat decreases rapidly, and night-frosts are frequent 

 towards the rod of that month. 



Awn. Siberia has a great number of river*, and as the whole 

 course of most of them, and the greatest part of the course of the 

 remainder, lies through a level and hilly country, nearly all of them 

 are navigable for a great distance. The principal rivers run from 

 south to north, from the agricultural district* to those where vegeta- 

 tion does not supply food to the inhabitants, and heuce their great 

 importance for internal intercourse. The tributaries, at least the 

 greater number and the largest of them, run chiefly east and west, 

 and form a water-communication between the agricultural districts 

 themselves, and render it practicable for goods bought from the 

 Chinese at MaimaUhin to be transported to European Russia at nearly 

 the same expense as those which ore obtained at Canton are carried 

 to Great Britain. Though all these rivers are frozen for more than 

 six months of the year, the advantages arising from them are not 

 thereby materially diminished, as the ice facilitates communication 

 almost as much as the open water. Of the rivers of Siberia the 

 moat important are the Oby, the Yeuesei, and the Lena. 



The Oby, Obi, or Ob, the most western of the larger rivers of 

 Siberia, is the largest river of the Old Continent. Its basin is said 

 to comprehend more than 1,370,000 square miles, and is only 

 inferior to that of the Amazonas and Plata in South America. This 

 basin extends from 47 to 74 N. Int., 1890 miles in length, and in 

 the widest part, near 55 N. lat, it is nearly 1200 miles across. The 

 principal branch of the Obi is properly the Irtish, or the western of 

 the two great branches which unite near 60 30' N. lat., but the 

 eastern branch has the name of Obi before their union, and is there- 

 fore considered the principal river, though it is inferior to the Irtish 

 in length of course. The Irtish rises in the Chinese empire, in the 

 government of Gobdo, or the country of the Western Kholkas 

 Mongols, probably between 46 and 47 N. lat., and 87 and 88 

 K. lung. It runs nearly due west, and after about 70 miles falls into 

 the lake of Zaizang. The Irtish issues from the north side of the 

 lake, several miles from its western extremity. The lake, according 

 to Humbpldt, is about 1720 feet above the sea-level. The course of 

 the river is nearly due north, and in a flat country, until it approaches 

 the boundary-line of Siberia, where the mountains come close up to 

 the river on both sides. It then turns to the west-north-west, and 

 in that direction it runs in a narrow valley between rocky hills until 

 it reaches Ust Kamenogorsk. The current in this part is rapid, and 

 the river is navigated, though not without difficulty. It receives 

 on the right the Buchtarma and other considerable tributaries. From 

 Ust Kamenogorsk to Semiyank the river runs nearly due west, and 

 below Semiyarak it turn* north-west, in which direction it continues 

 to run to tome miles below the town of Omsk, north of 55 N. lat. 

 Below Omsk the Irtish turns first to the north-east, then to the north, 

 and afterwards it runs again nearly due west to its confluence with 

 the Tobol at Tobolsk. Before this union, the Irtish is joined from 

 the south by the river Iihim, which runs more than 700 miles, but, 

 draining a sterile and sandy country, contains very little water in 

 proportion to its length, and is only navigated iu the lower part of 

 its course. The Tobol, which is nearly equal in length to the Ishim, 

 is much more important It rises near 62 N. lat., 60 E. long., on a 

 flat well of the Caucasian Desert, and runs for a short distance to 

 the east, but the remainder of its course is to the east of north, 

 through a level country, though in some places low offsets of the 

 Ural Mountains approach the western banks. The Tobol receives 

 several considerable affluents from the left, among which the Ooi, 

 the Isset, the Toora, and Towda are the largest. At the confluence 

 of the Tobol the Irtish changes its direction to the north-north-east, 

 but turns to the north-north-west before it meets the Obi. The Obi 

 rises in the Altai Mountains with two large branches, the Katunga 

 and the Biya. The most remote branch of the Katunga, the Chooya, 

 and that of the Biya, the Choolyshman, originate near 49 N. lat., 

 within the Chinese government of Gobdo. Nearly all the waters 

 collected within the Altai Mountains north of 49 N. lat. and between 

 10' and 90 E. long., run either east or west, and uniting between 

 >. lat., near the meridian of 87 K. long., form a large 

 river, the Katunga. After the union of these river*, the Katunga 

 runs nearly due north with an extremely rapid course through the 

 northern ndges of the Altai Mountains, until it reaches 52 30' N. lat, 

 when it turns west, and entering a hilly region meets the other great 

 branch of the Obi, the Biya. The Katunga is too rapid to be navigable. 

 The place where the Biya, or Choolythnan, as it is called in the upper 

 its course, originates, is not known, and we are very imperfectly 

 acquainted with the course of this river above the Lake of Teletskoi 

 The Choolyshman falls into the Lake of Teletskoi near 61 40' N lat' 



with several arms. This lak, called also Altyn-kul, or Altai Noor, 

 is a true alpine lake, resembling in grandeur and beauty the Lake 

 of Luzern. It is surrounded by wooded mountains, rising in the 

 vicinity of the lake to the height of 4000 or 5000 feet, and Mount 

 Toulak at it* southern extremity attains an elevation exceeding GOOO 

 eet The lake is more than 40 miles from south-south-east to north- 

 north-west, but at its northern extremity an arm runs westward for 

 20 miles more. At the southern extremity it is about 5 miles wide, 

 jut grows gradually narrower as it advances towards the north. The 

 western arm is hardly a mile wide on an average. The lake is about 

 1900 feet above the sea-level. The river issuing from the western 

 arm of the lake, under the name of Biya, in a western direction, soon 

 Mini* to the north, but by degrees it resumes its western course, 

 running between mountains and high hills, until it joins the Katunga 

 below Biiak, at Katunsk. After this union the river is called Obi, or 

 06. The Obi flows iu a western direction until it is met from the 

 south by the river Charyth, when it turns to the north, in which 

 direction it continues with many windings to its confluence with the 

 Tom, when it begins to run north-west until it reaches 75 E. long., 

 from which place it flows west to its junction with the Irtish. Below 

 the mouth of the Chary sh the Obi U joined from the east by three 

 rivers, which are navigable and important for the industry of Siberia 

 even in its present state, namely, the Tom, the Choolyn, and the Ket. 

 The current of the Obi below Katuusk is very gentle, and does not 

 offer the least obstruction to on easy navigation, but in approaching 

 the Irtish it spreads its waters over a low country, and divides into 

 many arms, which inclose large islands, and in this part shoals are 

 numerous. The Obi, after its confluence with the Irtish, turns north- 

 ward and flows in that direction to the vicinity of the polar circlo, 

 when, increasing to a great width, it turns east at Obdursk, and falls 

 into the Gulf of Obi by three anna, of which the eastern is the largest 

 and deepest Where the Obi joins the Irtish it divides into two 

 arms, of which the western is called Beresowskye 1'rotok, or Birch 

 River. The two arms unite more than 70 miles farther north, and 

 inclose an island of that length and of a width varying in general 

 from 5 to 6 miles. Farther north the river frequently divides again, 

 as the alluvial and low plain which lies to the west of the river ia 

 from 40 to 50 miles wide, and the greater part of it is inundated in 

 spring time. The gulf into which the Obi falls is between 70 and 

 80 miles wide and more than 400 miles long. Except several low 

 islands which occur near the mouths of the river, only a few rocky 

 islets appear, not far from the eastern shores of the gulf, but the gulf 

 itself is so full of shoals, that large vessels find the navigation very 

 difficult. At Tobolsk the Obi generally freezes about the 2nd of 

 November, and at Obdursk in the middle of October. The ice 

 generaily breaks up at Tobolsk at the end of April, and at Obdursk 

 about 'the middle of May. The gulf is frozen till the beginning of 

 June. Large quantities of fish are taken in the Obi and iu the Upper 

 Irtish. 



The Yenesei is the second river of Siberia in magnitude. Its basin 

 covers on area of 1,020,000 square miles. The two remotest branches 

 of the Yenesei, the Ta-kem and Seleuga, originate in the Chinese 

 empire. The Ta-kem rises where the two vast mountain chains of tha 

 Erghik Targak Taiga and the Tangnu Oiila Mountains [ALTAI MOUN- 

 TAINS, vol. i., col 260] meet one another ; and the Selenga rises south 

 of the most remote branches of the Yenesei, on the eastern declivities 

 of the Tangnu Oola. [ALTAI MOUNTAINS, voL i, col. 261.] The 

 Selenga runs more than 450 miles in an eastern direction within the 

 Chinese empire, where it ia joined by two considerable tributaries, 

 the Ekhe, which rises in the Lake of Kossogol, on the southern 

 declivity of the Erghik Targak Taiga Mountains, and runs nearly 

 parallel to the Selenga; and the Orghou, which originates in the 

 Khaugai Mountains of the Gobi, and runs from south to north. At 

 the confluence of the last-mentioned tributary, the Seleuga turns to 

 the north, and soon enters Siberia, where it is joined from the east by 

 the rivers Chikoi, Khilok, and Uda ; it falls into the Lake of Baikal 

 after a course of about 700 miles. [BAIKAL.] The only outlet of 

 Luke Baikal is the Lower Angara, which on receiving the river Oka is 

 called the Upper Toouguska, and flows into the Yenesei. This river 

 then runs north-west until it has crossed 60 N. lat A little below 

 the town of Yeneseidk it receives from the left the Kem, a small river, 

 which however is important as a link of the extensive line of water 

 communication which extends from the boundary of the Chinese 

 empire, south of the Lake of Baikal, to the base of the Ural Moun- 

 tains. Before reaching 70 N. lat., the Yenesei enlarges into a wide 

 (estuary full of low islands and shoals, which is called the Gulf of 

 Yeuesei, and is on an average 20 miles wide, and more than 200 miles 

 long. In its lower course the river is joined by several large rivers. 

 The Yenesei freezes towards its mouth about the 10th of October, and 

 the ice does not thaw before the beginning of June. The entire 

 course of this river is about 2500 miles. 



The Lena rises in the Baikal Mountains [ALTAI MOUNTAINS], 

 hardly more than 20 miles from the banks of Lake Baikal, and about 

 50 miles N.E. from Irkutsk. Its basin is estimated to contain nearly 

 800,000 square miles, and its course ia about 2000 miles long. It 

 becomes navigable 50 miles from its' source, at Kotshuga, a large 

 village, which from this circumstance has become the dep6t of goods 

 destined for the north-eastern part of Siberia and for tho Russian 



