257 



ALTAI MOUNTAINS. 



ALTAI MOUNTAINS. 



25 a 



Baikalean Mountains may be considered as an extensive mass, in the 

 middle of which is the Lake Baikal. 



To the east of the Lake Baikal, between 108 and 109 E. long., 

 the chain that springs from the Baikalean Mountains runs for a few 

 degrees to the north-east, after which it follows an eastern direc- 

 tion till it reaches the Pacific. This chain is called by the Russians 

 Yablonnoi Khrebet and Stannowoi Khrebet, and by the Chinese 

 Khing-han-Oola. 



The Egtoy Altai, or that system of mountains in which the tribu- 

 taries of the Irtish and Oby take their rise, is better known than any 

 other part of the Altai. It occupies 54 degrees of latitude, and 6 

 degrees of longitude. The greatest elevations are between the parallels 

 of 50 and 51", where, on the Korgon table-land, they rise to near 

 9900 feet above the level of the sea, or more than 3000 feet above the 

 line of perpetual snow. But their mean height ranges between 4000 

 and 6000 feet, and consequently only a few places of considerable extent 

 are always covered with snow. No glaciers are formed on them. 



Compared with the mountains of Europe, the Egtag Altai exhibit a 

 peculiar character. Whilst the highest parts of the Alps are peaked, 

 rugged, and irregular, the summits of the Altai are nearly level plains 

 of considerable extent. Some of them spread from 12 to 16 miles in 

 every direction, as on the Korgon table-land. These table-lands may 

 be considered as broad rays issuing from one common centre between 

 the sources of the rivers Bukhtarma and Tshuya, and extending 

 west, north, and east. The mountain-plains, where they have no 

 snow upon them, are commonly covered with swamps, interrupted 

 by some ridges of low rocks, and lakes filled with snow. Rarely a 

 peak 100 feet high rises above them ; but in many places great 

 blocks of granite are scattered about, which are often so scarped, 

 that the snow which covers the plain does not stick to them, and 

 thus their dark masses offer some variety in the uniformity of the 

 scene. 



The valleys which intersect these mountains differ no less in their 

 formation from those of the great European mountains. They com- 

 monly take the form of large oblong flat basins, with gradually sloping 

 sides, each basin being followed by another somewhat lower. The 

 course of the rivers in these valleys is slow, and only becomes rapid 

 where they descend from one basin into another. But as the extent 

 of the whole range is considerable, and its mean height only half that 

 of the Alps, the rivers have rarely a rapid course, and still less rarely 

 do they form cataracts. These facts will explain the want of those 

 majestic and beautiful views which the traveller meets at every step 

 in the Alps. The upper valleys of the Altai are commonly without 

 thick forests and are only covered with a few trees and grass. But as 

 these mountains are everywhere surrounded by extensive and dry 

 steppes, they make an agreeable impression on the traveller who arrives 

 at them. The valleys which open to the west, on the bank of the 

 Irtish, however, have steeper sides, and offer more variety than those 

 turned to the north or east. 



All the rivers that rise in these mountains contribute their waters 

 to one stream, the Ob or Oby, which may perhaps be considered as 

 the largest river of Asia, with the exception of the Hoang-Ho and 

 Yang-tse-Kiang. Those that descend from the northern declivity join 

 the main stream ; those that issue from the western Bides fall into its 

 large tributary, the Irtish. 



The Jrtieh (Ertshis of the Mongols) has its numerous sources on 

 the south-western declivity of the Altai ; its waters take a westerly 

 course, and fall into the Lake of Zaizang, 70 miles in length, and 

 about 200 miles in circumference. Issuing from the north-western 

 extremity of the lake, the river runs along the western declivity of the 

 Altai Mountains nearly due north, up to the place where the Bukh- 

 tarma joins it Here the mountains advancing farther to the west, 

 oblige it to change its course to the north-west, which direction it 

 preserves till it leaves the mountains to the north of Semipalatinsk. 

 Hence running to the north-north-west it enters the low-lands of Siberia, 

 and traverses the steppes of Ishim and Barabinsk up to the town of 

 Tara. At this place it again directs its course to the north-west, and 

 after having joined the Ishim meets the Tobol, descending from the 

 Ural. After its junction with the Tobol the Irtish runs to the north, 

 and mingles its waters with the Oby. At their junction, the Irtish is 

 rather the larger river, but its name is merged in that of the Oby, 

 although the united stream runs in the direction of the former before 

 the confluence. 



Among the rivers which descend from the Altai and join the Irtish, 

 the Narym, the Bukhtarma, and the Uba are the most remarkable. 

 The Narym and the Bukhtarma form for some distance the boundary 

 between the empires of Russia and China. 



The numerous rivers which rise in the eastern parts of the Altai 

 Mountains, and form the Oby, unite before their junction in two 

 considerable rivers, the Katunya and the Biya, of which the former 

 receives all the waters collected in the central region of the mountains, 

 and the latter those which descend from its eastern parts. After the 

 junction of the Biya with the Katunya, the river takes the name of 

 Ob or Oby. It then runs to the north-west for a great distance, nearly 

 parallel to the Irtish, but afterwards changes its direction to the north- 

 east, until below the town of Tomsk it gradually inclines to the north, 

 ncjrth-west, and west. At its junction with the Irtish, it is again turned 

 to the north, in which direction it continues till near its embouchure 



OEOO. DIV. VOL. r. 



in the Arctic Ocean, where it forms a large gulf. Its whole course is 

 thought to amount to upwards of 2000 miles. 



In the Altai Mountains, as in the Alps, the general direction of the 

 valleys follows that of the main range. Nearly all of them run from 

 east to west, or vice vend, and are only united by a few transverse 

 valleys, in which the rivers run which carry off the water to the 

 low-lands. 



Our geological knowledge of this mountain system is very imperfect. 

 The following facts refer to the geological formation of the mountains 

 in the basins of the Tsharysh and of the Korgon, a tributary of the 

 former. 



The summit of the system is covered with a breccia of jasper, 

 mingled with pieces of chalcedony, carnelian, &c., and under it lies a 

 bed of slate-formation only 2 feet thick. This rests on a bed of breccia 

 of red jasper, which contains many pieces of jasper of a darker colour, 

 and is about 60 feet thick. Then follows a pure red jasper. In the 

 lower part of this jasper a few cubes of felspar are inclosed, but they 

 are of very small size, and the lower down the more frequent is The 

 appearance of such cubes. These layers occupy about 300 feet of 

 perpendicular depth, and have a substratum of the most perfect red 

 porphyry, containing white and yellowish cubes of felspar, among 

 which the very small cubes of felspar above mentioned are dissemi- 

 nated. Sometimes the breccia is found between the jasper and 

 porphyry, and at others the jasper is found between the beds of 

 porphyry, or the porphyry between those of jasper, but these forma- 

 tions only occur at the external and remoter protuberances of the 

 mountain-mass. The granite is never found over the porphyry, chalk, 

 or slate ; the chalk likewise does not appear on the summit, but only 

 in a few places calcareous hills join the mass, especially those which 

 contain the coralline species. The granite is only visible on the lower 

 part of the mountains, where it forms regular strata dipping somewhat 

 towards the principal valleys. 



This is the formation of the system near its centre, but on its 

 outskirts, near the Lake of Kolywau, the granite formation, for about 

 10 miles, is unaccompanied by any other rocks, and only when it 

 approaches the centre do we find the naked irregular summits formed 

 by black porphyry. On the western edge of the mountains along the 

 Irtish and the Bukhtarma, the granite likewise occupies the exterior 

 heights, and behind it rise higher mountains composed chiefly of 

 greenstone slate. Here the granite forms thick layers nearly horizontally 

 stratified, but also split nearly at right angles, so as to form rhomboidal 

 figures ; and it is observed that its surface is much affected by the air 

 and greatly decomposed. In the same quarter Humboldt observed a 

 district extending more than 16,000 feet in length, on which the granite, 

 lying horizontally, has been burst through by a mass of porphyry which 

 now overtops it, while the granite covers on the sides of the porphyry 

 great masses of argillaceous slate, which in some parts form an angle 

 of 85 degrees, and in others stand in an entirely vertical position. 



The produce of the mines of this district consists of silver containing 

 some gold, copper, and lead. The mines from which these metals are 

 extracted have been worked on a large scale, at some unknown period, 

 and by an unknown nation. In the middle of the last century the 

 Russians began to work them. The mines which were first worked 

 are all situated within the northern edge of the system, and at no great 

 distance from it ; but gradually they became exhausted, whilst towards 

 the close of the last and in the course of the present century very rich 

 mines have been discovered on the western side on the banks of the 

 rivers that fall into the Irtish, and probably many more will be found in 

 that quarter. 



The quantity of silver extracted from the Kolywan Mountains, as 

 they are called by mineralogists, amounts annually to about 36,000 

 pounds weight ; but the quantity of copper and lead is not known. 

 The former is in part coined in Siberia, in the mint of Susansk, on the 

 bank of the Oby. 



We may here notice the extensive polishing works at Kolywano- 

 Woskresensk, where the finest granites, porphyry, jaspers, agates, and 

 marble, brought from the river Korgon, are worked into tables, vases, 

 basins, chimney-pieces, columns, &c. The works are carried on at the 

 expense of the emperor of Russia. 



The botany of this mountain-region has only in a few places been 

 examined with care, but has enriched our knowledge with some species, 

 as Cimifuga fetida, Trolliiti Asiaticus, &c. On the low banks of the 

 Irtish and other rivers, poplars, willows, loniceras (Lonicera Tartarica), 

 medlars, privets, white thorns, wild roses, and other bushes are found 

 in abundance. In the lower parts of the valleys grow different kinds 

 of poplar, birch, willows, hawthorn, Lonicera Tartarica, currants, and 

 some kind of roses. The slopes are covered with large forests of 

 larch, mingled with birch, fir, &c. Birch ceases to grow at 4500 feet, 

 but other forest-trees extend nearly 1000 feet higher. Higher up, only 

 Pinut cembra, Piniui larix, Jimiperua sabina, and /. nana are found. 

 But the larch, though still from 9 to 1 2 feet high, is stunted in its 

 growth, and the other trees are dwarfish, and extend their branches 

 along the ground. The Pinus cembra was found 6187 feet above the 

 level of the sea. On the table-lands of the summits, only a few 

 dwarfish firs are found. 



The dried leaves of the Saxifraga crassifolia are used in Siberia and 

 other parts of upper Asia as a substitute for tea. They are chiefly 

 gathered in the valley of the Tsharysh, on a mountain, which on that 



