ASIA. 



ASIA. 



670 



power of the Birman empire soon produced political relations between 

 it and the government of Calcutta, which in 1795 sent an ambassador, 

 Col. Symes, to the court of Amarapura, accompanied by the naturalist 

 Sir Francis Hamilton (Buchanan), from whom we have the first authentic 

 account of that country. The war with the Birmese (1 824-1826) made us 

 acquainted with the valley of the Irawaddy, up to the capital of the 

 Birman empire ; the ceded provinces (Aracan, Martaban, c.), as 

 well as the countries which were declared independent by the peace 

 (Asam, Cachar, Muneepore, &c.), began soon to be explored, and 

 Crawford, who waa sent to Amarapura, published an account of the 

 Birman empire, as he had previously done of Siam and Cochin China. 

 And during the present year (1853) when a British army has advanced 

 into the interior of the Birman empire as far as Prome and annexed 

 the province of Pegu to the British territory in India, it is certain 

 that large additions will be made to our knowledge of thfe part of 

 Asia. 



Next to the English the Russians have in modem times been most 

 in extending and completing our geographical knowledge of 

 Asi. The establishment of mines in Da-uria on the Amur, and in 

 the Altai Mountains between the Irtish and Oby, gave rise to the 

 travel^ of many scientific men, and the publication of several 

 interesting travels and treatises. The most valuable works on the 

 geography of Siberia are by Messerschmidt (1720), Dr. Muller, De 

 Lisle de la Croyere, Qmeliu, father and son, Falkj* Pallas (1720), 

 Georgi, Sivers (1791), and in our own times, Von Ledebour (1826), 

 Dr. Meyer, Von Bunge, Hess, A. Erman, and Alexander von Humboldt 

 (1829). The periodical missions to the court of Peking have added 

 some information concerning the table-land which extends between 

 Siberia and China, especially the travels of Timkowski (1819-1821) and 

 those of Von Bunge (1830), who first ascertained the elevation of the 

 central table-land crossed in this journey. 



The conquests of the Russians in Asia have given us a more 

 complete knowledge of the Caucasus. Peter I. ordered a survey of 

 the Caspian Sea to be made, which was executed by Siinonof, and thus 

 the true extent and form of that immense lake were first known. In 

 the war against Persia in 1721-1723 the northern ridges of Mount 

 Caucasus and the countries watered by the Kur and Aras were 

 explored; and discoveries were pushed farther south, when (1800) the 

 province of Grusia fell under the sway of the Russians. After that 

 time the valleys of the Caucasus were visited and explored by 

 Giildenstadt, Reineggs, Von Biberstein, Klaproth (1807), Parrot, and 

 M. von Engelhardt (1815), Kupfer, and M. Leuz (1829), who succeeded 

 in reaching the elevated pinnacle of the Elburz ; Parrot had previously 

 ascended the Ararat. A great deal of information on the ancient and 

 modern geography of the shores of the Caspian and the Caucasian 

 countries is given in Eichwald's ' Alte Geographic der Kaspischen 

 Meeres, *c.,' Berlin, 1838. 



The Russians have likewise penetrated into the countries east of 

 the Caspian Sea and surrounding the lake of Aral, by passing through 

 the deserts inhabited by the Khirghis Karaks. This was chiefly 

 effected by the missions and embassies of Nazarof to Khokhand(1813), 

 of Murawieff to Khiwa (1819), of Meyendorf and Eversmann to 

 Bokhara (1820), and of Von Berg, Lewchini, &c., to the Lake of 

 Aral, since 1823. 



Of late our knowledge of Asia has been considerably augmented. 

 The Russians have steadily and systematically pursued the exploration 

 of their vast dominions in the north ; while the English have con- 

 tinued their surveys and researches in the south and west. The 

 eastern and central portions of Asia alone, particularly the Chinese 

 and Japanese empires, have remained little known ; hitherto inacessible 

 to and unaffected by the rapid tides of progress and civilisation 

 which have extended over the rest of the world. The Euphrates and 

 the Tigris, with the adjoining regions from the Mediterranean to the 

 Persian Gulf, were thoroughly explored and surveyed by the 

 expedition under Colonel Chesney in 1835 and 1836, dispatched to 

 ascertain the practicability of a steam-boat communication with India 

 by that route. In 1836 an expedition was dispatched by the Imperial 

 Academy of Sciences at St.-Petersburg for the purpose of making a 

 trigonometrical survey from the shores of the Black Sea to those of 

 the Caspian, in order to ascertain the difference of their comparative 

 levels ; a question which had excited great interest for 25 years 

 previously. This expedition consisted of Messrs. Fuss, Sabler, and 

 Sawidsh, who within two years succeeded in making a most accurate 

 survey, by which it was determined that the level of the Caspian was 

 84 feet below that of the Black Sea. 



During the years 1834 to 1837 Asia Minor was explored by Callier, 

 De Texier, Brant, and W. J. Hamilton. The latter has given us a very 

 valuable account of the physical geography of the peninsula, and has 

 ascertained the sites of many ancient cities. From 1832 to 1837 

 Fedorow accomplished an important journey through Siberia, between 

 Orenburg and Irkutzk, and between the parallels of 46 and 66 

 N. and determined many points astronomically and trigonometri- 

 cally, which formed a new basis for the geography of those regions. 

 During the same years Baer, Pakhtusow, and Ziwolka made additions 

 to the geography of Nova-Zembla, and determined a portion of its 

 eortern coast. In 1836 and 1837 Professor Koch explored the Caucasus, 

 and subsequently published the results of his researches in various 

 work*, among which is a large map which has only lately appeared. 



In 1837 the interesting discovery was made by Moor and Beke of 

 the level of the Dead Sea being considerably below that of the ocean. 

 Shortly afterwards Shubest corroborated this curious fact, and ascer- 

 tained that this great depression extends over the whole of El Ghor, 

 comprising the valley of the Jordan as far as the Lake of Tiberias. 

 The first accurate measurements of the altitude of both the Dead Sea 

 and the Lake of Tiberias were made in 1838 and 1839 by De Berton 

 and Russegger, and subsequently repeated by Symonds, Wildenbruch, 

 and the American expedition in 1841, 1845, and 1848. By Symouds's 

 trigonometrical survey it was found that the depression of the Dead 

 Sea amounted to 1312 feet; but his result for the depression of the 

 Lake of Tiberias was shown to be very erroneous. This latter point 

 has been ascertained by the American expedition to be 652 feet below 

 the level of the sea, a result which agrees satisfactorily with the 

 previous observations of De Berton, Russegger, and Wildeubruch. 

 The discovery of this remarkable depression is not only interesting in 

 a geographical, but also in an historical point of view, as many obscure 

 passages in Scripture are thereby explained. 



Arabia, particularly its eastern extremity, was explored by 

 Wellsted in the years 1835 and 1836 ; and in the latter year 

 Lieutenant Cruttenden visited the south-western portions of the 

 same country. In 1836 an interesting journey was made in Ku- 

 zistan and Luristan by Major Rawlinson ; aud an expedition to 

 Kurdistan under Ainsworth started from Constantinople in 1838, 

 and during two years explored a considerable portion of Asia Minor, 

 Armenia, and Kurdistan. The still more recent travels and disco- 

 veries of Dr. Layard have greatly increased our acquaintance with the 

 geography of Kurdistan aud Assyria. In the regions of the Himalaya 

 Mountains and Afghanistan important additions to geography were 

 made by Burnes, Wood, Vigne, and others. Vigue proceeded as 

 far as Iskardoh, and thoroughly explored the valley of Cashmere ; 

 while Lieutenant Wood reached the source of the river Oxus, or Amur 

 of the moderns, formed by a lake on the plateau of Pamir, at an 

 elevation of upwards of 15,000 feet above the level of the sea. 

 Cashmere was also visited by Baron von Hiigel. Lycia and other parts 

 of Asia Minor were visited by Fellows in 1839 and 1840, also by 

 Hoskyn. In 1843 a Russian expedition under Middendorf was 

 dispatched for the purpose of reaching Cape Taimura, the northern- 

 most point of Asia ; but the country they had to traverse was found 

 to consist of immense marshes, uninhabited, and possessing scarcely 

 any animal or vegetable life, and after having undergone consider- 

 able hardships the expedition had to return without having 

 reached its destination. About the same time the northern Ural 

 was scientifically explored by Hoffmann, Keyserling, Krusenstern, and 

 others, and rich gold alluvia were discovered in the regions of 

 the Altai'. The Aralo-Caspian regions were also visited by Basiner 

 and Lehmann. In 1847 *n exploring expedition to the Tibetan fron- 

 tiers was undertaken by the Indian government. This expedition con- 

 sisted of Captain Cunningham, Lieutenant Strachey, and Dr. Thomson. 

 Previously, in 1846, Lieutenant Strachey had succeeded iu reaching 

 the lake of Manasarowara (Cho Mapan) and Rakas Tal (Cho Lagan), 

 situated far within the Tibetan frontier on the northern flank of the 

 Himalaya Mountains, and the reputed source of the Sutlej and 

 Sampoo. Their elevation he found to be 15,250 feet above the level 

 of the sea. The expedition proceeded along the upper valley of the 

 Sutlej, Lieutenant Strachey continuing his course down the Parang 

 River, while Captain Cunningham and Dr. Thomson proceeded to 

 Hauld, over the Laiiak Pass, and subsequently proceeded to Le", the 

 capital of Ladak, whence Dr. Thomson proceeded to the Karakorum 

 Pass. Independently of this expedition great additions were made to 

 the geography of the Eastern Himalaya by Dr. Campbell and Dr. 

 Hooker. The latter gentleman has examined the whole of the Sikkim 

 aud Himalaya of East Nepaul, with the adjacent provinces of Tibet 

 to the north. Among, other researches Dr. Hooker traced the course 

 of all the Sikkim rivers to their sources in Tibet, and examined 

 glaciers and moraines at heights extending to 19,000 feet. He 

 confirmed the statement first published by Dr. Thomson and after- 

 wards by Captain R. Strachey, that the Himalaya mountain ridge of 

 our maps is an imaginary line drawn through certain lofty peaks 

 which, catching all the moisture of Hindustan, retain it in snow and 

 ice ; and that these, far from being the real axis, are very distant 

 from it. 



Borneo of all the East India Islands has most advanced in respect 

 to geographical elucidation ; the researches of Sir James Brooke, 

 Captain Keppel, Mr. Low, Marryat, Captain Muudy, Sir E. Belcher, 

 and Baron Melvill de Carnbee have accumulated and brought to 

 public notice a rich store of geographical knowledge, particularly on 

 the north-western side of that magnificent island. 



The trigonometrical survey of India has steadily progressed under 

 the superintendence of Lieutenant-Colonel Waugh, the surveyor- 

 general. Among other interesting results he carefully measured the 

 altitude of the Sikkim Himalaya, and found Kuuchinjinga to be 

 28,178 feet above the level of the sea, the highest point of the globe as 

 yet measured. A valuable map of the whole of India, divided into 

 collectorates and provinces, with some of the recently acquired terri- 

 tories, was published by the East India Company in June 1853. In 

 Arabia, since Baron von Wrede's important journey to Hadramaut in 

 1843, the most recent geographical additions have been acquired 



