539 



ASIA. 



ASIA. 



590 



general name of Eastern Finns : they occupy the country extending 

 from the Ural Mountains eastward to the middle course of the 

 Oby, so that they separate the northern Samoiedes from the 

 Turkish tribes inhabiting the western districts of Siberia farther to 

 the south. 



The Mongolic stock of nations branches out into three great 

 divisions the proper Mongols, the Buriates, and the Olbt, or Kal- 

 mucks. The proper Mongols are settled on the southern side of the 

 desert of Gobi as tribes charged with the defence of the boundary of 

 the Chinese empire, and there they are called Tsakhar, whilst other 

 tribes comprehended under the name of Klialka occupy the northern 

 side of the Gobi. Other tribes farther to the south-west, toward 

 Tangut and Tibet, are known under the general name of Sharaigol or 

 Khor among the inhabitants of Tibet, also Sokbo (pastoral tribes). 

 The greatest number of them depend on the court of Peking, and are 

 distributed under different banners ; a small number however are 

 under the dominion of the Russians in the countries surrounding the 

 lake of I '. iikiil. which likewise are inhabited by the second great branch 

 of the Mongolic nations, the Buriates, who seem to have kept posses- 

 sion of tUeir original native country. The third great branch of this 

 extensive stock, the Olot, who are dispersed over all the countries 

 between the lake of Khukhu-Nor and the banks of the Volga, are 

 again divided into four branches, and are known in Europe by the 

 name of Calrauck" (Kalmakh), which was given to them by the 

 Russians. The most extensive of these branches was once formed by 

 the Zungares, who in the middle of the last century (1757) in their 

 war with the Chinese were partly destroyed, and their original country 

 on the banks of the river Hi and of the lake of Balkash on the south- 

 west of the Altai Mountains, which for some time had been entirely 

 uninhabited, though it contains extensive pastures, was afterwards 

 occupied by another branch of the Olot, the Turgut, whose tribes had 

 till then been settled on the banks of the Volga to the north of 

 Astrakhan. But some of their tribes remained on the banks of the 

 Volga, and others are dispersed through Central Asia as far as the 

 lake of Khukhu-Nor. The third principal branch of the Olot, the 

 Khoehod, are less numerous, and inhabit likewise the countries sur- 

 rounding the lake of Khukhu-Nor, or the Blue Lake. The fourth 

 great branch of these Mongols, the Turbet, are settled still farther to 

 the east on the upper course of the Hoang-Ho. 



The Tunguses form one of the most extensive families of nations 

 in the north-eastern countries of Asia, occupying all that part which 

 lies to the east of the northern Samoiedes on the Polar Sea, of the 

 Yeneseians, of the Uriankhai on the upper course of the Yenesei River, 

 and on the mountains of Sayansk, and to the north-east of the Mongolic 

 tribes. From the upper course of both Tunguskas they extend to the 

 Polar Sea and the river Olenek, and thence over the middle course of 

 the river Lena ; and from the eastern extremity of the hike of Baikal 

 over the river Witim as far as the shores of the gulf of Okhotzk, 

 where they are called Lamutes, or inhabitants of the shore. Towards 

 the south-east they occupy the countries lying on the middle course 

 of the Amur, or Saghalien Oola, and the banks of the Sungari Oola to 

 the boundary of the peninsula of Corea. But neither at the mouth 

 of the Amur nor farther to the south do the Tunguses extend to the 

 shores of the sea, the latter being inhabited by the Aino, a tribe not 

 belonging to this stock. The branches of the Tunguses are very 

 numerous, but in modern times none of them has rendered itself 

 conspicuous except that tribe which occupies the south-eastern corner 

 of the country inhabited by them, and is called Mantahoo, which 

 conquered China in the middle of the 17th century, and still governs 

 that country. These Mantshoo Tunguses are found dispersed over 

 all the provinces of the Chinese empire, where they constitute the 

 military nobility. 



The north-eastern part of Asia from the mouth of the Lena River 

 to the sea between Asia and America is occupied by three nations, 

 who speak quite different languages, though they live near one another 

 on a country of comparatively no great extent. These nations are 

 the Yookaghires, on both banks of the Indighirka; the Yoriakes, 

 from the Kolyma River to the Anadyr River, and round the gulf 

 >f 1'. iifihin.sk ; and the Tshuktshes, inhabiting the most north- 

 eastern extremity of Asia. Between the latter and the Esquimaux 

 tribes in North America such an affinity exists, as to language, that 

 they have obtained the name of Polar Americans. The Kamtchadales 

 too, who have given to or received their name from the peninsula 

 which they inhabit, form a separate group of nations, speaking a 

 peculiar language. 



Tin: tribes which are comprehended under the name of Kuriles, or 

 Aino, are placed to the east of the Tunguses, or more exactly at the 

 mouth of the Amur River and on the coast which extends to the south 

 aa far as Corea ; they inhabit likewise the islands lying along this 

 coast and extending southward to Yesso on the north of Japan, and 

 northward under the name of Kuriles to the southern cape of 

 Kamtchatka. Though these fishing tribes are dispersed over a very 

 extensive coast, they have a common language. 



The Japanese speak a language peculiar to themselves ; and though 

 their civilisation exhibits a striking similarity to that of the Chinese, 

 it seems not to have been influenced by the latter, but to have risen 

 entirely from the peculiar character of the Japanese. Both their 

 language and their civilisation are confined to their islands, with the 



exception of the islands of Liew-kiew, whose inhabitants certainly 

 belong to the same stock, but their language is said to be different. 



The Coreans, or inhabitants of the peninsula of Corea, constitute 

 likewise a separate nation, which many centuries ago inhabited the 

 mountain range which forms the northern boundary of the peninsula, 

 and then were called Sianpi ; at present they are confined to the 

 peninsula itself by their neighbours, the Mantshoo, who occupy the 

 country farther north, and are quite different from them. 



The Chinese constitute the most numerous and most civilised 

 nation of Eastern Asia, forming by far the greatest part of the popu- 

 lation of China itself, and possessing a very rich literature. They 

 are also dispersed over the other countries subject to the court of 

 Peking, and even beyond this boundary, where however they have 

 only settled in more modern times. They have likewise formed 

 many settlements on the island of Formosa, as well as on the Sunda 

 Islands, in Siam, Malacca, and in Ceylon. 



The Tibetans, or inhabitants of Tibet, who call themselves Bhot 

 or Bhota, constitute a very numerous group of tribes, which are far 

 dispersed over the table-lands of Eastern Asia, to the north of the 

 Himalaya Mountains but all of them are very little known ; it seems 

 however that they are divided into many branches extending to the 

 west, east, and north-east. 



The different nations which occupy the peninsula without the 

 Ganges, as the inhabitants of Anam, that is, of Tonkin and Cochin 

 China, those of Siam, Pegu, and Ava, or the Birmans, are still 

 imperfectly known. The Malays are better known ; they perhaps 

 once occupied the mountain region of the peninsula of Malacca, but 

 at present are only settled on the Suuda Islands and the southern 

 extremity of that peninsula. They speak a distinct and cultivated 

 idiom which is far diffused on the west as far as Madagascar, and on 

 the east over the islands of Sunda and the Philippines, and even to 

 the most eastern island groups of the Pacific Ocean. 



These are the principal groups of nations inhabiting Asia ; but in 

 the inland countries of that continent there still exist some feeble 

 remains of ancient nations which have not yet been subjected to a 

 close investigation. Such are the Miao-tse in southern China, the 

 Goands in Deccan, the Lolos and Carayn on the peninsula beyond 

 the Ganges, the Siapush in the Hindu-Koosh Mountains, and some 

 others. 



VI. Political divisions. As nearly everything belonging to the geo- 

 graphy of Asia appears to be formed on a colossal scale, the political 

 relations of the different states which have taken possession of its 

 extensive natural divisions are the same. At present there are only 

 six empires of great power and importance which possess among 

 them the whole continent. The others of less extent and importance 

 are either dependent on these six, or at least are subordinate, and 

 rendered of less political weight from being separated from each 

 other by the six. The east of Asia is occupied by the Chinese 

 empire, the north by Russia, and the south by the British domi- 

 nions; the other states lying between them, as the empire of the 

 Birmans and the kingdoms of Siam and Cochin China are only of 

 the second or third rank. The west of Asia however comprehends 

 Persia, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Arabia ; and if we except the small 

 states of Khiva and Bokhara in the lowlands round the lake of Aral, 

 there hardly exists an independent nation or sovereign of any weight 

 in political matters. The area as well as the population and the 

 physical resources of Asia are very unequally divided amongst those 

 great monarchies. 



The X-uisian empire extends through three of the great divisions 

 of the globe from the Gulf of Bothnia to New Arkhangel in the North 

 Pacific, and contains about 7,300,000 square miles, with a population 

 of about 66 millions; about two-thirds of its surface, namely, 

 4,800,000 square miles, and only one-twelfth of its popxilation, namely, 

 5,600,000, belong to Asia. In this account are included the ancient 

 Tartarian kingdoms of Kasau and Astrakhan, which by some 

 geographers are assigned to Europe, and the wandering tribes of the 

 Kirghiz, which are estimated at 300,000, and the mountaineers 

 of the Caucasus at about half a million. Besides the two great 

 Tartarian kingdoms of Kasan (the ancient Bulgar), and Astrakhan 

 (the ancient Kaptshak), the Russian empire in Asia contains Siberia, 

 the eastern boundary of which is not exactly fixed ; the Caucasian 

 provinces, three in number, which lie on both sides of Mount Caucasus 

 and constitute a military government ; the steppes of the Kirghiz, 

 a protected country ; and the Siberian islands and peninsulas in the 

 Polar region of the Pacific Ocean, as far as the north-western shores 

 of North America. 



The Chinese empire is limited to one of the great divisions of the 

 globe Asia, but it comprehends more than one-fourth of its surface, 

 namely, upwards of 5 millions of square miles, with a population 

 amounting at least to 300 millions ; but if we may rely on the returns 

 of the last native census, the whole population of the empire in 1825 

 amounted to 352,866,012 individuals. The subjects of the Russian 

 emperor in Asia amount to about 1-1 00th of the whole population of 

 that continent, but those who form the empire of China may be 

 considered as constituting one-half of all its inhabitants. Though 

 therefore both these empires are nearly equal in extent, the amount of 

 their population is widely different, and the Russian empire occupies 

 a very subordinate political relation. China occupies the first place 



