GEOGKAl'HIGAL REVIEW. 23 



380,000 siiuare verst^, or 7,800 square geugrapbical iiiilrs, formh a inoiintaiuuu.s coiiiUry right 

 times as large as Switzerland, and belonging not to the State but to His Imperial Majesty's 

 Cabinet, that is, forming the private property of the Emperor. These lands passed into the 

 hands of the Cabinet at the middle of the eighteenth century, from those of the Demidovs, 

 tlie first occupiers and settlers, and the first to .•-tari a true mining industry in the country. 

 t»ne-tliiril of ihe area of the Altai mining region is covered by the high mountain masses of 

 the Altai. This is not a mountain chain but an immense highland, situated at the western 

 extremity of the long chain of the Saian mountains which form ihe noriliern boundary of 

 ihe internal highland of Asia and descends to the lowlands of Siberia. The Altai highlands 

 are almost as broad as tliey are long and consist of a number of mountain ridges separated 

 from each other by longitudinal and, in places, transversal valleys. The ridges extend in a 

 not entirely parallel east to west direction, but slightly diverge towards the west after the 

 fashion of a half-opened fan. Thus the Xarimsk ridge which limits the longest of the Altai 

 valleys, the Bukhtarminsk on the south, extends almost along the parallel, while the cor- 

 responding Kusnetsk Alatau, on the eastern extremity of the Altai highlands, has an almost 

 meridional direction, while the rich in ores, but low Salairsk riilge extends to the north-east 

 in a diagonal direction between the two above named ridges. 



The high ranges of the Altai known under the name of «belki;>, which exactly corresponds to 

 the word «Alps >,rise far beyond the snow line; they extend for a certain distance almost parallel, 

 being divided from one another by the d('ep ravines of Ihe mountain streams. The highest of all 

 the ridges is that known under the name of the Katunsk Stolby. or Pillars of Katoun, 

 whi(di includes the picturesque Siberian Mont Blanc, the Beloukha, 11,500 feet high. Many 

 other of the mountain ridges of the Altai rise beyond the line ot eternal snow, such as 

 the Sailughemsk, Chuisk, Aigulaksk, Kholsunsk and Turgussuu belki. The height of these 

 motnitains in many cases exceeds nine thousand feet, while the snow line on the northern 

 side of the Altai is not more than 7,000 feet, while on the southern aspect it is not under 

 eight thousand feet. In its south-eastern portion the Altai evince an ini-liiiation to form 

 tablelands, that is, more or less wide highland plains exten(^ling into the Alpine zone 

 of the steppes, like the Chuisk ami Kuraisk. The Altai belkl chiefly consist of crystalline 

 rocks, such as granites, cianites, diorites and porphyries and of metamori»hic rocks, such 

 as crystalline schists and also of grauvacke. The strata of the sedimentary rocks have been lifted 

 by the crystalline and belong to the ancient paleozoic formations, such as the upper, Silu- 

 rian, devoniaji and caiiioniferous systems. Secondary fonnaiiims like the Jurassic are only met 

 with in the most unrtliern branches of ilie Altai. All the formerly ri^di deposits of argentifer- 

 ous lead and copper ores, occur at the juiieiion id' ihe crystalline and sedimentary rocks 

 Considerable glaciers descend from the lielouklia and feed the sources of the Katoun, one 

 of the two component Iiranehes (d' the ri\er Ubi. The other of these branches, the Bea 

 forms the outlet of the wonderful and vast Alpine lake Telets which in its beauty recalls 

 the lake of the Four Cantons in Switzeiiajid. Immediately over the lake rise the Telets 

 belki, the highest of wliicli, lln' Altyn-Tag, rises over 8,000 feet. At this point the steep 

 declivities of the belki descend straight into the lake, which is fed by the mountain streams 

 falling from the Sailughemsk ridge. 



