76 SIUEUIA. 



CIl A i'Ti:i{ VI. 

 The Kirghiz Steppe Region. 



Its division into the mountain and steppe territories; orography and hydrography of each: climatic 



conditions; vegetable covering; fauna; composition and distribution of the population in the 



mountain and steppe zones; importance of cattle breeding to the native population. 



THE Kirghiz steppe region in an administrative sense forms the steppe Governor-Generalship 

 and is composed of three territories, Akmolinsk, Semipalatinsk and Semirechensk. In 

 a geographical sense it occupies the southern part of the river region of the Irtysh and the 

 basins of several central Asiatic rivers, not possessing sea communication, but either falling into 

 Lake Balkhash, as the III and other rivers of Somirechia, Lake Issyk-Kul and Ala-Kul or 

 losing themselves in the sands or steppe marshes. 



The whole Kirghiz region occupies a space of 25,000 square geographical miles and 

 may be divided into two parts, mountain and steppe. The former consists of the whole 

 Semirechensk territory, except the Sergiopol district, and of the Zaissan district of Semipala- 

 tinsk, and occupies 7,000 square geographical miles, the latter comprises the whole remaining 

 space of 18,000 square geographical miles. 



To the mountain zone belongs the gigantic Russian western Thian-Shan with the exception 

 of its western prolongations, which cross over into the Turkestan Governor-Generalship. Like 

 the Sayan-Altai mountain system, the Thian-Shan at its western extremity branches into sep- 

 arate mountain ridges partly parallel to each other, partly spreading out like the feathers 

 of a slightly opened fan. In the main range of the Thian-Shan on the Chinese fron- 

 tier a little north of 42° N. lat. is the highest peak, mount Khan-Teugi-i, lifting itself 

 above a whole group of gigantic snow-clad summits and reaching an altitude of 24,000 feet. 

 The glaciers descending from the Khan-Tengii group feed, on the one hand, the upper waters 

 of the Tekes, that is, the head stream of the chief river of Semirechia, the Hi, faUing into 

 Lake Balkhash, on the other hand, tributaries themselves feeding the hollow of lake Issyk-Kul, 

 and yet again, the head waters of the Sary-Dzhaz, which has its source on the northern 

 slope of the Thian-Shan, but breaks through a defile in that range on its southern side and 

 falls into the river Parim, belonging to the system of lake Lob-Xor. At the same time, a 

 little further to the west, the river Xaryn, the head waters of the Yaxartes or Sn--Darya 

 springs from the lakes lying on the extensive alpine tablelands or «sazas» of the Thian- 



