138 SIBKIUA. 



sodium coveroii with a brino which deposits fresh i;iyfi^ ol >,iii (.-vi-iy year. Compared with 

 tlie others these jjikes are the richest and are the most important by reason of the vast 

 stores of salt liiey contiiin. Amonj,' tin- niiuiy lakes of this category belonging to the State 

 the chief is the Karyakovsk lake in the province of Sumipalalinsk at 20 versts from the 

 town of I'avlodar and 28 versis from the Cliernoyarsk lamliiig stage on the river Irtysh. In 

 this lake, which covurs an an-a of about 20 sijuare versts, the surface Is covered by layers 

 of salt I'ur a space of about 'J S([uare versts, and the thicknes.s of these deposits reaches to 

 as Miuf'li as half a sagene. The annual yield of salt from this lake amounts to one million 

 piHiils. The salt from the Koryakovsk lake is distinguished for its high quality and is consi- 

 dcivij the hfst iu Siberia. 2. The second category iucludes those lakes which contain coaside- 

 rabli! amounts of strong brine, which annually deposit a layer of pure chloride of sodium, 

 varying from 1 to 4 inches in thickness. Although these lakes, corapareil with the preceding, 

 have only a secondary imiiortance, nevertheless they are capable of yielding immense quanti- 

 ties of salt. To this category belong the lakes exploited in the government of Tomsk, the most im- 

 portant of which are the Borovya and Bourlinsk lakes. 



The Borovya lakes include four lakes: J. the Pechatochuoe or Maloe Lomovoe; 2. the Koch- 

 kovatoe; 3. the Bolshoe Lomovoe; 4. the Malinovoe lakes. They are situated on what is called the 

 Salt steppes. In recent years these lakes have yielded up to 600,000 pouds of salt. The Bourlinsk 

 lake is one of most important sources of salt in Western Siberia. It resembles the Borovya lakes in 

 the mode of occurrence of its salt and is only distinguished for its size, it being over 30 versts in 

 circumferance. The Bourlinsk lake belongs to the number of those which dry up periodically. 

 There are many such lakes iu Siberia. It has a great industrial importance, owing to its situation in 

 proximity with the chief trading routes of the steppes, by which the peasants of the gi-ain bearing 

 regions of the government of Tomsk carry their grain to Pavlodar for sale to the Kirghiz. The salt 

 from the Bourlinsk lake forms a return freight for these peasants who transport it to a 

 further distance. Besides which, this salt is transported aloug the river Obi to Tomsk and 

 further to Achinsk and to Eastern Siberia. The annual yield of the Bourlinsk lake is about 

 Vji million pouds. 3. The lakes of the third group are full of brine containing a greater or 

 less amount of other salts, than chloride of sodium. They form a link towards bitter salt 

 lakes. Owing to the comparatively little strength of the brine, the lakes of this category do 

 not as a rule give a deposit every year but only under suitable atmospheric conditions, and 

 the salt then obtained is naturally of a poor quality. These lakes, which are numerous and 

 of large dimensions, now scarcely have any importance as a source of national provision. They 

 could only give a pure salt, tit for consumption, if they were exploited by the artificial basin 

 system, which owing to the number of excellent self-depositing lakes cannot as yet thrive in 

 Siberia. To this category belong many lakes in the government of Tomsk, and all those situa- 

 ted iu the Barabiusk steppe besides a considerable number of the Kirghiz lakes. 4, Lastly 

 the fourth group comprises the bitter salt lakes, containing considerable layers of glauber 

 salt which are constantly increasing in thickness owing to the annual deposition of fresh 

 layers from the brine. The Bolshoe Marmyshansk lake is a representative of this category^ 

 and is the only one of this class now under exploitation. It yields about 100,000 pouds of 

 salt a year. The Bolshoe and Maloe Marmyshansk lakes are situated in the Kouloundinsk 



