252 siiiKKi.v. 



Ill coiisefiuenco of tlie&e dillioult topographical features of the country, the Irkutsk- 

 Mysovsk section requires l,rXiO,C0O cubic sagenes of earth work, or almost 3,G90 cubic 

 sagenes per verst, costing 4,772,000 roubles; in addition to this, 235,000 cubic sagenes, or 

 about 800 cubic sagenes per veist, of cuttings in stony ground have to be done; also 24,800 

 cubic sagenes of masonry have to be laiil in the retaining walls, and 4,9:jO cubic sagenes of 

 this must be built with liydraulic coni(;iit, and the i'<unaiiidi;r, dry. The country through which 

 this section of the lino passes is completely desert, excepting the town of Irkutsk and some 

 small settlements on the shores of lake Baikal. Although the climate is severe, the 

 proximity of such an enormous quantity of water causes a great deal of moisture to be deposited, 

 so that the ground is covered with a thick and early layer of snow in consequence of which 

 that eternally frozen subsoil, which is found further along the Siberian railway, is not 

 met with here. 



I'rom Mysovsk harbour on the southern shore of Lake Baikal the line runs along the 

 shore of the lake and then follows the valley of the river Selenga; at a distance of 157 

 versts it crosses this river on a bridge 455 sagenes long and enters the valley of the river 

 LMa. The town of Vorkhiieoudinsk is situated near the junction of the Uda and Selenga. 

 The further progress of the line is determined by the choice of the most advantageous spot 

 to cross the Yablonovoi chain, and after much reconnoitering, it was found that the best route 

 was first along the valley of the river Uda and then along the river Pogromnaya which 

 falls into the Uda, where the line eiiteis a plain covered with lakes, called the Vitimsk 

 p lateau, and then along the river Domna, one of the tributaries of the system of the river 

 Lena. Passing the spot summit level between the two above mentioned rivers, the line 

 continues ascending the eastern slope of one of the branches of the Yablonovoi chain, and at 

 versl 3,838 attains its highest point 529 sagenes above the level of the sea. The Yablonovoi 

 chain serves as the spot summit level of the basins of the Lena and Amour, that is, of the 

 Northern and Pacific oceans. The pass across this chain at the highest point, at verst 3,943, 

 is 490 sagenes above the level of the sea, and consequently lower than the pass across one 

 of the branches of the chain. From this spot summit level the line gradually descends and 

 sweeping round the hilly side of the district town of Chita by the bank of the river Shilka, 

 it reaches the vilhige of Matakan, situated opposite the town of Sretensk, which stands on 

 the right bank of the above mentioned river. 



The most difficult part of the line as regards earth and constructive works is the 

 section from the town of Chita to the town of Sretensk along the valleys of the Ingoda 

 and Shilka rivers. The valley of the former is narrow and winding, the mountains surround- 

 ing it are quite close to the river, forming steep slopes or projecting headlands, and in most 

 places there is only a narrow space between the mountain and the river, which is almost 

 always inundated when the level of the water rises. In a few places the valley of the river 

 is sufficiently wide to admit of the possibility of conveniently drying the track. In this 

 region the line either hugs the declivities or passes through submerged meadows but always 

 keeps to the left bank of the Ingoda river. The upper part of the valley of the Shilka re- 

 sembles the valley of the Ingoda, and its character only somewhat changes after verst 4,24S: 

 the direction of the river does not wind so often, the curves have a more open outline and 



