84 STEPPES AND DESERTS. 



meridian of Lake Baikal. The divisions and names of the " Great" 

 and the " Little Altai," taken from an obscure passage of Abul- 

 ghasi, are to be altogether avoided. (Asie Centrale, t. i. p. 247.) 

 The mountain system of the Altai comprehends .(a) the Altai pro- 

 per, or Kolywanski Altai, the whole of which is under the Russian 

 sceptre; it is west of the transverse opening of the Telezki Lake, 

 which follows the direction of the meridian; and in ante-historic 

 times probably formed the eastern shore of the great arm of the 

 sea, by which, in the direction of the still existing groups of lakes, 

 Aksakal-Barbi and Sary-Kupa (Asie Centrale, t. ii. p. 138), the 

 Aralo-Caspian basin was connected with the Icy Sea : (6) East of 

 the Telezki chain which follows the direction of the meridian, the 

 Sayani, Tangnu, and Ulangom or Malakha chains, all running tole- 

 rably parallel with each other, and in an east and west direction. 

 The Tangnu, which sinks down and terminates in the basin of the 

 Selenga, has from very ancient times formed a boundary between 

 the Turkish race to the south, and the Kirghis (Hakas, identical 

 with Saxat) in the north. (Jacob Grimm, Gesch. der deutschen 

 Sprache, 1848, th. i. s. 227.) It is the .original seat of the 

 Samoieds or Soyotes, who wandered as far as the Icy Sea, and who 

 were long regarded in Europe as a nation belonging exclusively to 

 the coasts of the Polar Sea. The highest snow-clad summits of 

 the Altai of Kolywan are the Bielucha and the Katunia-Pillars. 

 The height of the latter is about that of Etna. The Daurian high- 

 land, to which the mountain knot of Kemtei belongs, and on the 

 eastern side of which is the Jablonoi Chrebet, divides the depressions 

 of the Baikal and the Amur. 



2. The mountain system of the Thian-schan, or Celestial Mount- 

 ains, the Tengri-tagh of the Turks (Tukiu) and of the kindred race 

 of the Hiongnu, is eight times as long, in an east and west direction, 

 as the Pyrenees. Beyond i. e. west of its intersection with the 

 transverse or north and south chain of /the Bolor and Kosuyrt, the 

 Thian-schan bears the names of Asferah and Aktagh, is rich in 

 metals, and has open fissures, which emit hot vapors, luminous at 

 night, and which are used for obtaining sal-ammoniac. (Asie Cen- 

 trale, t. ii. pp. 18-20.) East of the transverse Bolor and Kosyurt 

 chain, there follow successively in the Thian-schan the Kashgar 



