BAIKAL. 



201 



EailcJ. sifted by groves of poplars, willow, birch, and pines. 

 -Y~ ' Here the pasture is so rich, that large droves of cat- 

 tle are maintained through the whole winter, without 

 any particular care or tending from the inhabitants, 

 who spend almost their whole time in drinking, or in 

 idleness. 



The coasts of the Baikal present many objects 

 which well deserve the attention of the naturalist. 

 Springs, impregnated with sulphur and naphtha, are 

 to be found in various places, many of them remark- 

 able for their medicinal virtues. One of these 

 springs, in particular, opposite the western side of 

 Olkhon, is so extremely copious, as to yield 582 

 gallons every hour. Its water, being highly sulphure- 

 ous, has a foetid taste ; and is so hot, that birds are 

 boiled in it in the space of twelve minutes. In cu- 

 taneous disorders, this spring has been found to pro- 

 duce the happiest effects. It is employed for bath- 

 ing, as well as taken internally. To the south of 

 the Bargusin peninsula, there is a lake, called Duk- 

 hovoi, or Vapoury, the water of which is slimy and 

 yellowish, and has a nauseous acid taste. The whole 

 district is annoyed by its foetid exhalations ; yet the 

 water itself, when taken in a vessel, has no offensive 

 odour. The lake even swarms with various kinds of 

 fish, which are often stifled, however, during winter, 

 when the putrid water is covered by an impenetrable 

 coat of ice. Perhaps, therefore, the intolerable 

 stench of this region may be owing, not so much 

 to any peculiar quality in the lake itself, as to 

 the quantity of fish that lie putrifying on its shores. 

 Of all the mineral waters on the coast cf the Baikal, 

 none is more celebrated than the Turkobad, which, 

 issuing from seven springs, some of them cold and 

 uthers hot, flows into one reservoir, and is found 

 very beneficial in many disorders. Near the same 

 spot, there is found naphtha, which the lake throws 

 out in the spring, incrusted in lumps with ice, and 

 sometimes two or three inches in diameter. It is a 

 dark-brown clammy substance, capable of being 

 kneaded, soluble in water of a moderate heat, of a 

 pleasant odour, and an excellent salve for wounds 

 and running sores. These coasts likewise abound in 

 alkaline salts of different kinds. 



In enumerating the wonders of these regions, we 

 must not forget a curious lusus naiuriv, which is to 

 be seen on the Shamane promontory. Three rocks, 

 adjacent to one another, tower more than two hun- 

 dred feet above the level of the lake ; and their tops 

 bear such a striking resemblance to human heads, 

 that the Tunguses revere them as the sea-god Dian- 

 da, with his two subordinate deities. The nose of 

 this Dianda, who stands between the other two, and 

 overtops them considerably, is seven feet long ; his 

 eyebrows seem two projecting cliffs overshadowing 

 his face; flocks of sea-fowl find harbour in his mouth ; 

 but he is altogether unprovided with ears. Not- 

 withstanding this defect, however, his votaries "believe 

 that he hears acutely, and in all their fishing expedi- 

 tions prefer to him their prayers that lie may save 

 them from being drowned, and grant them a plenti- 

 ful draught of fishes. 



The plants most frequent in the sandy coast of the 

 Baikal, and the neighbouring forest, are such as ge- 

 nerally grow on very cold mountain^. Those enume- 



VOt. III. J'AUT I. 



rated by Pallas, are the ptnilS cemlm, the empet rum Baikal. 

 nigrum, the campanula, with round leaves and large *""" 



flowers, the Jicmaria hnpatiens, the polygonum di- 

 varication, the polygonum sericeum, a superb species 

 of knotgrass, quite indigenous to the shores of this 

 lake, the scrophularia scorodonia, the dracocepka- 

 lum nutans, the lycopsis vesicaria, and the triticum- 

 littorale, which grows upon the shores in as great 

 abundance as if it were sown, and is so like the gross 

 kind of barley, th?t the peasants call it Dikaia 

 Koch, or wild barley. Besides these, M. Pallas ob- 

 served in the forest the lonicera ccerulea et pyrenaica, 

 the linnea, the rul/us articus, the pedicularis panicu- 

 lata, the ledum palustre, the andromeda polifolia, 

 and various kinds of pyrolte, and among others the 

 pyrola uniflora, called by the Siberians Killereka. 

 The growth of these plants is occasioned by the cold 

 and hazy air which prevails during summer on the 

 lake, the high mountains which stretch along the 

 southern part of the country, and the snow-clad sum- 

 mits which border the western side of the Baikal. 

 In the lake itself there grows a kind of sponge, 

 which is very sweet and thick, and has never been 

 discovered in any other part of the world. In the 

 language of the country it is called Mokskaia Sou- 

 ba, or sea sponge ; and Pallas has given it the name 

 of Spongia Baikalensis. It is employed by the 

 goldsmiths of Irkutsk to give the first polish to their 

 silver-plate, and to vessels of copper and of brass. 



The animal productions of the Baikal are still 

 more curious and unaccountable than the wonders of 

 its coasts. Of these, the most remarkable is a fish 

 entirely peculiar to this lake, called by the Russians 

 in that neighbourhood, Solomiiakka, and known 

 to naturalists by the name of Callyonymus Baikalen- 

 sis. It exactly resembles a clue of blubber, and 

 when exposed on a gridiron to the most gentle heat, 

 melts so completely away, that nothing remains of it 

 but a slender bone. It is impossible to catch these 

 fish in nets, nor indeed are they ever seen alive. 

 They seem to confine themselves to the deep gulfs 

 in the centre of the lake, and are generally thrown 

 up to the surface in summer, during the violent hur- 

 ricanes which burst from the mountains. When the 

 lake has been strongly agitated, they are forced up 

 in such quantities as to form a kind of parapet upon 

 the shore. They are so rank and oily, that neither 

 sea-fowl nor ravens will touch their carcase, and af- 

 ter remaining near two hours on shore, are dissolved 

 by a slight pressure in the hand. The oil made of 

 their blubber is sold to the Chinese, who value it 

 highly. 



Seals, likewise, abound in the Baikal ; a very re- 

 markable phenomenon, as these animals are never 

 seen elsewhere at any distance from the ocean, nor 

 do they frequent rivers or lakes of fresh water. It 

 appears probable, therefore, that they have been in- 

 troduced into this inland sea by some extraordinary 

 revolution, which has produced a considerable change 

 in the level of the globe. Their skin is of a silver 

 grey, and their number is so great, that no fewer 

 than two thousand are taken annually. The hunt- 

 ing of these animals commences in April. They as- 

 semble in great flocks, where the rapid currents, or 

 warm springs, make chasms in tlie ice, and frequent* 

 2c 



