I R K 307 



I.kurtk. where they meet with ready purchasers. The second in 

 ^^ Y""**' quality, name ly those of the sea and river otter, and other 

 animals, together with the worst sables, and the fox skins 

 from the Aleutian Islands, are allotted tor China ; for the 

 Chinese prefer at a lower price inferior articles, as they 

 colour and disguise them so artfully, that the decep- 

 tion can scarcely be detected. Belonging to the city, 

 but at some distance, are a glass-house near the Lake 

 Baikal; a distillery 4O miles north, and salt-works at 

 three springs for supplying the neighbourhood. 

 Minim of The moaners of the inhabitants of irkutzk, though of 

 ' tatait- European origin, are marked by many peculiarities, and 

 participate deeply in those of eastern countries. An evi- 

 dent change is said to have taken place about the year 

 1 790, or soon after. At that time tht'rt were ';either inns 

 nor coffee house* in the city ; yt, su^h was the hospi- 

 tality of the inhabitants, that a &trn. /r- never was at a 

 IOM for a home. Merit was as great a%vcommejKla- 

 tion a* wealth ; the higher ranks were distinguished by 

 their liberality, ami some individuals kept open house. 

 About 1 7 or 1 S years liter, the greatest distrust is said 

 to have prevailed among all ranks : females were never 

 seen in social circles, and appeared only on public occa- 

 sions ; as at church, on festivals, at marriages, or balls. 

 From the great extent of jurisdiction embraced by the 

 government, and its being in the vicinity of the Chi- 

 nese and Mongol territories, numbers of civil and mi- 

 litary officer* dwell in the city. Part of its inhabitants 

 also coruUts of thoie exiles whom the cruel and repre- 

 hensible policy of Russia banishes from their own COBU 

 try. tltough their only crime may have been carrying 

 arms in its defence. But they are left entirely at li- 

 berty ; and some have acquired property by their in- 

 notu habit* : the most skilful artizani and mecha- 

 nics of every kind are U> be found among them. It has 

 been recently affirmed of this capital, that th inhabit- 

 ant* are nut unhappy ; that the climate is not so inhos- 

 pitable M is in general believol . th.it the summer is 

 pleasant; ami that the surrounding district* produce 

 a uperabundance of corn, while those who wish for 

 1'ixurie* may obtain them at a reasonable rate. The 

 population of Irkutzk is computed at 30,000. About 

 Jacouk. 1733 miles nejh past of thi-t city stands .I.ikuuk, or 

 Vakutzk, situated on the right bank of the Lena, a 

 town consisting of 500 or 600 houses, 5 churches, and 

 a convent. It it exposed to the inundations of the ri- 

 by one of which, in the year 1807, several of the 

 inhabitants, and above IOOO cattle, were swept away. 

 The streets are broad, irregular, and unpaved : all die 

 bouses are built after the old Russian fashion, and ma- 



I R O 



ny are very spacious, with a court and garden. Blad- Iikuuk, 

 der, or isinglass, is said to be substituted for panes in ' 

 the windows during summer, and in winter pl;iu-< of ^""~< / ~"" 

 ice frozen into frames by means of snow. The sritua- 

 t'nn of this town is less favourable than that of the for- 

 mer : the ground i-> never thawed above two feet deep, 

 even in the heat of summer. \Ve have already remark. 

 ed the great distance which vegetables will be brought. 

 Fish must be carried from places 26fi miles off. In the 

 month of June, every necessary of life is conveyed down 

 the Lena, and at that time those who can afford it lay 

 in a stock of provisions to serve twelve months. The 

 town of Okhotzk occupies a sandy peninsula at the con- Okbptzk. 

 fluence of the rivers Okhotzk and Kuchtui on the coast 

 of the Sea of Okhotzk. Inundations, combined with 

 the rise of the tides during storms, gradually sweep 

 away the beach ; and so much damage was suffered in 

 the year 1801, that the Russian government resolved 

 to change the site of the town. It is a port, with 

 docks, yanK and magazines. Thither the Asiatic- 

 tribes retort tor the purpose of traffic, as they receive 

 all the articles they require in exchange for furs. Ca- 

 ravans of 6000 or 8000 horses sometimes bring goods 

 Yakutzk for the use of the more distant RUSM in 

 fptlemenU: The town of Nertschinsk is of much 

 smaller size than any of the preceding, and is situau-'i cllin k. 

 on the immediate confines of Chinese Tartary. 1 

 criminals from the other towns are condemned to woi '-i 

 in the mines on account of government. There is a 

 fortress at Ncrtschinsk, which is probably the strongest 

 in the government, as OHpy of the rest are falling to 

 decay, from the decreasing enmity of the native Lrilu . 



liostilc to their invaders. 



U'c do not know that the history of the government 

 of Irkutsk can be traced to an earlier date than the 

 middle of the Kith century. The Russian-., p- i 

 ting by the west, progressively extended their con- 

 quests over the countries to the east for the sake of the 

 t'ur of wiltl animals, until they arrived at boundaries 

 claimed by the Chinese, where they expected to find silver 

 mines. A sanguinary warfare was carried on between 

 thrin in the course of the 17th century, which termi- 

 nated in a treaty dated 1(>S<>. 1'rosecuting the discove- 

 lies of their hunter*, the Russians advanced as the na- 

 tives were nilxliud, or retreated. Taking another di- 

 rection to the south-east, towards the close of the pre- 

 ceding century, they had engrigrd in hostility with 

 I\ ii.,:-ki tribes, who refused to acknowledge their audio- 

 <nt who will probably find it difficult to preserve 

 their own independence, (c.) 



IRON. 



IRON, in chemirtry, i an elementary substance, and 

 one of the metals. In the art* nd maiiu t may 



be considered as the most valuable of the metal*. Its 

 great importance in agriculture and dome-tic economy 

 lead* us to infer, that the civilization of man mu,t have 

 begun with its application to the various art. of life. Its 

 tenacity ha* rendered it almost indifpeiiuhlr, for uni 

 ting and binding the parts of Udies made of wood and 

 Jtone. In hardness in the form of steel, ha* UxlHf 



importance in the various cutting instrument*, that 

 without it most of the useful, as well as the polite arts, 



I have been very little known to us. The great sue- 

 to* with which it lias been employed in the construc- 



tion of swords and gun*, is almost the only instance 

 of its application we have to regret. 



The tint state in which it is necessarily presented to 

 us when it is obtained from its ores, is in its combination 

 with carbon, by which it is rendered hard and brittle. 

 I'nder this form its most valuable properties are not ob- 

 served : this is probably the state in which it was first 

 known to man, and would be discovered perhaps as 

 early as copper and brass. Gold and silver would be 

 known much earlier ; the first I'rom its existence in the 

 native form, and the latter in cim-n-quciice of it- 

 reduction from its ores. Since malleable iron required 

 to be formed from that called cast iron, and by a pro- 



3 



