MOUNTAINS OF ASIA. 595 



find the chains of the Tldan-shan, partly volcanic, and the Kuen-lun, 

 which are little known, but probably lift their towering heads to an 

 altitude of fully 20,000 feet. China is traversed from west to east 

 by two mountain-ranges, the Pe-ling and Nan-ling, or " Northern " 

 and "Southern," which prolong their rocky heights to the veiy 

 shores of the Pacific. "West of the table-land of Pamer the eye rests 

 upon the formidable chain of the Beloor-tagh, from 18,000 to 20,000 

 feet in elevation; and on the borders of Central Asia the Himalaya, 

 the Beloor-tagh and other chains unite in the colossal knot or group 

 of the Hindoo-Koosli. Thence, with a westerly course, extend the 

 Paropamisan and Caspian Mountains, the latter culminating in 

 Mount Demavend, 14,300 feet, near the Caspian Sea. The Solei- 

 man Mountains border on the rugged plateau of Afghanistan ; in 

 Armenia rises the fable-haunted crest of Agri-dagh, or Mount Ararat, 

 17,260 feet; while, in Asia Minor, the Taurus chain, which so 

 often beheld the banners and glancing spears of the Romans, attains 

 its loftiest in Mount Argceus, or Arjish-dagh, 13,100 feet; and 

 along the coast of Syria rolls the undulating range of Lebanon, with 

 Mount Hermon soaring to 9600 feet. Arabia is occupied by a 

 branch of the Lebanon, which runs southward into the Sinai tic 

 peninsula. The highest of the Sinai Mountains is 9300 feet above 

 the sea. 



The average altitude of the Ghauts, which line the east and west 

 coasts of Hindostan, is 3000 feet; but some of their summits aspire 

 to 8000 feet. 



A range of high mountains traverses the dreary peninsula of 

 Kamtschatka, and appears to be a continuation of the volcanic chain 

 which forms the Kurile Islands, and extends even to Japan and the 

 great islands of the Eastern Archipelago. Many of the Kamtschatkan 

 volcanoes are still active, such as Avatsha, Kluchevsky, and 

 Assachnish, and though shrouded in snow and ice project from their 

 seething caldrons vast showers of ashes, stones, boiling water, and 

 lava. Avatsha is 9600 feet high. 



The Indian islands contain many colossal mountains, mostly, if 



