WOitKS ON CENTnAL ASIA. 3o3 



It was Humboldt and his companions, however, who CHAm:R 

 personally discovered the remarkable mass of platina re- ^^^^H- 

 ferred to, and they were also successful in finding in the Discovery of 

 vicinity of Miask, tiiree masses of native gold, two of ^ '' '"'*■ 

 which weighed 18. 3G, and the third 28. 36 pounds troy. 



Soon after Ilumbokit's return from his Asiatic expe- FraEmens 

 dition he published an account of his researches in his ^"^^'1"^ 

 Fragmens Asiatiques. This work extended to two 

 volumes, but though it contained a great mass of valu- 

 able information, it included only a very small propor- 

 tion of the results of his observations. When a second 

 edition was called for, he adopted a new, and much 

 more extended form, embracing the conclusions arrived 

 at by study and investigation during the intervening 

 period, and also included a systematic view of Asiatic 

 geology. He thus intimates the limits which he assigned 

 to himself in the treatment of the subject. " In pub- 

 lishing this new work, a part of my studies in Asia, it New Asiatic 

 was not my intention to delineate a physical picture, the 

 different parts of which bore a due proportion to each 

 other. I have confined myself to the most correct and 

 recent information respecting the irregularities in the 

 surface of the ground, and the influence which they have 

 on the constitution of the atmosphere, under the double 

 aspect of its temperature and dryness. As I still cherish 

 the hope of publishing a very general work under the 

 imprudent title of Kosmos, I confined myself by prefer- 

 ence, in my C'cntral Asia, to the subject of terrestrial 

 physics." 



The extejit of country explored by Baron Humboldt 

 and his companions afforded ample opportunities for the 

 most varied observations of the phenomena of nature. 

 From Jekatherinenburg they proceeded by Tioumen to CourFeof 

 Tobolsk on the Irtisch, and thence by Tara, a steppe 

 or desert of Baraba, which is dreaded on account of the 

 torments caused by the multitudes of insects belonging 

 to the family of Tipulce, to Barnaoul on the banks of the 

 Ob ; the picturesque lake of Kolyvan ; and the rich 



