460 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1919. 
To the east of Fengtien lies the beautiful and fertile Province of 
Kirin, or Chi Lin, meaning “clear forest.” At least a third as large 
again as Fengtien, this Province supports at present a far smaller 
population, though it is being settled up rapidly. 
The great Kirin Forest, which stretches from a little north of the 
Yalu up the middle and west of the Province, in places to the very 
banks of the Sungari River, east of Harbin, and well into the angle 
formed by the junction of the Ussuri with the Amur, has been esti- 
mated as covering an area equal to that of Scotland. The whole of 
the Chang Pei Shan Range is heavily forested, though this area is 
being exploited for its timber by the Japanese on the southern and 
the Chinese on the northern slopes of the range, the former getting 
the timber out by the Yalu, and the latter by the Sungari and its 
tributaries. Farther north in the Province, between Harbin and 
Ninguta, the forest is being tapped by Russian and Chinese com- 
panies, the timber extracted consisting chiefly of pine. It is trans- 
ported from the forest by the Chinese Eastern Railway, and most of 
it goes to Vladivostok, whence in pre-war times it found its way to 
Europe. An enormous quantity of oak, walnut, and maple is also cut 
to supply fuel for the population, the locomotives, and the steamers 
that ply on the Sungari. The forest in the northeast of the Province 
consists mainly of deciduous trees, chiefly oak. 
Besides the Chang Pei Shan Range in the south, the center and 
eastern portions of the Province are occupied by high hills and even 
mountains of plutonic and volcanic origin. 
The Province is drained by the Sungari River, the Mutan Ho 
(Peone River), and the left tributaries of the Ussuri River. The 
Sungari is navigable for native boats for about 100 miles above (1. e. 
southeast of) Kirin City, and by steamers from its mouth to that city. 
The Mutan Ho carries boat traffic at least as far as Ninguta. 
The western section of the Province and the valleys of the large 
rivers and their tributaries are now under cultivation, while settlers 
are steadily pushing farther and farther up the valleys, thus opening 
up the country. With the exception of rice and silk, which are not 
grown, the products of cultivation are the same as those of Fengtien. 
The Province of Heilungkiang, which means the “black dragon 
river,” is by far the largest of the three. It contains two extensive 
mountain systems, the Little Khingan Mountains in the southeast 
and the Great Khingan Mountains in the west. These mountains 
are for the most part heavily forested, and have been barely touched 
by the explorer. 
The Nonni Ho, an important tributary of the Sungari, drains the 
eastern portion of the Province, the western portion being drained by 
the Argun and Shilka, tributaries of the Amur. 
