20 Sketch of Siberia, cj-c". 



i&ble population. Approaching Tobolsk from the west, the country 

 becomes marshy, and for fifty miles is almost a morass, occasioned 

 by the inundations of the Toura and Irtish, with several of their 

 tributaries. A few miserable huts, on this line of country, denote 

 the wretched condition of the inhabitants. 



Tobolsk is a large and ancient city, formerly the capital of all Si- 

 beria. It stands at the confluence of the Irtish and Tobol, two noble 

 streams which fall into the Oby, where they take its name, and are 

 lost in the Frozen Ocean. A governor general resides in the city, 

 whose jurisdiction extends to Irkutsk, excepting the mines of Kolyvan. 

 whose director is amenable only to the cabinet at St. Petersburg. — 

 It contains twenty thousand inhabitants, and carries on a considerable 

 trade with China, with which it supplies western and central Siberia. 

 Provisions are cheap and abundant, and society good, for malefactors 

 are not allowed to remain in Tobolsk, but are sent to the mines of 

 Nertchinsk and Kolyvan, or to the distant provinces. The exiles 

 who remain in Tobolsk are officers or others who are banished for 

 political opinion, and the governor is at liberty to permit their appear- 

 ance in society, and to give them such privileges and immunities as he 

 sees fit to grant, upon his own responsibility. This province extends 

 from the latitude of 50^ north, to the Frozen Ocean, and is one thou- 

 sand miles in breadth. The upper soil in the vicinity of the city, is 

 marl and clmlk, but north of it are immense tracts of sand. The 

 country from the Ural chain, far east of Tomsk, and from Tobolsk to 

 the Frozen Sea, is one unproductive level steppe, but little known, 

 except that it is thinly peopled by hordes of savages, who bear a strik- 

 ing resemblance to those inhabiting similar parallels on the western 

 continent. The extreme north is the country of the Samoieds and 

 Ostiaks. Sand hills of com.paratively small elevation, with occa- 

 sional limited tracts covered with black soil, supporting corn and forest 

 trees, are the principal objects which interrupt the endless monotony 

 of these lonely deserts. 



The lands on the Irtish south of Tobolsk, are some of the most 

 beautiful and rich in the world, but lie waste for want of inhabitants 

 and cultivation. Towards the Chinese frontier are lofty mountains 

 of granite, and luxuriant vallies, forming the most picturesque scene- 

 ry, but deserted from being held as neutral territory. On the river 

 Kolyvan, and near the confines of Calmuck Tartary are important silver 

 mines. " The silver contains three per cent of gold, which is sepa- 

 rated in tlie imperial kboratory at St. Petersburg. The mines and 



