March 14, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



171 



thi-ough the ancient plains of Mesopotamia, by the ruins of Baby- 

 lon and Nineveh, and empty into the Persian Gulf. 



The Great Basins of Asia. 



The several ranges of mountains enclose great basins, and the 

 streams and rivers that flow into these basins have no outlet into 

 the ocean, but empty into lakes or are absorbed by the desert. 



There are three great basins, —the Aral-Caspian, the Balkash, 

 and the Tarim, — and many smaller, six million square miles in 

 extent, or more than all Europe. The Aral-Caspian includes the 

 whole of Turkestan, the eastern half of Eussia, and the western 

 portion of Siberia. The lowest point is the Caspian Sea, about 

 80 feet below the level of the Black Sea. The Ai-al Sea is a little 

 over 200 feet above the Caspian. Into these seas the Volga, Syr- 

 Daria, and Amu-Daria empty, and a few other sti-eams. The 

 Balkash depression lies to the north-east of the Aral-Caspian, 

 and is separated from it only by a low divide. The Tarim de- 

 pression is east of Turkestan, on the other side of the Pamir. 



These rivers, lakes, and seas were formerly much larger than 

 at present. The lower course of the sti'eams that fed them are 

 traced only by their dry beds. The rivers flow in diminished 

 channels into the lakes, or are lost in the desert. All these 

 sti-eams and rivers carry mud and gravel from the mountains, 

 which are deposited in the lakes ; and they become shallow, and 

 broaden. As the lake shoals, the stream that runs into it 

 broadens, the evaporation is gi-eater, and more of the water is 

 absorbed by the desert. If the evaporation is gTeater than the 

 rainfall and inflow, as in the Caspian Sea and Lake Lob Nor, the 

 sea will eventually be filled. Lake Lob Nor has already become 

 nearly dry, and the Caspian Sea is much shallower than 

 formerly. 



The seas and lakes now salt were once fresh. All river-water 

 holds salt in solution, which is deposited in the lakes which have 

 no outlet. The fresh water, being lighter, is evaporated, and 

 the lake gradually becomes salt. 



The Aral-Caspian basin was formerly filled with a dense popu- 

 lation. This region Attila ruled. Here he raised his armies of 

 Huns, which overran all south-eastern Europe, Italy, and even 

 France. Ti-adition tells us of large cities; and ti-avellers, of 

 their ruins, half buried in the sand, and of traces of numerous 

 irrigating-canals. It was called the ' 'Garden of the World. ' ' 

 For hundreds of miles a nightingale could fly from branch to 

 branch of the fruit-trees, and a cat walk from wall to wall and 

 from housetop to housetop. 



War, and the pestilence that follows, have devastated the land, 

 for nowhere in the world have so many fallen by the sword as in 

 Asia, while the destruction of the irrigating-canals has reduced 

 this once fruitful land to barrenness. The Balkash and Tarim 

 basins resemble the Aral-Caspian. In the valleys of the Balkash 

 and Tarim, where was formerly a large population, now 

 ' 'Mere sluggish leagues of great black morass, 

 Without a shrub, or tree, or blade of grass." 



Grand Divisions of Asia. 



These gi-eat mountain -ranges of Asia are not only the source of 

 the rivers, but they also separate Asia into several natural divis- 

 ions. The principal are Siberia, Mongolia, China, Indo-China, 

 India, Afghanistan, Persia, Turkestan, and Turkey in Asia, each 

 with peculiar features caused principally by its mountain-ranges 

 and rivers, for these fix the occupation and character of the in- 

 habitants. 



Siberia. 



The whole of north-western and northern Asia is called Siberia. 

 It stretches from the Ural Mountains east over 4,200 miles to 

 Bering Strait, and from Mongolia north to the Arctic Ocean 

 2,000 miles, and forms one country, alike in all its natural 

 features. It is separated from the rest of Asia by the Balkash de- 

 pression, the Thian-Shan and Altai Mountains. The general 

 trend of the country is towards the north. Siberia has the most 

 extensive but least serviceable water system of any country in the 

 world. All its rivei-s except the Amur rise in plateaus 5,000 feet 

 above the sea, and, flowing north, empty into the Arctic Ocean. 



On either side of these rivers, large tributaries flow in an easterly 

 and westerly direction, thus affording an almost unintermpted 

 water highway from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific, and from 

 the south to the Arctic Ocean. From the river Ural east to the 

 river Lena, 2,500 miles, this magnificent watenvay is only 

 broken by two or tlu-ee short portages ; and through these, Rus- 

 sians are now constructing canals. A zone of rich black earth 

 iTins through south-western Siberia, not in mere patches of fertile 

 land, but prairies covering 25,000,000 acres, sufiicient to support 

 millions of inhabitants. These prairies, with but little labor or 

 expense in cultivation, yield year by year the most abundant 

 crops. Vast flocks of birds of many sxsecies fly from all parts of 

 Asia — from the islands of the Indian Ocean, from southern 

 Europe and northern Africa — to breed in Siberia. A few of 

 these species extend their flight even to the Arctic Circle. 



The northern coast of Siberia is a low plain, the rainfall is 

 much greater than the evaporation, the rivers overflow their 

 banks, and the whole country for four thousand miles in length 

 and three huudi'ed miles in breadth is a great bog called the 

 Tundra. On these plains the ground remains frozen the greater 

 part of the year to a depth of several hundi'ed feet. In midsum- 

 mer the ground thaws about one foot in depth, and the top of 

 this ice bed is covered with moss and lichens and many varieties 

 of flowers. Under the lichens are found miniature pine-forests 

 one or two hundred years old, — the beginning of a coniferous 

 region which extends from the Ural east to the neighborhood of 

 the Sea of Okhotsk 2,400 miles, and from the 58th to the 70th 

 parallel of north latitude, 600 miles far north of the Arctic 

 Circle. 



In some parts of the Tundra an earth stratum alternates with a 

 stratum of ice; and in these, carcasses of elephants and rhi- 

 noceroses have been preserved for thousands of years, and the 

 trunks of large trees with their roots bedded in the ice. In this 

 di-eary, uninhabitable land, ice-bound for nine months of the 

 year, exposed to the fury of the fierce gales of the Arctic Ocean, 

 De Long lost his life. In summer the mercury rises to 102°, and 

 falls from November to February to — 40°. No other region 

 can show such extremes. "It is colder than the north pole 

 and hotter than the equator. ' ' 



With rich lands and rivers navigable for thousands of miles, 

 Siberia is capable of supporting an immense population. Un- 

 fortunately the only outlet for its commerce and produce is 

 through the Arctic Ocean, and thus far all efforts to open this 

 way have been unsuccessful. 



Chinese Empire. 



The Empire of China lies to the east of the Pamir, and is 

 bounded on the north by the Thian-Shan, on the east by the Pa- 

 cific Ocean, on the south by the Himalayas. It is divided into 

 three great natural divisions, — Mongolia, Thibet, and China 

 proper. 



Mongolia is bounded on the east by the Pamir, on the north by 

 the Thian-Shan, and on the south by the Kuen-lun. Mongolia is 

 divided into western Mongolia — called sometimes eastern Turkes- 

 tan, but more properly the Tarim — and eastern Mongolia, or 

 the Gobi Desert. 



The region that gives birth to the Tarim River is on a scale of 

 grandeur such as no other river can boast. It is girt round by a 

 wide amphitheatre of the loftiest and grandest mountains, rising 

 in ridges of from 18, 000 to 20, 000 feet, while the peaks shoot up to 

 25,000, or even 28,000 feet. From all sides the waters rush 

 headlong into the valley. The smallest disappear in the sand; 

 others flow some distance into salt basins, and are there absorbed. 

 Sixty streams, according to the Chinese, unite to form the Tarim. 

 Along the foot of the mountains are fruitful oases, iiTigating- 

 canals, and flourishing towns and cities. 



The Tarim steadily diminishes until, after flowing over a thou- 

 sand miles, it bi-oadens into an extensive reedy marsh, known 

 from ancient times as Lob Nor, or the salt lake. When the land 

 was well cultivated, the mild south winds which brought the 

 sands from the desert were eagerly looked for, as they brought 



