406 Geographical Notices. 
40° 35’ and is so unproductive and barren, that on that account 
alone, and without reference to its topographical features, it may 
be considered the extreme northeastern end of the Gobi desert, 
which extends to the lakes of Buir-nor and Dalai. | 
Broad, light-green, and low tracts, overgrown with reeds, and 
winding only along the very edge of the Argun, intersect the 
are and rocky desert, the uniformity and character of whose 
vegetation is at last broken by the Urulungui rivulet, at Novo- 
Tsuruhaitui. Lower down from the mouth of that stream the 
valley of the Argun assumes another aspect; and the river 
itself, taking a bend to the northeast, visibly contracts and flows : 
more rapidly. Here the chernozen soil of the valley with its 
diversified flora also makes its appearance, so thatthe Urulungui 
may not only be considered as the limit of the high Daunan 
3 
oe 
ee a a 
steppes, but also the sharply-defined natural boundary of their 
vegetation. 
T'o the north of the Urulungui commences the district of the 
metalliferous deposits of the Nertchinsk mountain region, Te * 
markable also for its vegetation, which, lower down in the valley 
of the Argun, is very rich in forms, particularly at Chalbuchi 
village. It is here that the Mongolian oak, the Corylus hetero 
pa and Betula dahurica, seen nowhere in Siberia, first occur. 
tly, possessing a sufficiently thick. population, some portions» — 
of this region are highly favorable to the production of cereals; 
but it is less adapted to the depasturage of cattle than the — 
Beppes, on account of the many mountains by which it is inte> 
sected. 
To describe in a few words the boundaries of the high Daunan 
steppes, it suffices to say that their limit on the north is for . 
a pine forest, extending along the right bank of the Onon, by the 
Onon-Borza rivulet and the Adoncholon mountains, together with 
the elevations at the upper courses of the Gazimur and Urulai- 
gul rivulets; on the southeast by the Argun ; and on the sout 
y the Chinese frontier laid down in 1727; the western extrem 
ity of the steppe being bounded by the forests on the right bank 
of os Onon i sqaate a 
e whole of this country, occupying an area 0 pe 
7 of b200% feet atits great — 
station a 
all 
miles, attains an absolute height of 2200 (English) 
est depressions (namely, at Kulussutaefski military staue” 
Bayrn-Tarei lake), and almost 3000 feet at its highest elevations — 
umerous mountain chains, rarely however detaching 180") 
spurs, intersect it in various directions, forming broad valleys, We 
a saline soil, and which are often found to contain accum| fest 
of precipitated Glauber salt and soda, but seldom any water 5 
Even where the latter occur, they never attain any 
depth, and are mostly so shallow and level that after 4 
winter or hot summer they completely dry up 
