Fig. 21. From the Sayansk 'mountains near tlie sources of the Sisti-liem, about 2100 m. above 



sea-level. Phot. July 24th 1914. 



The country abounds in lakes and rivers; the main river is the Yenisei or the Bei- 

 kem, as it is called by the natives, traversing the country from Munku-Sardyk north- 

 westwards or westwards, and receiving several tributaries, of which may be mentioned 

 the li, Dora-kem, Kamsara, Sisti-kem, Tapsa, and Chua-kem. The latter tributary is the 

 largest one, and neariy as mighty as the main river itself. At the junction of these two 

 rivers, where the Bei-kem emerges from the mountains, and the lowland begins, 

 Bjelosarsk is situated, from where the mighty and broad river flows, under the name of 

 the Ulu-kem, through a very dry, jagged steppe land, the average altitude of which is 

 550-800 m. above sea-level. In the Urjankai land it also receives the Kemchik, a 

 considerable tributary, with a very large but comparatively dry basin. Roughly from 

 the junction with tiie Kemchik, where the Siberian-Chinese border runs, the river turns, 

 and flows, for the rest of its course, to the north into Siberia under the name of 

 the Yenisei. 



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