94 SIBERIA 



comprises 1,250 large and small streams. This river 

 is the most important in Siberia, and, with its 

 tributaries, allows of navigation in four directions 

 — northwards to the ocean ; eastwards to Eastern 

 Siberia ; southwards to the western border of China 

 and the Central Asiatic dominions of Russia, and 

 westward to European Russia. It is either ice-bound 

 or free of ice according to the latitude it traverses, 

 a circumstance which gives a clear idea of the wide 

 divergencies of climate. At Tomsk the ice breaks 

 between the 14th and 24th April, and the water 

 freezes again between the 20th October and the 

 15th November. In Semipalatinsk the river is free 

 from' ice for 215 days, at Tara for 190 days, and at 

 Tobolsk for 189 days. 



The Irtish is divided into two separate systems, 

 of very different importance for tra:de. The middle 

 reaches of the river, from the town of Tobolsk to the 

 settlement of Samarovo, with the rivers Tura, Tobol, 

 and Obi, form" an uninterrupted transit waterway 

 between the towns of Bysk and Barnaoul in the 

 south, and Tomsk in the east, and Tumen and Irbit 

 in the west. Steam" navigation was introduced on 

 the river in 1884. The Irtish has no specially- 

 organised fleet, all the steamers and other craft plying 

 within its basin belonging to the fleet of the whole 

 of the vast Obi basin. There are ,232 steamters 

 of from 20 to 7,750 horse power, and 380 vessels 

 of other kinds, with a total tonnage of 250,000 

 tons, beside 373 barges, four of which are convict 

 barges. There are several passenger steamers, which 

 take thirteen days to run from Tumen to Tomsk 

 and from seven to ten days for the return journey. 

 It is a pleasant means of getting to the western 

 side of the Altai Mountains or the Tan Shan range, 

 and should be used by future explorers. It is also 

 a cheap way, if one has plenty of time, taking a 



