B A I 



fician to mount ParnafTus, or fct his foot within the pvc- 

 cin£ls of their domiiiions. Baif, however, was allowed to 

 be as Tood a mnl'ician as poet ; and what entitles him to the 

 rnore notice here, is the liaving eftaWiflied an academy, or 

 concert at his houfe, in the fuburbs of Paris, where the per- 

 formance was frequently honoured with the prefence of 

 Charles IX. Henry III. 'and the principal perfonages of the 

 conrt. 



Merfennns, in Genef. p. 1683, has given a particular ac- 

 count of this eftabliHiment, the fir't in France of which we 

 have met with any record. In this academy or concert, 

 dignified by a royal charter, in which voices, viols, and 

 flutes were employed {vccibii', fidibus, et fjlulis conjlaret), it 

 was expefted to recover the three genera of the Greeks, ar.d 

 all the miraculous powers of their ancient mufic. 



BAIKAL, Lake, or inJntid fea, in Geography. In the 

 fteepeft part of the Sayane mountains (the ealtcnn continu- 

 ation of the Altay), at the extremity of the chai:s where 

 the country changes to a level plain, feeming itfeit o:ily a 

 lower mountaiK between the lofty Giow-capt fummits, lies 

 a monument of one of the great'.- il revolutions that the 

 furface of our earth has ever undv'rgone. A lake, not Icfs 

 remarkable for its internal conftitution than for the fpace 

 which it occupies, heaves its billows within the craggy 

 chlis of mountains, tlirough which it is to all appearance 

 impo.Tible that any llream can firce its way to fupply its 

 enormous bafon. Nature, in the remoteft periods of anti- 

 quity, feems here to have opened, by fom.e tremendous con- 

 vulfion, an abvfs into which (he might pour her immenfe 

 ftores of water, and caufe a part of it to fluw over the 

 weftern level. 



This lake extends from 52° N. lat. to ^5° 4''> i" ^ di- 

 rection from fouth-well to north and north-north-eaft. Its 

 mod common appellation is Baikal, in the maps mare Baikil; 

 but in the furrounding regions it is generally calletl the 

 Sea, without farther addition ; or fometimes the Holy fea. 

 Both thefe denominations are extremely natural in a country 

 which to a va'.l diftance round knows no larger mafs of 

 waters, and in the mouths of people who fo frequently ex- 

 perience the benefits it beftows and the perils it threatens. 

 It is therefore not at all furprifing that Gmelin's pil*t fhoutd 

 have afcrib-d a fudden ftorm to the anger of the incenfed 

 deity of the waters, who felt himfclf infulted by the foreign 

 infidel who called his venerable fea a lake. Safe from the 

 like danger, we Ihall however pay greater refpeft to geogra- 

 phical jullice, by, making ufe of the latter term. 



The lake Baikal is 550 verils in length; and in breadth, 

 where it is the narrovveft, 30 verfts. To the north it 

 widens to between 70 and 80 verfts. Its depth is very 

 unequal; proceeding from 20 to So and ico fathom (the 

 fathom at fcven foot). In fome places, particularly near the 

 ifle of Olchon, according to the affirmation of a fifherman, 

 even a founding-line of 200 fathom v/ould not reach the 

 bottom. A number of brooks and rivulets pour tlieir 

 waters into this bafon; on the map in Georgi's travels, we' 

 count fifty of them ; many indeed very inconfiderable, 

 though fevcral others m.ay be deemed large : for example, 

 the Selenga and the Upper Angara, which purfues a cou -fe 

 of more than 700 verfts. The lake has only one outlet ; 

 the Lower Angara, wliich flows into the YtnifTry. Though 

 its bed at the part where it comes from the Baikal is two 

 verfts broad, and has a very rapid current, yet is it not by 

 far capacious enough for carrying off all the water coikfted 

 in that refervoir. Notwithftanding which, the lake never 

 rifes more than three feet above its ordinary level, even in 

 the fpring feafon; and therefore it probably may have f'^n-e 

 fubterraneous drain. The bottom, at the fltores, confuls of 



B A I 



gradually rounded rocky fragments, piled on one another; in 

 the middle, of gravelly fand. The lake is extremely clear, 

 fo that in eight fathom water the bottom is dilliaftly fecn ; 

 in five or fix fathom the fmalleft objefts are difceruible. At 

 a diftsnce it appears of a greenifli hue, owing to the verdant 

 mofs with w^hich the ftony bottom is overgrown. It is pure, 

 and very agreeable to the tafte; but in the month of July it 

 gets into a fort of fermentation, which is called its flowering, 

 whence it becomes turbid as if mixed with a fine yellowifh 

 fand, and lofcs its good tafte. More danger is to be appre- 

 hended when keeping within fliore, than out upon the main ; 

 for the Baikal is extremely fubjefl to violent gales and 

 ftorms, whica ftrike and fplit againft the lofty mountains 

 that furround it. The mariners know of no more than three 

 wi'.ids, which they denominate after the promontories. The 

 fouth-w'ell, which is the moll conftant, and the north-eaft, are 

 innoxious; the north is more formidable, by reafou of its 

 violence, and on account of the fiiallow fhores to the fouth. 

 But the agitation of the water is out of all proportion to the 

 wind ; fince in a very moderate breeze the lake frequently 

 ra?cs with great fury, whi-rtas furious winds onlyjuft increafe 

 its agitation. There being no rocks or banks in the middle, 

 the waves ufually fwell fcven feet high, almoft always quite 

 to the ftiore. Even when the violence of the ftorm has 

 abaltd, the turbulence of the water com vonly lails for feveral 

 hours. The internal agitations of the lake are ftill more 

 alarming. With a brightHcy, and the furfuce of the wa:er 

 as fniooth as a inlrror, all at once the vcflll is tolled about 

 with fuch violent (liocks, that the people on board have 

 much ado to fave it. In like inanner in a particular place a 

 fingle wave will fuddcnly arife, which at the fame fpot is fol- 

 lowed by feveral others. Thefe curious phenomena are 

 fuppofed to happen in confcquence of the contiguity in which 

 the lake is fituated below with clefts in the adjacent moun- 

 tains, the drafts of wind ilTuing from which force up the 

 water, though not always perceptible above to the fame 

 degree. 



Thus continually reftlefs, it is very comprehcnfible that, 

 notwithftanding thrfcverity of the climate, the Baikal is not 

 frozen over till the month of December or Januai-y. Ice- 

 fields, fometimes of ten verfts in dlmenfion, hrft form in the 

 bays, and then unite in places, \ii:ich, pn-vious to the freez- 

 ing, are covered with a denle cloud. The furface being at 

 length thorou'ih'y confolidated, frequently prcfents one vaft 

 plain of glafiy fmoothnefs, though fometimes likewife ex- 

 tremely rough. Snow, on accou: t of the winds, feldoiii 

 adheres to it; and therefore, cfpeclally to the firft travellers, 

 it is extremely laborious to the horfes. The furious gulls 

 of winds at times projcft the peoi 'e who run by the fide of 

 the fledges, to the dlftance of i,;veral fathoms forwards; 

 whereby they are in imminent danger of being frozen, or of 

 falhng into the chinks of tl. .: ice. Thefe chinks become 

 wider and more frequent as the time of the breaking up 

 draws on; boards are then laid acrofs them to facilitate the 

 paflage; and in cafes of neceflTitv, when the apertures are 

 become too wide to be remedied in that way, canoes are in- 

 troduced. The ice ufually breaks up in May, and then it 

 requires only a few days for difi'i-lving; in feveral of tiie 

 bavs, however, it hes the whole fummer through. 



The weather is generally inclement in the parts about the 

 Baikal. The fummer is fliort, and fcarcely ever paflcs with- 

 out night frofts; the winter announces its approach fo early 

 as Auguft, by falls of fnow. On the fandy coafts, fuch 

 plants grow as are elfewhere only found on the coldeft 

 mountains. The ru;fe of this inckmency of climate is prin- 

 cij/ally to be attiibu'ted to the elevation of tiie whole region, 

 the fuowy fummits and icy clefts of the huge mountains, 



and 



