i 
464 The American Naturalist. Eo 
still be easily traced in the valley of the Saros, and has many mile- 
stones. Tne fortified tower of Maidan dates from the first or second 
century, when the Cilicians were lords of the Mediterranean. Among 
so-called Hittite monuments, one of the most important is the obelisk 
at Albistan. This the inhabitants refused to sell to some Germans, 
the Government heard of it, and took possession without payment. It 
has sixty-seven lines of inscription on all four sides. 
NORTHEAST SIBERIA.—The region of the Verkhoyansk and Stano- 
voi Mounts, in N. E. Asia, with the upper basins of the Kolyma, 
Indigirka and Lena, have been recently explored by M. Cherski. 
Proceeding up the Chandyga River, Cherski reached the heart of the 
Verkhoyansk, whose summits are below the snow-line. Then by way 
of the river Dyba, a tributary of the Tyra, he reached the valley of 
the Omekon, which stream the natives regard as the true head-waters — 
of the Indigirka. The Uchagei-urach does not, as shown on the maps, 
empty into the Omekon. The Verkhoyansk was then crossed at its 
junction with the Stanovoi range, where the latter runs eastward. 
The region between the Indigirka and the Kolyma, covered by the 
bend of Stanovoi, is split into several subdivides, of which the expedi- 
tion crossed three, and found the third to be the water parting between 
the Indigirka and Kolyma basins, the Moma flowing from one side, 
the Syrjanka, an affluent of the Kolyma, from the other. The valleys- 
of this district are broad with gentle slopes, and without terraces, 
which are destroyed by the shifting courses of the rivers, the tendency 
of the latter being rather to fill up the valleys with rubbish than to 
deepen them. On the southern slopes magnificent poplars and willows 
flourish, and the meadows have a rich flora. Notwithstanding the 
high latitude, the temperature in June and July rose to 113 in t 
sun, though for fourteen days in August it sank below 32. The gr 
longitudinal valleys seem to have possessed immense glaciers in 
istocene period; while the mountains are formed of Silurian 
Jurassic folds. 
Astatic Norrs.—The recent expedition of Lieutenant H. S. Wal- 
ker, from Napeh in Upper Burma to Arakan, possesses considerable 
interest, were it only for the visit paid to Myohaung, the ancient cap- 
ital of Arakan, now peopled only by some 2500 souls. The ancient 
magnificence of the place is attested by the great ruined walls, fort 
three squares one within the other, and by two gigantic pagodas, 
