ASIATIC JOURNEY. 409 
They next proceeded along the Southern Ural to 
the fine quarries of green jasper at Orsk, where the 
river Jaik crosses the chain from east to west. From 
thence they passed by Souberlinsk toOrenburg, which 
notwithstanding its distance from the Caspian Sea is 
below the level of the ocean, and then visited the 
famous salt-mine of Iletzki, situated in the steppe of 
the Little Kirghiz Horde. They afterwards inspect- 
ed the principal place of the Ouralsk Cossacks ; the 
German colonies of the Saratov government on the 
left bank of the Volga; the great salt lake of Elton 
in the steppe of the Kalmucks ; and a fine colony of 
Moravians at Sarepta; and, finally, arrived at As- 
tracan. The principal objects of this excursion to the 
‘Caspian Sea were, the chemical analysis of its wa- 
ters, which Mr Rose intended to make ; the observa- 
tion of the barometrical heights ; and the collection 
of fishes for the great work of Baron Cuvier and M. 
Valenciennes. s 
From Astracan, the travellers returned to Mos- 
cow, by the isthmus which separates the Don and 
the Volga, near Tichinskaya, and the country of the 
Don Cossacks. 
Of the heterogeneous materials composing the 
Fragmens Asiatiques, part only of which is from 
the pen of Humboldt, the memoir on the mountain- 
chains and volcanoes in the interior of Asia is the only 
one which can add any interest to our pages; the 
rest being of a character too strictly scientific. Of 
this paper a brief account is here given. 
In our present state of knowledge volcanic phe- 
nomena are not to be considered as relating pecu- 
liarly to the science of geology, but rather as a de- 
partment of general physics. When in action they 
appear to result from a permanent communication 
