GEOGRAPHY, 
400' 
in- refpea to Daontia, and other regions near the con- 
tines between the Ruffian and Chinefe empires; not to 
mention central Afia in general, Thibet, and feme niore 
fouthern regions; nor had even the geography or Hin- 
dooftan been treated with tolerable accuracy, till Ma¬ 
jor Rennell publilhed his excellent meirioir. 
Though Afia cannot vie with Europe in the advan¬ 
tages of inland feas, yet befides its fnare of the Mediterra¬ 
nean, it poffedes the Red Sea, the Arabian Sp, and 
Gulph of Perfia ; the bays of Bengal and Nankin ; and 
other gulphs, which diverfily the coafts much 
than thofe of Africa or America, and have doubtlels 
contributed greatly to the early civilization of this cele¬ 
brated divifion of the world. The Red Sea, or the 
Arabian Gulph of antiquity, conftitutes the grand natu¬ 
ral divifion between Afia and Africa ; but its advan¬ 
tages have chiefly been felt by the latter, which is 
tirely dellitute of other inland feas ; Egypt and Abylli- 
nia, two of the moft civilized countries in that divifion, 
having derived great benefits fram that celebrated 
gulph, which from the ftraits of Babelmandel to Suez, 
extends about-21 degrees, or 1470 Britifh miles ; terrrii- 
nating not in two equal branches, as delineated in old 
maps, but in an extenfive weftern branch, while the 
caftern afeends little beyond the parallel of Mount 
Sinai. The Perfian Gulph is another noted inland fea, 
about half the length of the former, being the giand 
receptacle of thofe celebrated rivers the Euphrates and 
Che Tigris. 
The Cafpian Sea is properly a lake of Afia, extend¬ 
ing about 10°, or 700 miles in length, and trom 100 to 
200 in breadth. This lake feems at one period to have 
fpread further to the north, where the delerts are ftill 
fandy and faline, and prefent the very fame (hells that 
are found in the Calpian : but the chain of mountains 
which branches from the wefi of the Urals to the north 
of Orenburg, and reaches to the Volga, muft, in all 
ages, have refiridted the northern bounds of thofe wa¬ 
ters. To the eaftward, this remarkable fea, in the 
opinion of moft geographers, extended at no very re¬ 
mote period quite to the lake of Aral; the delerts oh 
that fide prelenting the fame materials as thofe to the 
north ; though there be now an elevated level between 
the fea of Aral and the Cafpian, occafioned perhaps by 
tfie quantity of fand rolled down by the Gihon, the 
Sirr, and other rivers which now flow into the Aral. 
Tlie northern fliores are low and fwampy, often over¬ 
grown with reeds ; but in many other parts the coafts 
are precipitous, withfuch deep water that a line of 450 
fathoms will not reach the bottom. This fea is the re¬ 
ceptacle of many rivers, as the Jemba, the Ural or Jaik, 
and the Volga from the north : the Kuma, Terek, Kur, 
and Kizil Ozen, from the weft : from the eaft the Caf¬ 
pian is fuppofed ftill to receive the Tedjen ; and the 
Gihon, or Oxus of antiquity, flowed into the Cafpian, 
at lealt by one or two branches, till it was forced north¬ 
ward, and driven into the fea of Aral. 
Befides the Calpian, Afia alfo poftelfes the fea or 
lake of Aral, which is about two hundred miles in 
length, and about feventy miles in breadth ; receivin'g 
the rivers anciently called laxartes, and Oxu^; or the 
birr, and Gilion, abovementioned. The fea of Aral, 
being furrounded with fandy delerts, has been but lit¬ 
tle explored. Another remarkable lea is that of Baikal 
in Siberia, or Afiatic Ruflia, extending from about the 
fifty-firft to the fifty-fifth degree of north latitude, be¬ 
ing about three hundred and fifty Britiflt miles in length, 
but its breadth- not above thirty-five. The water is 
frefh and tranfparent, yet of a green tinge, commonly 
frozen in the latter end of December, and clear of icd 
in May. The Baikal is, at particular periods, fubjeil 
to violent and unaccountable ftorms, whence, as terror 
is the parent of fuperftition, probably fprings the Ruf¬ 
fian name of Svetoie More, or the Holy Sea. The chief 
river flowing into Baikal is the Selinga, from the 
fouth; while from the north it emits the Angara, 
4 
which joins the extenfive ftream of the Yenifei,— 
The chief rivers of Afia are the Kian-Ku and Hoan- 
Ho, the Lena, the Yenifei, and the Ob, ftreams which 
rival in the length of their courfe any others on the 
globe. The Volga has been named among the rivers ^ 
of Europe, to which the principal part of its courfe be. 
longs. Next are the Amur, and the Maykaung of 
Laos, the Sampoo or Barrampooter, and the Ganges, 
Of the Afiatic mountains, the Altaian chain may be 
clafled among the moft extenfive, reaching from about 
the feventieth to the one hundred and fortieth degree of 
eaft longitude from Greenv/ich, or about five thoufaiid 
miles, thus rivalling in length the Andes of South 
America, The Altaian chain, beyond the fources of 
the Yenifei, is called the mountains of Sayanfk ; and 
from the fouth of tire fea of Baikal the mountains of 
Yablonnoy : branches of which extend even to the 
country of the Techuks, or extreme boundaries of Afia. 
To the fouth of the Altaian ridge extends the defert of 
Cobi or Shamo, running in a parallel direction from 
eaft to weft; and the high region of Thibet forms a 
part of this central prominence of Afia. The chain of 
Alak may perhaps be regarded as a part of the Altaian, 
branching to the fouth, while the Taurus, now known 
by various names in different countries, was by the an¬ 
cients regarded as a range of great length, reaching 
from cape Kelidoni on the weft of the gulph of Satalia, 
through Armenia, even to India. The other moun¬ 
tains of Afia are Bogdo, Changai, Beliir, tliofe of Thi. 
bet, the eaftern and weftern Gauts of Hindooftan; and 
the Caucafian chain between the Euxine and Cafpian feas. 
The principal governments or divifions of Afia are the 
following: Tartary, including Thibet; Ruffian Tar¬ 
tary, or Ruffia in Afia; Turkey; Arabia Perfia; In¬ 
dia within the Ganges, or Hindooftan; India beyond 
the Ganges; which includes the Birmah empire, and 
the empire of China. 
Tartarv. —The limits of this country are not cor- 
redtly afeertained ; but it is fuppofed to be about 3000 
miles in length,, and 2000 in breadth. It is bounded by 
the Frozen Ocean, north; Pacific Ocean, eaft; Ruffia 
in Europe, weft; China, India, and Perfia, fouth. Part 
of it belongs to Ruffia, part to China, part to Perfia, 
and part of it is independent. 
The principal Tartar tribes, or hordes, are, the Sa- 
mbieda, Siberian, Tatar properly fo called, Bucharian, 
Elut or Kalmuc, Oftiac, Crrcaffian, Turcoman, Ufbec, 
Kirgus, Tibetian, Mongul, Cathai, Tungulian or Man- 
fluir, Bratfki, Jakutflcoi, and Kamtfchatka, Tartars. Of 
thefe the moft powerful are the Kalmucs, the Kirgufes, 
the Ufbecs, and the Bucharians. Some fuppofe the 
Tatars, Monguls, andTungufi, to be the radical tribes. 
Their cities and towns are few, owing to their wan¬ 
dering life. The moft confiderable of them are, Samar- 
cand, which was the refidence of Tamerlane, in Great 
Bucharia, or Ulbec Tartary; Bokhara, Balk, Zouf, 
Urghentz, Hafliar, Hazarafp, Karacum, the capital of 
the Monguls. 
The rivers of Tartary are, the Wolga, Jaik, Tobol, 
Oby, Irtis, Genef*, Lena, Anadir, Argun, the Amu or 
Gihon, which receives the Sogd, on the banks of which 
Hands Samarcand, the Sirr or Sihon. 
Their princes are called khans, as ours are kings or 
emperors. The moft of them, as alfo the Great Mogul, 
and the emperor of China, are defeended from Tamer¬ 
lane the Great. 
The Delai, or Grand Lama, in Thibetian Tartary, is 
not only Ibvereign pontiff, but alfo receives adoration as 
a deity. The kiians, who do not attetl being independ¬ 
ent, pay tribute to one or other of the powerful neigh¬ 
bouring empires. Thibet is diftinguillied into uppeTf 
lower, and middle. The greater part of it is under Chi¬ 
nefe influence. 
Russian Tartary, or Russia in Asia. —This 
immenfe portion of the Ruffian dominions extends almoft 
the 
