Geographical Collections; 209 
great heats, or freezes during the winter season; the Kirghises call them Isonn. 
Sometimes they consist of saline marshes, or salt mud, which gives no support to 
the foot, These marshes neither dry up, nor freeze; the Kirghises designate them 
by the name of chak ; the Russians call them Jsolantchak. The saline marshes 
have so little consistency, that a few years back 2000 horses, frightened by an 
accident, threw themselves into the chak, to the west of Naryn, and were all lost. 
As I did not place much reliance upon the aid of the khan, and was equally in 
doubt as to whether the Kirghise would conscientiously acquit himself of his com- 
mission, I resolved, after 30 hours repose, to continue my journey slowly, with 
the fatigued horses. But we had scarcely gone six miles, when we saw the as- 
sistance of the khan arriving. He sent in five horses and a ¢eleugut, (serf of the 
khan, or Kirghise of rank), who could ask for new horses when required, in the 
name of his master. The teleugut, who brought us the letter from the khan, had 
come rapidly, for the spot where the khan was encamped, was still 60 versts 
distance... : 
_ On our arrival, the khan hada kibitka, a kind of tent, immediately set up, 
which would have contained 50 men with ease; two lambs were killed, and 
wood of the calligonum of Pallas was brought. This is an object of luxury in a 
country so entirely deprived of wood, that the dried dung of cattle and horses is 
alone used for fuel. A teleugut was, besides, ordered to procure any thing that 
we might require. gee 
The khan Dschangir is not more than 30 years of age. The khan Buké, his 
father, had obtained from government the permission to lead a nomadic life in 
the steps between the Volga and the Oural, a long time uninhabited after the 
emigration af the Kalmoucks. At the beginning of the 19th century, he arrived 
with a great number of the Kirghises from the step beyond the Oural, and sub- 
mitted himself entirely to the Russian domination. The horde, which at present 
enjoys a very prosperous condition, is composed of 12,000 kibitks: in these 
12,000. kibitks, or families, there are said to be 60,000 males; but the number 
appears to be exaggerated. The riches of the horde consists in 4,000,000 sheep, 
1,000,000 horses, 500,000 camels, and 200,000 horned cattle. 
The Kirghises dispose of the greater part of their riches in dress : the men par- 
ticularly like red cloth or velvet, as well as chains of gold and silver : the women 
seek for corals, pearls, silver plates, silver medals, and worked stuffs. These ob- 
jects are brought to them by Tartar, Armenian, and Russian merchants, who re- 
ceived beasts for them in exchange. The Khan passed his youth at Astrakhan 
until the death of his father. He cannot therefore be compared to the Khans be- 
yond the Oural. He has a very fair knowledge of the physical and natural sci- 
ences: he is constantly asking questions on natural phenomena. His wife is 
the daughter of the Mufti, who died some years ago. He has also two other 
wives; but the daughter of the Mufti, who has received an European education, 
_is his,favourite. He generally resides during the winter at Astrakhan, 
I had some hope.of going from Noor to Kalmoukova upon the Oural, and of 
visiting the salt lake of Inder; but the Cossacks of the outpost of Karmanof, 
which is 15 versts from Noor, near Kuschum, having assured me that the water of 
the wells had disappeared, I gave up the journey, and, travelling along the western 
bank of the Kuschum, to the advanced post of Mergenen, near the Oural, I fol- 
Jowed the road to Ouralsk, and from thence to Orenburg. 
Baron von Humboldt.—In a letter from Baron von Humboldt, read in, the 
French Academy of Sciences, he gives an account of his visit to the rich mines 
in the Oural mountains. He observes that it is always on the Asiatic declivity of 
these mountains that the auriferous sands lie, which contain pieces of goid, pla- 
tina, and chromate of iron united with platina. He also discovered a piece 
of platina of a pretty large size, and presenting a crystallization towards the 
centre. These metals are often found a foot below the surface. The annual 
produce of these newly discovered mines is 6000 kilog. of gold. M. Humboldt 
fonnd in these mines an analogy of position with the auriferous. sands of the Cor- 
VOL. I. 2D 
