itself. Its course may be estimated at upwards of 2000 miles; and it is navigable almost to its source. The Yenisei, though its course be not so long, is a more copious and majestic stream. The largest mass of its waters is derived from the lake Baikal, by the channel of the Angara, which, before the junction, assumes the name of Tungouska. It afterwards receives another large river, called also Tungouska. The Selinga, another considerable river, collects the waters on the south of the Baikal, and discharges them into that sea. The last in this chain of great rivers is the Lena, which rolls its long course through the dreary regions of Yakoutsk, traversed only by a few wandering Tungouses. Farther east still are the Indigirka and the Kovyma, falling still into the Frozen ocean, but which, though they might appear elsewhere considerable, bear no proportion to the other gigantic streams of this region. The Eastern ocean does not receive any river of importance.

Another feature strikingly characteristic of this region, consists in the steppes or vast level plains, which cover a very great portion of its surface. In their extent, and the dead uniformity of their aspect, they resemble the deserts of Arabia and Africa, but differ entirely as to the nature of the soil. This is marshy, covered with long rank grass and aquatic shrubs, and filled with almost numberless saline lakes. The steppe of Issim, in the south-western part of Siberia, extends across the heads of the Tobol, the Issim, and the Irtysch, along the foot of the chain of the Altai. It is characterized by the excessively saline character of all its waters, particularly of the numerous lakes by which it is diversified. Such a copious supply of this mineral can only be derived from the southern mountains, whence the streams flow that water this region. Some of these lakes were found by Pallas completely saturated, and the bottom covered with a thick layer of the most pure and beautiful marine salt. Several at a distance appeared completely white; yet none were found covered with a crust of salt like ice. Connected with this, and reaching from the Irtysch to the Yenisei, occurs another vast steppe, the aspect of which is still more dreary. It is almost entirely covered with marshes, and tenanted only by a few wretched natives, who reside in houses half sunk in the ground, and employ themselves in hunting. Still more dreary is the vast northern steppe, which extends between the Lower Obi and the Lower Yenisei. Its marshy plains consist of mud, almost constantly frozen, and covered with moss and a few drooping plants. The countries from the Yenisei to the Lena, and from the Lena

to the Kovyma, are also considered by the Russians as steppes, and consist in many parts of similar tracks to that now described; but the level does not appear to be quite so uniform.

Among the natural products of this region, the first place is held by the mineral wealth contained in the bosom of its mountains. The chains which traverse Siberia, as they are the most extended on the globe, so they contain perhaps the greatest quantity of metal. Its mines of gold, though not of the first importance, are not wholly inconsiderable. They are found chiefly in the district of Beresof, on the east side of the Ourals. The produce from 1754 to 1788, amounted to 1,200,000 rubles. The mines of copper and iron are much more extensive and valuable. Katherinenburg, a city founded in 1723, by Peter the Great, forms the centre of all the foundries and forges of Siberia. Every mode by which metals can be extracted from the bowels of the earth, may here be observed in perfection. All the houses are built, and every individual employed, by government, which exercises a very strict police, particularly in guarding against intoxication, the national vice of the Russians. The forges of the Altai were originally situated chiefly at Kolyván. It is now, however, in a very languishing state, chiefly owing perhaps to the failure of wood in the district. Schlangenberg, or the Serpent mountain, forms now the main scene of mining operations. It seems to consist of one entire mineral mass; whenever its covering of slate rock is taken off, all the substances beneath are found to yield gold, silver, copper, and plumbago. Zinc, arsenic, and sulphur, also abound. Between 1741 and 1771, it is stated to have produced 12,318 pounds of gold, and more than 324,000 pounds of silver. It still yields annually 36,000,000 pounds of mineral of every description; and the veins already discovered will supply the same quantity for 20 years. The metals, after being extracted, are carried to Barnaoul, for the purpose of being fused and refined. An immense quantity of wood is consumed in these processes, as the metals in general are of difficult fusion. The mines of Nertschink and Argunsk, to the south of the Baikal, consist of lead, mixed with silver," and a small quantity of gold.

Besides the metallic substances, Siberia possesses other minerals of considerable value. Among these may be mentioned the mines of talc, situated in its eastern regions, particularly on the Witim, the great tributary of the Lena. They are of so superior a quality, that on their discovery, the working of all those on the othe

and its back is long and square. It is perhaps the swiftest animal in nature, surpassing in this respect the horse; but all attempts to tame it have hitherto proved abortive. The argali again, combines the qualities of the sheep and the goat, having the shape of the former animal, but being like the latter covered with hair, unless in winter, when a little wool is formed. But the most remarkable phenomenon in this respect consists in the prodigious remains of animals, none of which are now found in Siberia, and some not in any part of the world. The bones of the elephant and rhinoceros occur in vast quantities, not only in the southern regions bordering on Tartary, but in the isles of Liackhof, situated in the Frozen ocean. Not only the bones, but several entire carcases have been found of the mammoth, that extraordinary animal, no longer found alive in any part of the world, but which surpasses in bulk any known land species. The waters throughout Siberia do not less swarm with life than the land. The Obi and the Irtysch contain numberless sturgeons, steriets, very large sperlings, and several species of fish unknown in our climates. The Yenisei and the Lena do not contain so great a variety, their fishery consisting chiefly of salmon and trout, of which they present some peculiar species. The frozen and inaccessible character of the northern coast is unfavourable to any extensive fishing; but the Samoiedes are known to take the marine beluga, a species of dolphin, nearly 20 feet long. The Eastern seas swarm with a race of their own, the whale, the otter, the seal, and all the huge cetacea of the Arctic seas, which afford food to the rude inhabitants, and whose surface protecting nature has clothed with an oil, the extraction of which affords an article valuable in commerce. Siberia abounds moreover with winged game, particularly those that delight in rivers and marshes, as wild ducks, geese, swans, &c. Notwithstanding the general severity of its cold, swarms of mosquitoes and other troublesome insects are generated in the summer months.

The tame animals of this country do not possess equal importance. The cow has been introduced from European Russia, and has greatly multiplied in the rich pastures of southern Siberia, though its size has somewhat diminished. The Tartarian sheep with large tails have been introduced. Among all the Tartar nations settled in Siberia, the Mongols and Burats in the east, and the Baschkirs in the west, the rearing of the horse forms an occupation to which every other is secondary. This animal exhibits in these districts the same excellence

as in Turkestan and Independent Tartary. The flesh and milk are used as food in the

same manner.

Siberia is much less distinguished by vegetable than by animal productions. A climate which, as in the greater part of this territory, is subject during nine months of the year to perpetual frost, must necessarily be barren and inhospitable. A great portion, even of the southerly districts, is covered with lofty mountains buried in snow, and which intercept the breezes of a more genial region. At Yakoutsk, the frost was found three feet deep in June, and it was a mere speculation whether the small quantity of rye sown would ever reach maturity. A great part of the districts situated in a more temperate climate, being composed of marshy and saline steppes, is wholly unproductive. The environs, however, of Tobolsk, of Tomsk, and of Yeniceysk, are sufficiently favourable for pasture, and for the inferior descriptions of grain; while the southern frontier affords some districts of almost unparalleled fertility. One of these extends along the head of the Tobol, the Iset, and the Issim, forming a granary not only to the rest of the government of Tobolsk, but to the provinces of Perm and Orenbourg. After passing the great steppes of Issim and Barabin, we come to another more extended track, beginning about Krasnoiarsk, and extending to the Baikal and the surrounding countries. Here the luxuriance of the soil is described to be such, that manure is not only unnecessary, but pernicious; and the ground will yield five or six crops in succession. The climate, however, is still unfavourable to wheat, and allows only oats, barley, and rye, to be raised with advantage. These countries, meanwhile, which might afford subsistence to several great nations, are chiefly covered with pastures, where the Sluschivies, a description of Tartars, feed their numerous herds. Pallas found oatmeal selling at Krasnoiarsk for three farthings a peck, an ox for five shillings, a cow for three, while an excellent horse was considered dear at ten. Woods cover a considerable extent of Siberia; but they consist chiefly of those trees of dark foliage and resinous sap, which are calculated to defy the utmost rigours of winter. The oak and the hazel, found even in high European latitudes, cannot exist to the north of the Altai. The great streams of Asiatic Russia are bordered with gloomy forests of pine, fir, larch, Tartarian maple, black and white poplar, birch, alder, and aspen. Even during their short summer, many beautiful plants and flowers spring up, hitherto concealed under the snow. Among these, the Siberian

plum, the mountain ash, Tartarian honeysuckle, Tartarían mulberry, and the Daourian rose, are particularly distinguished for their beauty. On the bushes grow numerous berries, which the inhabitants eat, both fresh and preserved; while roots of various kinds supply in many places the deficiency of bread. We are not aware, however, of any vegetable production of Siberia which forms an object of trade.

The political aspect of Siberia is that of a region of almost boundless extent, thinly Occupied by wandering tribes of hunters, and held in subjection by a handful of undisciplined troops, occupying a series of fortified posts, scattered at wide intervals over this vast dominion. Lines of fortification, composed of ostrogs or wooden forts, are formed chiefly along the southern frontier, following the course of the great rivers, as a defence against the Tartars and Kirghises. The European inhabitants consist of few who are not compelled by necessity to resort thither. The great body is formed by the troops employed to hold the country in subjection. They are chiefly Cossacs, whose wandering life and habit of Scouring with facility through the most difficult tracks, especially qualify them for this service. The civil officers compose a comparatively small class. A much larger one is furnished by the descendants of those unfortunate persons who were doomed, by the government, to exile in these dreary regions. The most numerous body of this description ever sent, consisted of the Swedish captives taken after the fatal battle of Pultava. These, however, being established at and around Tobolsk, have done more than any other to soften the rudeness and barbarism in which they found the country involved. In 1713 they founded a school where they taught the languages, geography, mathematics, and drawing. Kotzebue found in Tobolsk persons who were acquainted with French and German literature, and even saw some of his dramas performed. Sievers found the inhabitants of Irkoutsk acquainted with the most recent European literature, the knowledge of which was transported thither by the military officers who were continually going and returning. It contained several seminaries of education, a small library and museum, and even theatre, at which were represented some tolerable pieces of native production. In the smaller provincial towns, the manners of the inhabitants seem marked by that stupid and barbarous luxury which characterises a people living in plenty, and strangers to any but sensual gratifications. Drunkenness, always a Russian vice, is practised to a much more devoted extent by their emigrants here. Gmelin considers it

a

as an established principle, that no Siberian misses an opportunity of getting drunk. In some of the more remote places, where the supply is precarious, the vehement passion for it is more intensely displayed by the distress felt in its absence, and the rapture exhibited on the arrival of a new cargo. This vice is accompanied with other species of debauchery, and with the most supine indolence. Some of the small towns may be considered, it is said, as the very abode of sloth, where the inhabitants have no idea of any thing but drinking and sleeping. In the narrative of successive travellers, notwithstanding the ample capacities of great part of this country, we have not been able to trace the marks of any advance either in industry or population. The deɛpotic government, which in Europe has exerted itself in rather an active and improving manner, seems here to have only the effect of increasing that sluggishness which damps all their exertions.

The mass of the population of Siberia consists of the native tribes, who are subjected to the Russian empire, but on whom the yoke presses very lightly, merely obliging them to pay a certain tribute, and allowing them to retain all their pursuits and habits unmolested. These tribes are very various, and wholly dissimilar to each other. The tracks in the south and east are occupied by Mongols, and by the Burats, a nation of the same race. They exhibit the same features, and follow the same pursuits with the rest of their nation who inhabit the vast regions of Central Asia. The Burats are described as peculiarly industrious, and employed in the rearing of extensive herds. These tribes inhabit Daouria, the banks of the Selinga, of the lake Baikal, and of the Upper Yenisei. The southern parts of the government of Tobolsk are filled by various tribes bearing the extensive name of Tartars, to which they add some local appellation, as Baschkirs, Sluschivies, Tchulimm, &c. Some of them are addicted to agriculture, and display considerable industry; but pasturage, and especially the rearing of horses, forms the most general occupation. The northern districts are possessed by hunting tribes peculiar to itself, not found in any other part of Asia. The principal are the Tungouses upon the Yenisei, the Ostiaks upon the Obi, the Yakoutes upon the Lena, the Samoiedes upon the whole northern coast eastward to the Lena, the Tchoutchis at the north-eastern extremity of Asia. An account of these tribes, with the districts which they inhabit, will be found under their respective names. The following statement of the population of each, according to the census of 1801, is given

by Giorgi :-The government of Tobolsk contained 622,422, of whom 306,324 were male, and 316,098 female. Of these, 2017 were Mongols, 17,236 Ostiaks, 273 Tschuwashes, 2936 Bukharians, 1993 Tungouses, 2581 Yakoutes, 3302 Samoiedes, 308 Jukagirs. This does not include the Cossacs, who are about 22,000, nor several tribes of the wandering Tartars. The government of Irkoutsk was found by the same census to contain 451,937, of whom 208,793 were male, and 207,144 female. Among these there were of Burats 49,764 male, and 47,932 female; of Mongols, 5713 male; Tungouses 13,264 male, and 11,014 female; Yakoutes, 42,956 male, and 41,607 female; Jukagirs, 456 male, and 132 female; Koriaks, 900 male, and 779 female.

The religion generally diffused throughout this territory consists of that widely extended system of Boodh, or of the Lamas, which, originating in Hindostan, has now its central seat in Thibet, and is generally professed over all the east and centre of Asia. With some modifications, which cause it to receive the name of Shamanism, it is the religion of all the Mongols and Tartars. On the Upper Selinga, to the south of the Baikal, is the residence of the Bandida Lama, the pope or head of the religion in this part of Asia. A late traveller was allowed to enter the great temple, where he found about a hundred priests clothed in red, and seated in successive rows. For the high priest there was a lofty and splendid throne: behind it was the altar, in which were placed the images of their great gods, the inferior ones being arranged in rows along the wall. Rice, brandy, and sometimes a hen or sheep roasted whole, were placed before them. The Mongols seem to delight as much in noise as their brethren of Thibet; the most formidable sound being produced by the combination of bells, kettle drums, trumpets eight feet long, huge sea conches, and other instruments. These genuine Lamas stigmatised the religious rites generally practised, as disowned by all its orthodox members. In fact, it appears to be extensively combined with superstitious incantations. The French academicians in the neighbourhood of Nertschink, visited one of the most eminent. Having stripped himself naked, he put on a robe of skins, stuck over with horns and instruments of iron. He then leaped and howled in a frightful manner, causing considerable fear to the byestanders, lest they should be struck by the sharp tools with which he was begirt. Another pretended to run an arrow through his body, and exhibit the blood streaming from it; but was brought to confces, that he

merely carried it in a circuitous manner round the inside of his garment, while the blood distilled from a vessel secreted for that object. Among the Yakoutes, the French saw a female who pretended to plunge a knife into her body, without receiving any injury; but she too owned that it was merely thrust through her clothes in a manner which satisfied the rude natives. In proceeding northwards, all the refined parts of this system pass gradually into the rudest paganism, consisting of mere sorcery and the worship of rude stone images. Christianity has hitherto made very little progress among the natives of Asiatic Russia; though considerable efforts have recently been made, and with some success, both by the Russian government and the British missionary societies.

The commerce of Siberia consists chiefly of two branches. The first, a native one, is formed by the exportation of its metals and furs; the second is a mere transit trade, consisting in the overland intercourse carried on across Siberia with the Chinese empire. The former is in a great measure in the hands of government, who have monopolised the most valuable mines, and to whom the tribute of all the wandering tribes is paid in furs. For these it makes no return, unless in the salaries of the civil and military officers, and the pay of the troops. The merchants can carry on a navigable intercourse, with very few interruptions, across all Siberia. Having crossed the Oural mountains near Oufa, they descend the Iset and the Tobol, to Tobolsk, then descend the Irtysch, to its junction with the Obi, when by ascending that river and one of its tributaries, they come almost to Yeniceysk. After a short land carriage, they embark, and by the Tungouska and Angara are conveyed to Irkoutsk. A short land carriage then places them upon the Lena, which they descend, till a little below Yakoutsk they find the Aldan, which river, with its tributary the Joudama, conveys them to the foot of the Stanovoy mountains; after the laborious passage of which, they find a small river, which transports them to Okhotsk, on the shores of the Eastern ocean. In consequence of the level nature of the country, this navigation is nowhere interrupted by falls or cataracts, but the ice which covers the rivers during the greatest part of the year, renders it impossible to go and return in less than four years. The merchants trading to China follow the same route, as far as Irkoutsk; thence they cross the Baikal, and ascend the Selinga to Kiachta, the theatre of this commerce. The Russians were once allowed to proceed in caravans toq Pekin; but the jealousy of the Chinese,