ALTAI' (i.e., gold mountain) is the • term vaguely applied to the high range in the 0. of Asia, forming the northern border of that vast table-land known by the name of 'Chinese Tartary, and extending from 80' to 142'e. long. The A. mountains constitute the boundary between the Russian and Chinese empires, or between the long icy low hinds of Siberia, stretching away to the Arctic sea, and the variegated central plateau that lies s. of them. Their general direction is from e. to w. They are divided into many ranges and groups, each having a distinctive came. From the sea of Okhotsk, in the extreme e. of Asia, they extend iu a broad and winding mass to the plains of Turke stan, a little to the w. of lake Zaisau, or Zaizang, a distance of more than 3000 m. The breadth of the system is, in some places, not less than 800 to 900 m. From Okhotsk to the Lena, it is called the Aldan chain ; it is next separated into three groups by the val leys of the Amur, Yenisei, and Irtish, the last of which is called the little A., to distin guish it from the spur that strikes off into Chinese Tartary in a south-easterly direction, which is called the great A., a range. that in some places towers into the region of per petual snow, and whose most easterly cliffs abruptly disappear in the dark clouds which overhang the sandy steppes of Gobi. The Russian A., between Semipalatinsk and the sources of the Obi, have been colonized by the Russians, and as they rival the Ural mountains in their mineral wealth, they have already become one of the most important districts of the Russian empire. This chain consists of a broad Alpine range on the
north-western edge of Chinese Tartary, and is called the Altai-Bjelki, or Snowy moun tains. It reaches in its highest peaks an elevation of nearly 11,000 ft. Little is known of the geology of the Altaian system. Jasper is found in considerable abundance near the summits, red porphyry lower down, and granite still lower. Around lake Baikal there are numerous granitic masses,interspersed with newer igneous formations, but active volcanoes do not appear until the range reaches Kamtchatka. The mines are rich in gold, silver, copper, and lead. The botany of the mountains is as imperfectly known as the geology, but it seems to be worthy of closer attention. N. of the A.-I3jelki lies the broad zone of the A. mineral districts, the inhabitants of which are employed as miners and agricultural laborers, over whom a strict watch is kept. The s.e. is peopled by the Calmucks of the mountains, a Mongolian race. They are heathens, and their government is a patriarchal one. They lead a nomadic life, encamping in summer among the rich pastures on the mountain-terraces, and in winter within the sheltered recesses of the woody glens.