BAIIIAL (in Turkish, Bei-kul, i.e., Rich Lake) is, after the Caspian sea and the sea of Aral, the largest lake of Asia. It is a fresh-water lake, and is situated in the s. of Siberia, in the gov. of Irkutsk, near the great military road between Moscow, Kiachta, and the mines of Nertschinsk. Lat. 51° 20' to 55° 30' n., long. 103° to 110' e. It somewhat resembles a sickle in shape, and varies considerably in breadth. Between the mouths of the Selenea and the Buguldeicha, it is only 19 in. across. Its length is 370 m., and its breadth 20 to 70 in.; height above the sea, 1363 ft.; depth in center very great. The Baikal mountains, a spur of the AltaI, inclose the lake, which is fed by numerous streams, the chief of which arc the Selenga and Bargusin. Its outlet is by the lower Angara, a chief tributary of the Yenisei; but the river is inconsiderable in size compared to those which flow into the lake. It has several islands, the largest of which, Olkon, has a
length of 80 miles. B., which forms an important link in the chain of communication between Russia and China, has two commercial ports, of recent years, steamboats have given a considerable impetus to its trade. Its sturgeon and seal fisheries are valua ble, and large quantities of a fish a herring are also caught in it. A peculiar fish, called the golomynka (callionymus bazcatenth), which is almost one mass of fat, yielding beautiful train-oil, was at one time caught in immense numbers, but it is now much scarcer. The surface of the lake is frozen from Nov. to April, but the traffic is carried on over the ice. Besides the Russians settled on the banks of the Selenga and Angara, the shores of lake B. are also inhabited by tribes of the Burates and Tuuguses.