A lake, distinguished by such bold and singular features, fills all who behold it with astonishment and awe ; and is regarded by the superstitious inhabitants % of the surrounding country with a very natural vene ration. They dignify it with the name of the Holy 8ca ; and to 'call it simply a lake, they consider such a degree of profanity as cannot fail to provoke the immediate vengeance of heaven. A pilot, who had the hardihood to give it that contemptuous ap pellation, was tossed with his crew from shore to shore, till, exhausted by fatigue and hunger, and in danger of immediate shipwreck, he was at length compelled to implore the compassion of the Holy Sea. •His prayers were heard—he reached the shore in safety ; and from that moment never named the sea but with the most profound reverence. At a small distance from the lake there is a chapel de dicated to St Nicolas, to which the mariners re pair to conciliate the favour of the saint by oblations, and to prefer vows and supplications for a prosperous voyage. As soon as they set sail, they throw various presents into the lake, either of money or of victuals, and if after all they happen to be overtaken by a storm, they uniformly ascribe it to the profanity of some Jonah on board.
In the neighbourhood of the Baikal the climate is extremely severe, owing chiefly to the elevation of the ground, and the want of sufficient shelter from the north winds. Scarce a night in the short sum mers which there diversify the year passes without frost ; and even in August the approach of winter is announced by frequent falls of snow. The lake, however, is never frozen over till late in December, 'and the ice generally dissolves about the beginning of May. Ice-fields, several miles in length, are first formed in the bays, and while congelation is going on, the rest of the lake is covered with a thick fog, till the whole becomes one Solid mass, which, ac cording to the calmness or agitation of the surface the process of freezing, is either smooth as a -mirror, or so rough as to be scarcely passable. The -violent winds prevent the snow from adhering to it, so that to travel over it at first is an undertaking of extreme difficulty. Sometimes the driver, while run ning by the side of his sledge, is thrown forward by a sudden squall, to the distance of several fathoms ; and is thus in danger either of being frozen, or of chinks still left in the ice. As the time of breaking up approaches, these chinks become wider and more frequent ; boards are then laid across them for the accommodation of travellers, and when the apertures can no longer be passed in that manner, canoes begin to ply between the fields of ice. This dangerous mode of conveyance, however, is not long necessary ; for, when the thaw once commences, the ice is very rapidly dissolved. In • some of the bays,
'however, which are shaded by the impending moun tains from the sun, large masses of ice lie unmelted throughout the whole summer.
Of the islands of the Baikal, which are not nume rous, the most remarkable is the island Olkhon, near the northern shore, and separated from the main land by a sound. This island is 50 versts in length, and nearly ten in breadth, and is inhabited •by about 150 families. It terminates in a promon tory towards the north ' • on the south-east it is low and bare ; but its south-wesfern coast is finely diver sified by groves of poplars, willow, birch, and pines. ' Here the pasture is so rich, that large droves of cat tle are maintained through the whole winter, without any particular rare or tending from the inhabitants, who spend almost their whole time in drinking, or in idleness.
The coasts of the Baikal present many objects which well deserve the attention of the naturalist. Springs, impregnated with sulphur and naphtha, are to be found in various places, many of them remark able for their medicinal virtues. One of these springs, in particular, opposite the western side of Olkhon, is so extremely copious, as to yield 582 gallons every hour. Its water, being highly sulphure oils, has a foetid taste ; and is so hot, that birds are boiled in it in the space of twelve minutes. In cu taneous disorders, this spring has been found to pro duce the happiest effects. It is employed for bath ing, as well as taken internally. To the south of the Bargusin peninsula, there is a lake, called Duk hovoi, or rapoury, the water of whicli is slimy and yellowish, and has a nauseous acid taste. The whole district is annoyed by its foetid exhalations; yet the water itself, when taken in a vessel, has no offensive odour. The lake even swarms with various kinds of fish, which are often stifled, however, during winter, when the putrid water is covered by an impenetrable coat of ice. Perhaps, therefore, the intolerable stench of this region may be owing, not so much to any peculiar quality in the lake itself, as to the quantity of fish that lie putrifying on its shores. Of all the mineral waters on the coast cf the Baikal, none is more celebrated than the Turkobad, which, issuing from seven springs, some of them cold and others hot, flows into one reservoir, and is found very beneficial in many disorders. Near the same spot, there is found naphtha, which the lake throws out in the spring, incrusted in lumps with ice, and sometimes two or three inches in diameter. It is a lark-brown clammy substance, capable of being kneaded, soluble 'in water of a moderate heat, of a pleasant odour, and an excellent salve for wounds and running sores. These coasts likewise abound in alkaline salts of different 'kinds.