Central Siberia lies between 85' and 105•K long., and comprehends the greater part of the ALTAI MOUNTAINS, the hilly country cast of the Oby River, as far north as its affluent the Net, the vale of the Upper Yenesei, the plain of the Lower Angara River, the wooded plain, and the Tundra ; in all six regions. Tho Hilly Country which lies west of the Altai Mountains, and extends to the eastern banks of the river 017, by which it is separated from the Steppe of Barabinza, is studded with hills near the Altai Mountains, but towards the north it extends in a plain, which is slightly undulating between the Oby and its confluent the Tom. It is almost entirely covered with coniferous trees, among which the Pines eembra is numerous : the cones are collected, and constitute an article of commerce with the countries farther west. Cultivation is however limited, the soil of this tract being sandy and of inferior quality. East of the river Tom the country is a table-land, furrowed by numerous rivers, along the course of which there are many wide bottoms considerably depressed below the surface of the plain. These bottoms have a fertile soil ; cultivation is carried on in them to a considerable extent, and there are numerous villages. The river Ket, which divides this region from the forest region, must be considered as the limit of cultivation in this part of Siberia. The Vale of the Yenesei is considered the warmest part of Siberia. It is perhaps also the most fertile. It is inclosed by mountain ridges, which sometimes rise above the snow line. On the west of the vale, between 88° and 89° E. long., are the Tcictskoi Mountains, so called from the lake of that name, which lies to the west of the range. On the south of the vale are the Moun tains of Sayansk, which unite the Altai Mountains to the range called Erghik Targak Taiga, and separate Siberia from the Chinese empire. This range reaches northward to the vicinity of the town of Sayansk, and the river Yenesei makes its way through it by a long and narrow gorge. The vale extends about 350 miles from south to north, and nearly 200 miles from east to west, but perhaps not less than one half of it is occupied by high mountains. The Yenesei flows through a wide bottom covered with alluvium from 2 to 3 feet thick, and of great fertility. Wheat, rye, and oats yield from 10 to 12 times their seed. The higher ground is abundantly watered, and the water courses are fringed with trees, while the remainder is covered with a rich turf of grass all the year round. Some of the bottoms of these rivers are used as pastnre-ground, and herds of cattle are sent from this country to other parts of Siberia. The rearing of cattle is favoured by the mild winters. The cattle remain the whole year round on the pastures, the cold not being intense, and frequently not occurring before Christmas, with the exception of On these plains many useful plants grow in a wild state, as the wild hemp, the wild flax, wild Siberian buckwheat, which is collected and used by the inhabitants in making a kind of porridge, and several sorts of vaccinium and ribes. The most eastern part of the southern portion of Central Siberia is the Plain of the Lower Angara. It is an inclined plane, which sinks towards the north, and in that direction is traversed by several rivers which run to the Lower Angara and Upper Toonguska. The surface is generally hilly, but in the direction from south to north it is traversed by some extensive valleys which are nearly level The greater part of the elevated region is still covered with forests of larch, fir, and birch, and at intervals there are fields which produce moderate crops. Rye, oats, buckwheat, hemp, and tobacco are cultivated with success. In a few places agri culture extends to the narrow valleys which lie between the offsets of the mountain ranges, but these parts of the region are still inhabited by some small wandering tribes, who keep no domestic animals except camels, and this seems to bo the most northern point of Siberia in which these animals are found. Some of them however have a few horses, cattle, or sheep. They hunt the elk, a large deer called marali, the musmon, a kind of mountain.goat, lynxes, and especially sables and squirrels. This region is characterised by the dryness of the atmosphere, owing to which only a small quantity of snow falls on this region. The winters however are extremely severe, and the mean annual temperature is only 31.5°, or a little below the freezing point. North of the courses of the rivers Upper Toonguska and Ket, of which the latter is a confluent of the Oby, lies the Wooded Region of Central Siberia, and along the Polar Sea extends the Tundra. They appear to be similar in character and products to those districts of Western Siberia which bear the same names. Agriculture is only carried on in the valley of the Yenesei River. At Yenescisk several kinds of grain and vegetables are grown.
Eastern Siberia, or that part of it which lies east of 105° E. long., comprehends about one-half of the whole surface of the country. It contains a much smaller portion of land fit for agricultural purposes than the other divisions, which is partly owing to the severity of the climate, and partly to the greater elevation of its surface in those parts which are south of 60° N. lat. Along the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, between the Chinese frontier and the town of Okhotsk, the coast is rocky and very high. The country rises with a steep ascent, and at a short distance from the sea the general level is from 2500 to 3000 feet above it. This may also be considered as the general level of the immense tract which extends westward from the sea south of 60° N. lat. to the meridian of the town of Yakutsk, and then west-south-west to the northern and eastern shores of the Lake of Baikal, haviug in this part the vale of the river Lena for its northern boundary. It appears that the surface is a succession of plains, separated from one another by depressions, or by ridges of hills. The whole region is unfit for cultivation, and it does not appear that any considerable portion of it is adapted for pasture, as none of the numerous tribes of the Yakutes, who live chiefly on the produce of their herds, have settled on it, but the whole has been abandoned to the Toonguses, who get their sub sistence by the chase. The surface is generally covered with trees, consisting chiefly of pines, firs, larch, and Pinta cembra intermixed with birches. The number of lakes is said to be very great, aud many of them are surrounded by high hills : these lakes are usually covered with ice nearly the whole year round. Among the wild animals found in this region are numerous reindeer, and the argali or wild sheep. The climate of this part of Siberia is distinguished by the severity and the length of the winter. At the south-western extremity of this region lies the Lake of Baikal. [BAIKAL] The mountain range which constitutes the southern edge of the table-laud separates the streams which run northward to the river Lena from those which flow southward to the river Amur, and constituted till lately the boundary line between Siberia and the Chinese empire as far west as 119° E. long. The southern portion of Eastern Siberia is divided by a mountain range into two parts,—the basin of the Selenga, which falls into the Lake of Baikal, and that of the Shilka, one of the prin cipal branches of the river Amur. The basin of the river Selenga is divided into two portions by the course of the river, which here runs in a general direction from south to north. The larger portion lies east of the river Selenga, and consists of three valleys, which extend from the summit of the Yablonoi Khrebet westward, and open into the valley of the Selenga. The upper portion of the valleys is too cold for cultivation; but in the lower part, which is generally from three to four miles wide, agriculture has been attempted with suc cess, and in modern times it has been considerably improved by Polish emigrants, who have been sent into this region since 1112. They cultivate wheat, rye, buckwheat, flax, hemp, peas, and water melons. The wider valley of the river Selenga itself appears in many parts to have an arid dry soil; but it contains good pasture, and in some places the soil is of considerable fertility, and cultivated by Russian families which have been settled there for upwards of 150 years. About twelve miles from its mouth, the Selenga enters a level plain of considerable extent, which may be considered as the delta of the river, as it is traversed by four arms into which tho river divides on entering the plain. This plain extends for 22 miles on the shores
of the Lake of Baikal, above which it is very slightly elevated. The western portion of the basin of the Selenga comprises a wide plain, which serves as a pasture-ground for the numerous herds of horses, cattle, and camels of the Buriates, who are in exclusive possession of that tract. The wooded mountains ou the east of the Selenga are haunted by wild beasts, such as bears, gluttons, elks, deer, musk animals, wild hogs, ounces, lynxes, wolves, foxes, hares, sables, squirrels, martens, marmots, and wild goats. Many sheep and goats are kept, and their skins, especially those of the lambs, constitute an important article of export to China. That portion of Siberia which lies cast of the basin of the Selenga, and is drained by the river Shilka and its two principal branches the Ingods and Onon, is called Da-uria, which is said to signify 'boundary-country,' or 'border.' The whole, with the exception of a comparatively small tract along the south-eastern border, is a mountain region, traversed by several ridges running south-west and north-east, but nowhere rising to a great elevation. Tho mountains and hills supply good pasture for the greater part of the year. The valleys are flat and open, but most of them are fit for cultivation. North of 51° 30' N. lat. most of tho cereals of Europe are grown. The most southern portion of this region, or that which lies south of 51° 30' N. lat., between the livers Onon and Argun, is part of the Gobi, or rather, of that portion of it which is called the Steppe of the Kerlou, from the name of the tipper course of the river Argun. [Alm.] The surface is level, aud is covered with numerous small stones, among which are jasper, agates, beryls, and topazes. No part of this level country is cultivable. Tho mountains of this region, especially those which lie between the Onon and Argun, are rich in silver, lead, tin, and zinc, all of which aro worked. The Upper Vale of the river Lena is among the agricultural districts of Siberia, corn being grown as far north as the town of Yakutsk. Though the cultivation of corn and several vegetables generally succeeds in this vale, the greater part of it is covered with fir and pine trees; whilst the numerous islands and the low banks of the river are overgrown with birch, poplar, and willow. The wooded country is used as pasture by the Yakutes. The country round the town of Yakutsk may be considered as the richest pastoral tract iu Eastern Siberia, though tho ground is always frozen for a depth of 400 feet below the surface, and only a small layer of two or three feet is free from ice in summer. Its wealth is chiefly derived from the almost innumerable herds of cattle which pasture on the low country which extends from the river eastward to tho river Aldan. A still more extensive tract of rich pasture-land flee to the east of the Lena River, on both aides of the river Vilui Many rich families of the Yakutes, who inhabit this tract, possess several hundred head of cattle. The whole country east of the middle course of the river Aldan, between 59° and 61' N. let., is a mountain tract, extending more than 200 miles cast an,. west to the vicinity of the Pacific. The most elevated part of it, which lies nearly in tho middle, and is almost 100 miles wide, is more than 2400 feet above the sea-level. The Toonguses, a wandering tribe of hunters, inhabit this country. At the northern extremity of the Aldan Mountains (62° N. let., and 141° E. long.) is a mountain knot from which two chains branch off One of them runs from this point first due east, and then north-east, parallel to the shores of the sea of Okhotsk and the bay of Penginsk. It is called by the ItnnotiAill Stanavoi Khrebet, and covers two degrees of latitude in width; but some of ita.branches reach as far north as sr N. lat. At the source of the river Anadir (near 164' E. long.) it divides Into two branches. Ono of them runs first south-east, and then turns south, traversing the peninsula of Kamtehatka [Kaarr CHaTiLa]; the other extends first towards the north, and then turns eastward, in which direction it terminates at Behring's Strait in the capes Voetostchinii Nose, or East Cape, and TehookotakoT Noes. The other chain which branches off from the mountain knot of the Aldan range at first runs north-north-west, but turns west near 64' N. lat, and continues in that direction, parallel to the lower coarse of the river Aldan, until it approaches the banks of the Lena, where it turns due north, and terminates near 67' N. lat. Between the Lena and the Kolyma the country improves considerably. It is traversed from south to north by several chains of hills, generally of small elevation, but in many places of considerable width. These hilts are overgrown with birch and larch, but the trees do not attain their full growth. The greater part of this region is a level plain, without trees, but interspersed with numerous lakes, which contain plenty of fish, and have good pastures on their banks where the settlement& of the nab:item are. The ialbuity,' or dry lakes, which constitute a peculiar feature of Northern Siberia, are still more fertile. They are wide and flat valleys, very little depressed below the general surface of the plain. In spring, when the rivers Inundate the adjacent country, they are filled with water, which remains there during the summer; but daring the winter the ground bursts, and many narrow clefts are formed, by which the water runs off and in the following summer the whole ground is covered with the finest turf. There are also good pastures near the declivities of the hills, but the remainder of the plain is chiefly covered with moss and hi swampy. Between the river Indl ghirks on the west and the ALuel on the east are several extensive plains covered with moss, on which only a few larches creep along the ground. There are other wastes of considerable extent. Along the Polar Sea, and some distance from It, the country is a tundra, or low plain covered with moss, of the same description as that which occurs in Western Siberia. Between the Indighlrka and Kolyma the surface is traversed by numerous low swells, which generally run south and north, and, terminating on the sea In bluffs, render the coast alter nately high and low. The scanty population of this tract aubeist almost entirely on the produce of their fisheries in the numerous lakes with which this country is interspersed. The country east of the Kolyma Hirer if of a different description. The °theta of the Stanov6y Mountains come close up to the river, forming on its banks steep bluffs several hundred feet high, and the whole region is covered with ranges of mountains, frequently rising to 2000 or 3000 feet above the sea. In many places they reach the sea, forming on the shores several elevated copes, as Cape Barancr, Cape ShelagskoT, and North Cape. On the seashore however there are many tracts of level ground covered with mom. In the Interior the valleys are rather wide, and generally swampy, but also often covered with good pastures. The forests of this region are abundantly stocked with animals, among which are *subtler herds of rein-deer, elks, black bears, foxes, sables, and gray squirrels. Multitude. of ducks, geese, and semis are taken in the Kolyma. The chief supply of food I. from the fisheries in the rivers, which are extremely productive. The most common fish is the herring ; but there is also salmon of several kinds. The country of the Tshooktahes, or the most north-eastern portion of the Asiatic continent, presents a succession of sterile valleys and bare rocks, whose vegetation is limited to that kind of MOM which is the food of the reindeer. In a few sheltered valleys there are some willows which attain the flee of shrubs. The climate is extremely severe. The valleys are generally swampy and full of small lakes. There are a few berry-bearing shrubs. A few families of the Tahooktshee subsist by fishing and killing sea animals along tho coast; but the greater number live on the produce of their herds of tame reindeer, and by hunting those which are in a wild state. South of the country of the Tabooktshee is the peninsula of Kamtchatka.