Siberia

The Oby, Obi, or Ob, the most western of the larger rivers of Siberia, is the largest river of the Old Continent. Its basin is said to comprehend more than 1,370,000 square miles, and is only inferior to that of the Amazonas and Plata in South America. This basin extends from 47° to 74° N. lat., 1890 miles in length, and in the widest pert, near 55° N. lat., it is nearly 1200 miles across. The principal branch of the Obi is properly the Irtish, or the western of the two great branches which unite near 30' N. let., but the eastern branch has the name of Obi before their union, and ia there fore considered the principal river, though it is inferior to the Irtish in length of course. The /Hid' rises in the Chinese empire, in the government of Gobdo, or the country of the Western Khalkas Mongols, probably between 46° and 47° N. lat., and 87° and 88° E. long. It rune nearly due west, and after about 70 miles falls into the lake of Zaizang. The Irtish issues (min the north side of the lake, several miles from its western extremity. The lake, according to Humboldt, is about 1720 feet above the sea-level. The course of the river is nearly due north, and in a flat country, until it approaches the boundary-liue of Siberia, where the mountains come close up to the river on both sides. It then turns to the weat-north-west, and in that direction it runs in n narrow valley between rocky hilla until it reaches Ust Kamenogorsk. The current in this part is rapid, and the river is navigated, though not without difficulty. It receivea on the right the Buchtarma and other considerable tributaries. From Ust Kamenogorek to Semiyarsk the river runs nearly due west, and below Semiyarsk it turns north-west, in which direction it continues to run to some miles below the town of Omsk, north of 55° N. let. Below Omsk the Irtish turns first to the north-east, then to the north, and afterwards it runs again nearly due west to its confluence with the Tobol at Tobolsk. Before this union, the Irtish is joined from the south by the river /shim, which runs more than 700 miles, but, draining a sterile and sandy country, contains very little water in proportion to its length, and is only navigated in the lower part of its course. The Tobol, which is nearly equal in length to the 'shim, is much more important It rises near 52° N. lat., E. long., on a flat swell of the Caucasian Desert, and runs for a short distance to the east, but the remainder of its course ia to the cast of north, through a level country, though in some places low offsets of the Ural Mountains approach the western haeks. The Tobol receives several considerable affluents from the left, among which the Ool, the lent, the Toora, and Towda are the largest. At the confluence of the Tobol the Irtish changes its direction to the north-north-east, but turns to the north-north-west before it meets the Obi. The Obi riaes in the Altai Mountains with two large branches, the Katunga and the Biya. The most remote branch of the Katunga, the Chooya, and that of the Biya, the Choolyshman, originate near N. lat, within the Chinese government of Gobdo. Nearly all the waters collected within the Altai Mountains north of 49° N. lat. and between 84' 30' and 90'F long., run either east or west, and uniting between 50* and 51' N. lat., near the meridian of 87° E. long., form a large river, the Katunga. After the union of these rivers, the Katunga runs nearly due north with an extremely rapid course through the northern ridges of the Altai Mountains, until it reaches 52° 30' N. lat., when it turns west, and entering a hilly region meets the other great branch of the Obi, the Biya. The Katunga is too rapid to be navigable. The place where the Biya, or Choolyshman, as it is called in the upper part of its course, originates, is not known, and we are very imperfectly acquainted with the course of this river above the Lake of Teletakoi. The Choolyshman falls into the Lake of Teletakoi near 51° 40' N. let., With several arms. This lake, called also Altyn-kul, or Altai Noor, is a true alpine lake, resembling in grandeur and beauty the Lake of Luzern. It is surrounded by wooded mountains, rising in the vicinity of the lake to the height of 4000 or 5000 feet, and Mount Toulak at its southern extremity attains an elevation exceeding G000 feet. The lake is more than 40 miles from south-south-east to north north-west, but at its northern extremity an arm runs westward for 20 miles more. At the southern extremity it is about 5 miles wide, but grows gradually narrower as it advances towards the north. The western arm is hardly a mile wide on an average. The lake is about 1900 feet above the sea-level. The river issuing from the western arm of the lake, under the name of Biya, in a western direction, soon turna to the north, but by degrees it resumes its western course, running between mountains and high hills, until it joins the Katunga below Biisk, at Katunak. After this union the river is called Obi, or Ob. The Obi flows iu a western directiou until it is met from the south by the river Charysh, when it turns to the north, in which direction it continues with many windings to its confluence with the Tom, when it begins to run north-west until it reaches 75° E. long., from which place it flows west to its junction with the Irtiah. Below the mouth of the Charysh the Obi is joined from the east by three rivers, which are navigable and important fur the industry of Siberia even in its present state, namely, the Tom, the Choolyu, and the Ket. The current of the Obi below Katuusk is very gentle, and does not offer the least obstruction to an easy. navigation, but in approaching the Irtish it spreads its waters over a low country, and divides into many arms, which inclose large islands, and in this part shoals are numerous. The Obi, after its confluence with the Irtiah, turus north ward and flows in that direction to the vicinity of the polar circle, when, increasing to a great width, it turns east at Obdursk, and falls into the Gulf of Obi by three arms, of which the eastern is the largest and deepest. Where the Obi joins the Irtish it divides into two

arms, of which the western is called Beresowakye l'rotok, or Birch River. The two arma unite more than 70 miles farther north, and inclose an island of that length and of a width varying in general from 5 to 6 miles. Farther north the river frequently divides again, as the alluvial and low plain which liea to the west of the river is from 40 to 50 miles wide, and the greater part of it is inundated in spring time. The gulf into which the Obi falls is between 70 and 80 miles wide and more than 400 miles long. Except several low islands which occur near the mouths of the river, only a few rocky islets appear, not far from the eastern shores of the gulf, but the gulf itself is so full of shoals, that large vessels find the navigation very difficult. At Tobolsk the Obi generally freezea about the 2nd of November, and at Obdursk in the middle of October. The ice generally breaks up at Tobolak at the end of April, and at Obdursk about'the middle of May. The gulf is frozen till the beginning of June. Large quantities of fish are taken in the Obi and in the Upper Mirth.

The Yawed is the second river of Siberia in magnitude. Its basin covers an area of 1,020,000 square miles. The two remotest branches of the Yenesei, the Ta-kem and Selenga, originate in the Chinese empire. The rises where the two vast mountain chains of the Erghik Targak Taiga and the Tangou Obla Mountains (ALTAI MOUN TAINS, vol. i., col. 260] meet one another; and the Selenga rises south of the most remote branches of the Yenesei, on the eastern declivities of the Tangnu Obla. [ALTAI MOUNTAINS, VOL L, eel. 26].] The Selenga runs more than 450 miles in an eastern direction within tho Chinese empire, where it is joined by two considerable tributaries, the Ekhe, which rises in the Lake of Kosaogol, on the southern declivity of the Erghik Targak Taiga Mountains, and runs nearly parallel to the Selenga; and the Orghon, which originates in the Khangai Mountains of the Gobi, and runs from south to north. At the confluence of the last-mentioned tributary, the Selenga turns to the north, end soon enters Siberia, where it is joined from the east by the rivers Chikol, Khilok, and Uda; it falls into the Lake of Baikal after a course of about 700 miles. [BAIKAL.] The only outlet of Lake Baikal is the Lower Angara, which ou receiving the river Oka is called the Upper Toonguaka, and flows into the Yenescr. This river then runs north-west until it has crossed 60° N. let. A little below the town of Yeneseisk it receives from the left the Kem, a small river, which however is important as a link of the extensive line of water communication extends from the boundary of the Chiuese empire, south of the Lake of Baikal, to the base of the Ural Moun tains. Before reaching 70° N. let., the Yenesei enlargea into a wide oestuary full of low ialanda and shoals, which is called the Gulf of Yenesci, and is on an average 20 miles wide, and more than 200 miles long. In its lower course the river is joined by several large rivers. The Yenesei freezes towards its mouth about the 10th of October, and the ice does not thaw before the beginning of June. The entire course of this river is about 2500 miles.

The Lena rises in the Baikal Mountains [ALTAI MOUNTAINS], hardly more than 20 miles from the banka of Lake Baikal, and about 50 miles N.E. from Irkutsk. Its basin ia estimated to contain nearly 800,000 square miles, and its course is about 2000 miles long. It becomes navigable 50 miles from its' source, at Kotahuga, a large village, which from this circumstance ban become the depot of goods destined for the north-eastern part of Siberia and for the Russian settlements in North America. The river runs generally in a north east direction, passing Olekminsk and Yakutsk. The remainder of its course is nearly due north. North of 70° N. lat. it enlarges to three or four miles in width, and at its mouth forms a delta, which projects into the sea, like that of the river Maekhaun, in the peninsula beyond the Ganges. This delta is traversed by several arms of the river, three of which form navigable channels: the western is called Krestovskoi, the central one Toomatskoi, and the eastern BukooskoL These channels are wide, but full of shoals. The Lena freezes over in the beginning of September, and is hardly free from ice before midsummer. Among the tributaries of the Lena are some very large rivers—the Vitima, the Olekma, the Aldan, and the Besides these large rivers there are others of less magnitude, but still so large that they would be considered important in any other country. The Ankara, 500 miles long, and the Olenek, more than 700 miles long, fall into the Polar Sea between the mouth of the Yenesei and the Lena. East of the Lena are the embouchures of the rivers Yana, Indighirka, and Kolyma. AU these rivers are navigable, and of importance for the country, as the two greatest necessaries of life, corn and salt, are brought by them from tho southern districts of Siberia to the most northern parts. The Anadyr, or Anadir, and the Amur are separately noticed. [Axaora ; Astern.] The small river Ud falls into the Sea of Okhotsk near 55° N. lat. [Oanovse..] domestic animals vary greatly in size and form in different districts. This is especially the case with horses and sheep. Among the latter, the sheep kept by the Khirghis Cossaks, in the Steppe of lahim, are distinguished by their thick tails and flue wooL AU attempts to transport this species to other parts of Siberia have failed. In 1830 some landed proprietors in the neighbourhood of Irkutsk introduced Spanish sheep, for the purpose of improving the wool of the native sheep.