The two chains just mentioned approach one another at the place where the rivers Ural, Bialaya, and Ai, an affluent of the Ufn, originate, but they do not join. They run to one another from 54° 30' to 55° 30'N. lat., being hardly ten miles distant from one another. The eastern, which preserves the pane of Ural-Tau, is a continuous range, but not so high as the western, which is composed of three ridges, called from south to north Oorengai-Tau (3000 feet), Tagannai Tau (3500 feet), and Yeorma-Tan, which is the highest of the three. Between these ridges are depressions, through which the rivers flow westward to the Ufa and Malaya. The Ural-Tau does not rise iu these parts above 2000 feet, and is frequently much lower. The valley between the two chains is about 1000 feet above the sea-level, and occupied by a considerable number of insulated hills. In this valley aro the principal mines of Slatoust.
A third range lies farther east, and runs parallel to the Ural-Tau, but is not connected with it. Between 55° 30' and 54° 30' N. lat. it is not inferior to the Uml-Tau in elevation, but farther south it decreases considerably in height, and terminates between 54° nud 53° in isolated hills. It bears the name of Ilmenes-Tau, and appears to be sterile and destitute of trees.
The Central Ural extends from 55° 30' to 58° N. lat., and may be considered as a wide swell, which begins on the west on the banks of the river Kama, an affluent of the Volga, and rises gradually for 50 or 100 miles more, until it attains its highest level, whence it extends in an uneven plain, and then descends on the eastern side, likewise with a rather gentle but much shorter slope. The lower edge of the western slope at the town of Perm, on the Kama, is only 373 feet above the sea-level, the highest point, on the road lending from Penn to Ekaterinburg is 1688 feet, and Ekaterinburg, on the plain east of the eastern declivity, is 858 feet above the sea-level. The region pre sents vast swamps destitute of trees in some parts; in others it is overgrown with stunted woods. This part of the Ural Mountains is traversed by the great commercial road between Russia and Siberia, and most of the mines which are worked are in this portion of the rouge.
Between 58° and 61° N. lat. are the mountains called the Ural of Verkhotoori, which some writers consider a part of the Central Ural, and others as attached to the Northern Ural. In these parts the higher portion of the range is covered with rocky mountains, which usually form elevated summits. The most southern of these summits, the Pawdinskoi Kamen, according to some authorities, rises to the height of 6829 feet above the sea ; but according to others, only to about two-thirds of that elevation. On the north of it are other sum mits, which rise to between 5000 and 6000 feet above the sea. The low depressions by which these summits are separated from one another are very swampy, but generally covered with woods, which also extend over the lower declivity of the summits, whilst the higher part is above the line of trees, and presents either bare rocks, or, where it is covered with soil, swamps of great depth. Though none
of these summits appear to be covered with snow all the year round, masses of ice are found even at the end of the summer in the ravines which furrow the northern declivities.
The Northern Ural occupies that portion of the rangy which extends from 61° to 70° N. Int. It is very little known. The Russians call it the Barren Ural, to distinguish it from the Central and Southern Ural, which are rich in mines and covered with wood, whilst the Northern Ural consists of rocks, and is destitute of trees. These rocky masses are nearly always covered with fogs. The lower tracts between them are occupied by moors or covered with mosses. There are forests of !ergo pines as far north as 63° N. lat. ; but farther north the growth of these trees is stunted, and near 65° N. lat. they disappear. Tho Northern Ural does not seem to rise to a great elevation, and whero it terminates on the Arctic Ocean it is composed of broken reeks covered with swamps.
The basis of the Ural chain is granite, and the superior stratifica tions are limestone and quartz, and many erratic blocks are scattered over the surface. The central and southern portions abound in wood, chiefly pines, cedars, larches, and other natives of a northern climate; but the oak and ash are found in the south-western parts. There are many rich valleys and fine pastures, where great numbers of cattle are bred. Numberless rivers abounding in fish issue from both sides of the chain, the principal of which are the Sosva, the Isset, the Tobol, the Emba, the Ural, the Belaia, the Kama, and the Petchora. There are seven passes over these mountains : the five that are the most easy to cress are—the road from Perm to Ekaterinburg; that to l'etropauloskaja ; and the three roads to Orenburg.
I The Utah Mountains abound with mineral wealth ; and valuable mines of iron, copper, gold, and platinum are worked. The iron- and copper-mines had long been considered among the most valuable sources of the national wealth, when, in the middle of tho 18th I century, it was discovered that gold-mines also existed there. The gold-mines of the Ural were considered the most productive in the world previous to the discovery of the auriferous deposits of Cali fornia and Australia. Very rich veins were met with between 1844 and 1850, but the total yield in any year during this interval did not much exceed a million sterling. Many splendid blocks of malachite are cut in the copper-mines of the Ural, and manufactured into articles of decorative furniture, of which many specimens appeared in the Universal Exhibition in London in 1851. [EK.ATARINHERO PEEL.]