LENA, In'na. The eastermnost of the three great rivers of Siberia and the chief waterway of Eastern Siberia (Map: Asia, M 2). It rises on the slopes of the Baikal Mountains. west of Lake Baikal, and 186 miles northeast of Irkutsk. It flows first in a general northeastern direction to the town of Yakutsk, after which it flows north west and then northward. It falls into the Aretie Ocean about longitude 127° E., forming a vast delta consisting of seven principal and numerous secondary arms. Its total length is estimated at 3000 miles. The upper course of the river, from its rise to its junction with the Kuta (about 430 miles), at which point it be comes navigable for steamers, is through a moun tainous region. Its banks are partly rocky and barren and partly covered with thick forests; its course is swift. There is very little agrieul tural land the upper course, and the chief occupations of the adjacent settlements are fish ing and hunting. The middle stream. from the mouth of the Kuta to its junction with its chief tributary, the Aldan (over 1100 miles), is much wider and has on the whole the appearance of a navigable river. The hanks are partly lined with mountain masses of red sandstone, and 1111rermis reefs and islets render navigation hazardous. Below Yakutsk the Lena throws MT a number of arms. forming long, narrow islands, and the banks become lower and the course of the river much slower. The country along the middle course of the Lena is very sparsely inhabited by yakuts.
In the lower middle course of the river the banks are precipitous and thickly wooded, while toward the delta they become barren and covered with masses of rocks, among which snow remains even during the summer. and here there are practically
no permanent settlements. The inclosed islets of the delta are flat and covered only with hardy gra-ses and moss. On a rocky promontory of one of the inclosed islands, known as lAlonurneut Cape. stands a wooden cross commemorating the victim- of the Jeannette expedition buried there. The Lena is frozen at Kiren-k I at the beginning of it. middle course) from the end of October to the end of April: at Yakutsk from the middle of fetober to the end of May and at the delta from the middle of September to the middle of June. The opening of the river is aeeompanied by dis astrous floods. Steam navigation. first intro duced on the Lena in 1862. is confined chiefly to the tipper part of the river and its tributaries, freight (chiefly minerals, fish. and grain) being carried principally in barges and wooden vessels built in the shipyards on the upper eourse. where shipbuilding is the chief industry. The principal ports on the Lena are Verkholensk.
Olekminsk. Yakutsk. and Bulun. The Lena has numerous tributaries, of which the most note worthy are the Kirenga. the Vitim. the Olekina. and the Aldan from the right and the Viliuy from the left. The river is rich in tish, but its fishery industries are still undeveloped and are mostly in the hands of the Yakut;. Some of the tributaries of the river abound in gold. and the region along the river is highly min eralized in some parts. The Lena was dis covered by the Russians in 162S.