climate fairly cool— not sufficiently warm, in fact, for the
more delicate vegetable growths— though further south
the.heat is sufficient for apricots and vines. In the
plains, trees, bushes, and grasses grow only by means
of irrigation, but in the mountainous region, where are
streams, woods appear. Still, even here, there is an
insufficiency of moisture. Hence the forest growth
extends only to certain spots along the northern and
north-western slopes in the gorges of streams that
issue from beneath the snow. Peaks, not snowclad,
and the southern slopes are bare.*
Numerous wild animals inhabit Semirechia, and
much credit is due to Russian naturalists for their
classification of collections of fauna made by various
scientific travellers.t T o confine ourselves here to
the mammals of the province, we may notice that
there are found therein seven species of Bats, tlm
Long-eared Hedgehog, and the White-clawed Bear.
* The commonest and most widely distributed tree is the spruce fir
extending from the western limits of the province to the eastern end of
the Thian Shan. Its straight stem attains a height of from 70 to 90 feet,
m a l t s brand.es. gradually shortming towards .he top, give the tree the
appearance of a pyramid. Its cones, the size¡ of o n e s f is t , « e °£ dark
blue, and hang at the end of long stems quite vertically. By far the
most richly wooded portions of the province, and, “ deed, of the whole
Thian Shan, are those known under the name of the Muz-Tag Here,
besides the fir, are the birch, the apple, willpw, mountain ash, and popla
But the deciduous trees are completely lost among the conifers,
fir forests in Semirechia sometimes extend for tens of miles, but in the
European sense of the word, they can be hardly called forests. The trees
stand apart, seldom afford the pleasing shade of woods, and everywhere
allow pedestrians and horsemen room for free Passage. The fir
grows in a region 6,000 to 9,000 feet above the s e a ; the birch between
fo o o and 8,000, and the juniper between 5 , 0 0 0 and 10,000, except m
the Alai, Turkistan, and Hissar ranges, where it is found a thousand
feet i n f o f ' t h e s e travellers is Dr. N. Severtsoff, whose “ Mammals o
Turkistan ” was translated in the An n a ls o f Natu ral History for
This last varies his diet according to locality, feeding
in some parts on Marmots, disturbing their winter
sleep by digging them out of their holes, and thus
unearthing more than he eats. In the Western Thian
Shan he feeds principally on fruit— apples, grapes,
and walnuts; but about Vierny, since the advent of
the Cossacks, Bruin has manifested a sympathetic
interest in the progress of apiculture by diligently
emptying the colonists’ hives. To these animals must
be added the Badger, Otter, and some other species
of Mustelidae, including Pole-cats, Weasels, the Stoat
or Ermine, and three species of Marten. O f these
last, as well as of a Lynx, I was able to secure in
Vierny the skins and skeletons, all of which are now
in the British Museum. The Wolf is met with almost
everywhere, and a Wild Dog is found up to the snowline,
while three species of Fox occur, as also the
Tiger, Snow-Leopard, Cheetah, and other Cats. The
salt plains are frequented by the Short-tailed Souslik,
as well as many other Rodents, among them several
species of Mouse, Vole, and Hamster, four of Jerboa,
and, at greater altitude, the Hairy-Nosed Porcupine.
To these should be added the Persian Gazelle, the
Saiga Antilope, the Siberian Ibex, the Siberian Roebuck,
and the Maral Stag— this last closely resembling
the Canadian Wapiti. There are some other animals
also of greatest interest, to which I shall allude
hereafter.
Meanwhile, having described the natural features of
the province, I shall proceed to speak of it in relation
to man.