Sks. found in- the Uafpiah: but the chain df mountain# Which--branche#
fromtthe weft offthe UfaMo the north of Orenburg* and reaches fc# the?
Volga, muft, in all ages, havevïeCtóöiÖ-''di®'*'o«fee*» feéfcnd®rbf4fee'
- Cafpian. To ffié eaft this remarkable fea, in «he ©pinion of möft
geogtóphérs, exteödêd af no very remote period to the lake öf Aral;.
the defarta ort that .fide prefenting the fame features as thofe to the!
north, though there be-now an elevated level between the fea of Aral
inch, the Cafpian, oeéafioned-perhaps fey the quantity Tand rolled*
- doWn by the Gihdtt, the,Sirr, and other rivets which now flow into the
fca of Aral. The northern ffioreaare low and fwampy, often overgrown
•with reeds; but in many other parts theOoaftsare preeipitoas, wMi«
filch deep water that a line of 450 fathom Will not reach the bottom.
This fea is the receptacle of many important rivers, as the Jamba, the
Ural of Jaik, and the Volga from the north: the Kuma, Terek, KutV
and Kizil Ozen from the weft: thofe from the fouth are of final! moment;
but from the eaft the Cafpian is fuppofed ftill to receive the
Tedjén; and the Gihon, of Oxus of antiquity, flowed into th©
Cafpian, at leaft by one or two branches, till if bent northward
and joined the fea of Aral. .Befides herrings, falmon, and other fifti,
with porpufes and feds, this fea produces fterlet, and; great numbers of
excellent fturgeon; which laft in particular«1 afceftd the Volga, and
fupply kaviar and other articles df exportation, Thé birds móft generally
feen are ftorks, herons, bitterns, fpoon-bills, with many others;
particularly a kind of heron of a pure white, while die tips of the
twngs, the beak and feet, are fearlet/ The heft haven in thé Cafpian-is
that of Baku : that pf Derbent is rocky, and that of Ettfili, or Sinfiji,
not commodious, though one of the chief ports of trade.
About i do. miles to the Eaft of the Cafpian, is the fea or lake of
Aral which is about 200 miles in length, and about 70 miles in breadth;
receiving the river anciently called Iaxartes, more recently the Sirr or
Sihon, and the river Gihon 'the Oxus of antiquity; both ftréams bf
confiderable coyrfe, flowing from ,the mountains of Belur Tag or Imaus.
The fea of Aral being furrounded with fandy defafts, has been little ex-
4 Tooke’ s View of the Ruffian empire, i. 239,
plóred
jilored; but h is fait like the Cafpiatf, and there are many fmall (aline Sea?.
lakes in the vicinity; ; || ,
„ Another remarkable detached fea isthat of Baikal in Siberia, or Afiatic Baikal
Ruffia, extending from about the fifty-firft to- the fifty-fifth degree of
north latitude, being about 350 Britifh miles • rh .'length, but its greateft
Breadth not above 35.* ' The water is frefti 'and -traulparent, yet of a
green or fèa tinge, commonly frozenin the'dattbr end of December, and
Clear May. The Baikal is/ at particular, periods, fubje<& to
Violent rand- unaccountable ftorms, whence, as -terror is the parent of
fuperftition, probably fpringsthe Ruffian name ofJS^èt>óie Moré, or the
Holy Sea.* There are ffiahy feals, and abundance-of fiffi, particularly
'a kind df herring called omtfli. Several rfl&rids '^japéar, and that of
Olchon has fulphiireous fprings. The chief, river flowing irito' the
Baikal is the Sefinga, from thé (buffi,; while from thé north it emits
•the Angara, which joins the pród%iQhs'ureVip of the'Yemfer.
Of the other Afiatic feas a mintóê”1 account would he Superfluous ;
but a few obferyations may be offered ÖU the remarkable ftrait whi^h
divides Afia drom America. This ftrait,' Whiffi wa^'difeovered by
Bcering .and afterwards by Cook, is ab.oftt leagues, or near 40 ‘miles
S breadth. Beering, a Dane, ^as bmplbyffhy;Tetef the GStix in
1728, .and actually paffed this ftrait, probity in the illual fögs hf thfe
climate, without difcovering land to, the eaft ; but/our great fravigator
gave the name of the Daniffi adventurer to ffiéfe ftraits, when he afterwards
explored ,them .with hjs ufliaj a^urhey.6 On 'Afiatié ffiore
is théEaft G^pe^f and on the American'that, called
’The depth df the ftrait is from 12 to 30 fathofns. To tHe north of thefe
itraits .the Afiatic ffiore teqdS rapidly to fhe weffwaid; while the American
proceeds ^earjy in a northern ^re^ign^^d; at the diftincé of
.about four,or five degrees, ffie continents are joined py and impenetrable
bonds of,ice. < „ , . ,, ,
In the Afiatic feas there are numerous ffioals^ or land banks; hut lew
of them have been deferibed as conducive toffiumfe induftry.
The chief 'rivers of Afia. are the ;Kian;&u and Hosn Ho, ffie Een^, Rken.
jthe Jehifel, andtlie .0t>, Jfrgams .which rival' dn '^he length of ’their
; 5 Tooke’s View, i. 141. ‘ ~ ‘ -