8§8i
Centre of
-A fiâ . -
Other ' y
Mountains.
It is to be hoped that the eye* *>f fcience"will footv ex p ire its feceffes,
' wMch, as we have feen, will provevery productive in ©bjedts of-natural
hiftory. The chief branches proceed towards the W., for on the E. is
the high central plain of Afia, fhll o f defarts,- as if-nature had here performed
her earlieft operations, when this firft and greateft continent
, emerged from th e pHmeval Waiters, and its-great height had afterwards
drawn its fertility into-the plains 'of China and Hindoftan, - Of this .ex-
tenfive tabk-land the Belur may be regarded as the weftern. buttrefs,
continued by the mountains of Jiinbal and Kifik Tag .to the Altaian
chain, which forms the northern buttrefs on the S. of the fea óf Baikal,
■ On the E. this plain gradually declines from the fources of thc-Ouon
hhd Kerlon, andtheS. limit of thc-ddart of Sham©“ while the numerous
:alpS of Tibet, to which country there is a gradual a 1 cent from China?,
form the fouthern and exerelceiitlmttreft. Except in lome few places,
fheltered from the N. and E., this extënftve elevation is exposed to extreme
cold, t h i leverfe of the deferts- of A f n c * I t is irtterïMed'with
great ranges df mountains, wliofe height muff be enorinods- iuperaoklcd
, to that of the: bafes; the weftern parts in particmlar, between Siberia
- and Tibet, abound with irregular ridges o f naked rocks, pïèfeïiting as it
were the ruins o f mountains.
The chain of Belur, the‘ ahciciit Imaus, ‘pröcfeeds nearly N. a-nd-S.,
and is continued By the mountains of'Alak or Alak Oola on the- N. of
Little Bucharia,* which join the-great Bógdo, ^he higiieft inounraip in
central Afia, according-to the reports o f the Monguis and -Tatars. On ,
• -the S. the ’ Belur fee ms more intimately connected with the Hindoo
Kob than with the northern ridges; o f Tibet. The Hindoo Kofi, and
with.errors.; and even; here he fays that this.partof-the Mus Tag is the fame, with ParopMj^u«.
which is well known'to be the mountains of Gaur, .running E. and W. His(other Mus Tag is
therefore right, as-appears from the maps of Walil arid Ifleniefh'bdiigi in fad the;Tataric name
for the northern ridge 0.f Tibet. - • v.U ■*-•/.-T */*•
* The Alak Oolavis the Üla.Gok of Strahlenberg,. whifdi hejconftjunds witjh the Ungan Da-
ga; and his Mufart is part of the Alak df Illeniéff. W-aM and o.thera.hrive taken many names at
random from his map,; which is valuable, as it gave us the firft i 'd ^ óf central Afia ; anda conr-
. parifon between it and the modern maps might afford matter for-an m terelling geograpluca com
. meritary. Sarikol, and other names in Little Bucharia, have,' been, rather rafld|
Strahlenberg into our Englifli maps.
i m mountains ,
mountains öfTxaür, maft no! be forgotten 'among thofe' of-Great 5 Bucha-
ria,< being feemingly ah extenfion of. the chain of-Beltlr, -without'any
interfùption'/except a narroiw-paf^tô-thè S. J oFAnherabr The mountains
of Àrgjhn or Argun- féem to form -onè-chain With die Kara Tan,
•though broken,-' asliïfôf/unnfual, by thb'-Wa-ftfttentof airiver ; ancl, like
the Ak Tau in the S., appear-'a branch detached from the Belur. -In the
‘country of the Kiygufes the Kifik Tag is 'probably- amexpirihg»branch
o f the’great Altaian ehain, like thë-Bugli.Tag in-rthe N. „Ta the S.-of
the defert range called Algidym Zano, a folitary mountain, the Ulu Tau,
iskdelibseated by Illenieff, probably that mfehtioqèd rl$y -.Pallas, as a.fingu*
•îaf hill, in jthe-midft of the Tatarian deferts; like that-o| the little-Bogdo
'in the:ftepp in the E. oftthe-.’Volga.* •
• y|>Jei|her-.the botany uoro zoology ofithis ,eount;r-yJaaye ih e ^ • explored
-by any intelligent naturalift. We haverTee%'that.th^a_lpin(^ i^ions-
: prefent many of the animals of Tibet.' miïieraflçgy
■feure,. though the Mongols and Tatars, who may ^ferfaidj to^hayejppf-
fefled this : country for a thoufand .years, hive not induftry for,-tire proper
purfuit- of metallurgy. The alpine heights ia-theSi E. .pgkitahy,g©]d,
filyer,iind?a pèculiar produârion, the balay, or pakriofe^plogi^^gbjf;
■ ncitt to mention laiulite, or lapis lazuli. In thehtentlj cenfusy, #be|©Ee
the native induftry hadéxpired- under long,oppreflion, Ferganajfprqduced
fal ammoniac, vitriol, iron, copper,']' gold, and •turkoifes : fand" quicksilver
Mr'added, a rare and valuable produit. * fn- 4the-m©qnt;ain fvof
Zarkal®erJe ; were fpring's of naphtha and Bitumen, and a-ftoiie. that
•takes fire and burns}” which muft imply coal. In the conn^-y^of-Se-
• trUfliteh, ; D’Anville’s Ofruftina, there was a cavern^ whe'n^eÿja,- yapour-
arofe, which in the night feemed fiery, and Üqrrfvwhich fal ammoniac
was procured. On digging the ground a , fimrlarmv&pqftr wfiuld) arif|,
as we are- told1 ofi the fires near Baku. In the-fmountains of-Aftak ör
:Ilak, the moft northern province around Otrar, t^ere were mines,of
gold and fiber; This venerable father-,of Arabian geography has comt
* F^om this mountain Timur Beheld the vail fhepps, wav ing liké 'a fea of grafs. I Gherefeddin, *
: ii.- 8r> edit. vjz2.
t Ebn Haukal. He adds} p. 272; .lead ; and fays that, the chief mines of Fergana were in the;
mountains of.Adiehreh, perhaps the Checlialith of Goez, two days from thé province of Sarchil.
VOL. H. 3 F : penfated
Mountains.
Mineralogy*/