'ftacles an intelligent traveller was furprifed at>i&é abondance of buck
'■ wheat, rye, barley, oats, :and‘ other grain which he obferved to the
Jforith. of iTobolfk; where the cattle were alfo very numerous, and in
-the winter fëd with hay.1 Nay he allures' us that in ï 720, when -hè
»accompanied the Ruffian -ambaflador to, Pekin, he ‘ obferVed to the- Ibuth
»of the fea of Baikal rich crops of wheat, rye, barley,' oats,- buck Wheat,
and.peas, befides culinary plants; but the inhabitants had not then
begun t to -plintf any fruit trees, though in' his opinion-1 they -Would
yrofper, as'thë fnëw never lay above two months on the grÖüödAThe
darge garden ftrawberiy, called haut-bois, is found wild in the territory
o f Irkutfk; and on the Altaian mountains the red currant attains = the
.fize of a common cherry, ripeningin iarge bunches of excellent
flavour. Near the Volga and the Ural are excellent melons óf; various
kinds'. Bees are. not known in Siberia; but among the Bafhkirs,' 'to th e
weft of the Uralian chain, form an article of great advantage to the
farmer. - *
Some .of the largeft rivers .of Afia belong to 'the Ruffian empire,
nearly equalling in .the length of. their courfe any others on the glóbe.
The Ob, including its wide eftuary, may be faid to hold a comparative
courfe of 1,900: Britilh miles;i while that of the Yeneféi ds ab'öift
•17 » nud that of the Lena 1570. In -'the iarne mode of menfliration
the Hoan Ho of the Chmefc, will, in its wandering progrefs, exceed the
Ob;- while the Kian Ku, pervading the Center of China, maybltraced,
if the Portfolio bd included, for a length Of about vtfoö miles!
- TheOb may4 be traced from the lake of Altyn/ lat. ^f€fiitsffóu#ce
be not even followed along the Shabekan river toJat 470. The upper
Irtifh flowsrinto ,the lake of Saifan, whence it iflues under the name of
Lower Irtifh, and after a circuit of great extent'' joins the.. Obt below
Samarof. It rifes about the 45 and ought perhaps to be regarded-as the
principal, ftream. But fuch doubts are frequent concerning the SibéHan
rivers in particular, the names, anddiftin<ftions propofed by ignorant
barbarians, ufurping the place of exad geography. However this bd
the Ob,, piercing the Altaian chain, after having received many fmall
ftreams, paffes Kolyvan, and at fome diftance to the;N, receives the
' * Bell, i. 228. 8vo. edition. • - '3 « p
Tomm, and-other large, risers from thetcaft. .Below -Sasmarofy. as- already
mentioned, it receives-' the great raven Irtiih, and runs into' the fea of
Oh, a gulph of the Arctic ‘ocean. The Ob is navigable almoft to its
fource,.. that. ÉÉ to," the Lake of., Altyn, and abounds -with fifti, but- the
ftnrgeon of theiJrtifh are the moftr'eftéerrred.; 'After it has been frozen
for fame time; *be.whter beebméstfoüliandéfetidy owing'to-theiflowriefst-
of the- current, .and the:vaft moraffesy but 'tSe riVe»-: is 1 purified in-the
Ijpring b y the? melting óf the-; fnow.4v i^his iisi juftly. 'afid univerMl-y
efteemed • the- largef t - 'menRuf f ian empire.y'rThetlKores 'and
channel are generally .jjoqky till Sf ’receive, the Ket; after- which', thé
courfe is through clay,, ,marl,i fends, and -moraffes.
. - Next is*’ the Yenifei, whichtislconfidered'as^derivingi its'foürce-from Yenifei...
the mountains to the Ss W, of the-Baikal, in the river called- Silkit ;
but- tVf natne jYanifei k not imparted: till many ftreams have joined^,
when it holds jfts- courfe almoft due »north to the Arctic ocean. * Yet
withfaC more propriety, might the Yenifeitberderived, from the fea of
Baikal, whence flows- the Angara, afterwards-tjabfürdly jCflfed Tun-
gufka,* befog a ftream of more length- and importance than the--
Yfenifei, f® that the name .of Angara-might be, continued, till'itrijhfo thé -
ArCticfea.-, This river ih^jfome rapides, but is-jnavigable forfagieafrwayf
•.The Angara, a&eB^atdsjelled Tu ngufka, is, faid to be about a mfleia Angara,
breadth, when it iflues from the Baikal, and is* lo clear that the! pebbfes,
ef the bottom may be fèbmat thedepth.’of two fathom s,s- Thé-channel
ig fujhof rocks fbrghe fpace of ab,out a mile, from its-egrefsq and there is-
no paffiageior the fmafleft,boats, s except along the, eaftern-,bank. )j&| The
waters dalhing upon the ftones make a uqife likerthe roaring pf the fea,
fo ithat peopie ^uea-rthem can. fcarce; hear 'ófte another- fpeak. I «cannot-
exprefs-the awfufoefa- with which, one is ftruck at the- fight-of fuch
aftonfthing feenes of naturev as appear . round this^place, and which*
If beBeve.are.uot to.be equalled- fov the. known world*. The.pilots and
* Pennant, Arc, Zool. clxi.
* There are two other rivers of this name further to riofth, th% largeft jómtóg the-
Yenirifin' lat. 66b. But Mr. Pennant’s Müngazea feems-Vèry-doubtful, ifit'be not the village,.
: or ftation called Tourouk Hanlk*
- f:. ‘r ri,J '■
fatjors