It is however fufficiently clear, -from the accounts of Da Halde and
Pallas, that the Oelets, or Eluts, are the fame people with 'the Kalmucs, j
who -poffefs the regions of Gete and Little Bucharia, with the parts on
the N. and E. of Turfan formerly hield by the Ugurs or Eygurs, a Ein-
niih nation who had wandered from tlie north. The Kalkas are alfo
Monguls, as are the Ortoos between the Chinefewall and .great river
Hnan Ho. , It is equally,-afcertained that thejinh'aMtatitkMthe pto-
vinGe of Nertchinfk, or Ruffian Daouria, are Tungufes, who are a chief
branch of the Mandffiurs/ And the Tagours, or Daourians, fubjedt to--
China on the eaftern fide of the great range calledSiolhi, are alfo Mand-
fhurs; whoNextend to the eaftern- ocean, while in Siberia the Tungufes
Ipread as far weft as the river Yenifei. -
Upon,the whole this extenfive region might more properly be called!
Mongolia,.as the'greater number p'fjxibesmtb Monguls; .or the weftern-
part might be ftyled. Tatary, the middle Mongolia, and the eaftern
Mandfhuria. Thetvyo latter are the obj efts of the prefent defcrip'tion
as that of Independent Tatary'will be found after the account o f Perfu .
with which it has (as now-limited) in allagesbeen connected.
This wide . and interefting portion of Afia,-which has repeatedly fent
forth its fwarms to deluge the arts and civilization of Europe, extends--
Brom the 72d q of longitude eaftfrom Greenwichtathe 14.5th0, a., fpacd:
of not lefs than 730' of longitude, which at the medial latitude of-4.5?-
will yield about 3100 geographical miles. The breadth from the.-
northern frontier' óf Tibet to the Ruffian cOnfthéSis: about 18 degrees, or'
io;8p geographical miles. The boundary tbWards Ruffia- has been at
ready defcribed. From the treaty publiffied by Du Haldë* it appears
that the river Kerbetehi,. being the neareft to the river Chprnar.(ckiiedi
by the natives Ourouonj, and which di'féhargéS
Kagalien Oula, Was the Chihefë definition of the-boundary between the
empires; to which were added, the long chain of mountains above, the
fburce.of the river Kerbetehi, and the river Êfgónë or'Argoon. The
eaftern boundary is the fea, while the fodthem extends along thé great:
Ghin-efe wall, and the northern limits Of Tibet. The weftern. boun-
dary is fuppfied by thé celebrated mountains of Beliir Tag or the:
b . - - *- ;y. 342.1 -
Cloudy
-Cloudy Mountains, which divide the Chinefe empire from Balk, and
the Greater Bucharia; while the range on the weft of the lake Palkati
feparates the Kalmucs, fubjed to China, from the Rirgufes tóf Independent
Tatary.-
The original population o f central Afia appears to have been indi-
genal, fo-far -as the meft ancient records extend. Part of the weft: was
held by the Scythas dTantiqiïky, féemingly a Gothic race, who were
fuhdued or expelled by the Tatars or .Huns5 from the eaft, preffed ^oh ‘thé
other fide by the Monguls. Beyohdithe latter were the Mahdihurs,
who.though inferior to the Monguls in power, yet retained thek an-
eient poffeffions, and in the feventeenth century .conquered China. At
prefent the chief inhabitants are the1 Mandihurs-ef'-the eaftern pro-
vincesq.'with the tribes-denominated -Kalkas,’Eluts, and Kalmucs, who
are Monguls as already mentioned. The information: concerning central
Afia is indeed very lame and dëfëdive ; and though the late Ruf--
fian travellers afford a* few hints,, yet the jealoufy of the Chinefe-, and
ether caufes, have contributed to prolong, our ignorance concerning,
this interefting region, t,i
Though Ptolemy have laid down with lome degree of accuracy thé
country o f the Seres or Little Bucharia,. the progreffive geography of
central Afia-may be faid to commence with the travels of Marco Polo, -
in the end of the thirteenth century.. Yet prior to^this- epoch' the vic-
tories of Xingis and his immediate fucceffors, having excited the attention
of Europe, the friar Pianos Carpini travelled a confiderable way
into Tatary, and found the emperor not far from the frontiers of -Chin-a,
This.enVoy was followed by Rubruquis, whofe real name feems to" have’
been Ruyfbroeck, and who appears to have vifited the countries on stlie
hanks jof the Onon. But the travels of Eolorbeiög.;mpré-extenfiye» and -
more minutely defcribed,- he is-jnftly regarded as the father of Tatarie'
geography, and his defcription of the,countries to the north of Tibet,:,
including Tangut,^ and other names which have vani£hed.from modern^
geography, is not a little interefting: Yet a differtation, aided by
. * This appears to have been the country immediately to the N. W. of theChingfe-pjvVjsce o£>
Shcnii. See Forfler’.s Hift. Voyiand-Difc, in thèNorth, p .ie ? ,* . -
E x t ent . !
Qulinal Population’.
. ■
Pi-ogreijr/e"
Geography?-