main. One of them is 36 feet 6 inches in circumference, and the spread of its branches proportionably extensive.

The eastern side of the Archipelago presents many mountains of great height and classical fame, chiefly in ranges extending from N. to S. Of these Olympus is one of the most celebrated, a vast range covered with perpetual snow. About 140 miles W. of Olym→ pus rises mount Ida, of great though not equal height.

ISLANDS BELONGING TO ASIATIC TURKEY.

The chief islands in the Archipelago, considered as belonging to Asia, are Mytilene, Scio, Samos, Cos, and Rhodes.

Mytilene, the ancient Lesbos, is the most northerly and largest of these isles, being about 40 miles in length, by 24 at its greatest breadth. Its population is upwards of 100,000. The climate is exquisite; and it was anciently noted for wines, and the beauty of the

women.

Scio, the ancient Chios, is about 36 miles in length, by about 13 in medial breadth. The Chian wine is celebrated by Horace, and retains its ancient fame. The inhabitants are supposed to be about 60,000.

Samos is about 30 miles in length, and 10 in breadth. This isle is also crossed by a chain of hills, and the most agreeable part is the plain of Cora. Tournefort computes the inhabitants at 12,000. Cos, or Coos, is about 24 miles in length, by 3 or 4 in breadth; but has been little visited by modern travellers.

Rhodes is about 36 miles in length, by 15 in breadth, an island celebrated in ancient and modern times. It is fertile in wheat, though the soil be of a sandy nature. The population is computed at about 40,000. The city of the same name, in which no Christian is now permitted to dwell, stands in the north end of the isle; and was anciently noted for a colossus in bronze, about 130 feet high. This isle was for two centuries possessed by the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, thence styled of Rhodes, till 1523, when it was taken by the Turks; and the emperor Charles V. assigned to the knights the island of Malta.

Cyprus is about 160 miles in length, and about 70 at its greatest breadth. The soil is fertile, yet agriculture is in a neglected state. The chief products are silk, cotton, wines, turpentine, and timber. The Cypriots are a tall and elegant race; but the chief beauty of the women consists in their sparkling eyes. To the disgrace of the Turkish government, the population of this extensive island is computed at 50,000 souls!

RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN ASIA.

Extent. ASIATIC RUSSIA extends between the 57th and the 190th degrees of east longitude from London, computed at 4570 miles in length. Its greatest breadth, from the Altaian chain of

mountains, on the south, to the cape of Faimura on the north, 28 degrees of latitude, is 1960 miles.

Boundaries. East by a part of Asia, and the seas of Kamchatka and Ochotsk; north by the Arctic ocean; west the frontiers correspond with those between Asia and Europe. The southern limits require more explanation. The river Cuban, part of the Caucasian chain, and an ideal line, divide the Russian territory from Turkey and Persia. The boundary then ascends along the north of the Caspian, through the stepp, or desert of Issim, and the eastern shore of the river Ob, to where it issues from the Altaian mountains, when it meets the vast empire of China; and proceeds along that chain to the sources of the Onon, where it includes a considerable region, called Daouria, extending about 200 miles in breadth, to the south of the mountains called Yablonny; the limit between Russia and Chinese Tartary being partly an ideal line; and partly the river Argoon, which joined with the Onon, constitutes the great river Amur. Thence the boundary returns to the mountainous chain, and follows a branch of it to a promontory on the north of the mouth of the Amur, or Amoor.

Divisions. See Russian Empire in Europe.

Religion. The Grecian system of the christian faith, which is embraced by the Russians, has made inconsiderable progress in their Asiatic possessions. Many of the Tartar tribes in the S. W. are Mahometans; and others follow the superstition of Dalai Lama, of which an account will be given in the description of the Chinese empire. But the more eastern Tartars are generally of the Shaman religion, a system chiefly founded on the self-existence of matter, a spiritual world, and the general restitution of all things."

The archiepiscopal see of Tobolsk is the metropolitan of Russian Asia in the north, and that of Astrachan in the south. There is also the see of Irkutsk and Nershinsk, and perhaps a few others of recent foundation

At Karras, 530 miles S. W. of Astrachan, and 260 N. of Trifflis, is a missionary station, supported by a missionary society at Edinburgh. The Mahommedan religion prevails in this region, to a great extent. The missionaries have been patronized by the Russian government, and their labors have been successful. Mr. Brunton, one of the missionaries on this station, lately deceased, has translated the Scriptures into the Turkish language, which is understood by all the Tartars, who can read, from the banks of the Wolga, to shores of the Euxine, and is also spoken over many extensive and populous regions in the east. Types and paper have been sent to the amount of £600 sterling to this station, by the British and Foreign Bible Society, in aid of the benevolent object, and the New Testament has been already published, and is read with interest by some of the most learned Mahommedans. This station is not far distant from the Sonnas, in the Caucasian mountains, already noticed, and who in connection with this mis

• Tooke's Russia, 1783, iv. 42.

sion, may be of cssential service in spreading the knowledge of the Gospel through the neighboring countries.

Government. Siberia is divided into two great governments, that of Tobolsk in the west, and Irkutsk in the east. The smaller provinces are Kolivan, Nershinsk, Yakutsk, and Ochotsk. In the S. W. is the government of Caucasus, with one or two other divisions, intermingling Europe and Asia. At a distance from the capital the government becomes proportionably lax, and tribute is the chief mark of subjection.

Population. See Table. The population of Siberia, according to Tooke, cannot be computed at above three millions and a half. Small Russian colonies have been established in several of the distant provinces and isles.

Manners and Customs. The manners and customs of Asiatic Russia vary with the tribes by whom that extensive region is peopled. The Tartars, properly so called, are the most numerous, not only remaining in their ancient kingdom of Siberia, but constituting many other tribes in the west. Next in importance are the Monguls, of whom one tribe, the Kalmuks, are found to the west of the Caspian; while the others, called Burats, Tonguts, &c. are chiefly around the sea of Baikal. Yet farther to the east are the Mandshurs, or Tunguses. The manners of the Tartars, who are the same people with the Huns of antiquity, are minutely described by those authors who have delineated the fall of the Roman empire.

The Monguls are rather short in stature, with a flat visage, small oblique eyes, thick lips, and a short chin, with a scanty beard; the hair black, and the complexion of a reddish or yellowish brown; but that of the women is clear, and of a healthy white and red. They have surprising quickness of sight and apprehension, and are docile, hospitable, beneficent, active, and volup tuous. Such, with some slight shades of difference, are also the manners of the Tartars and Mandshurs.

The three distinct barbaric nations of Tartars, Monguls, and Tunguses, or Mandshurs, are by far the most interesting in these middle regions of Asia, as their ancestors have overturned the greatest empires, and repeatedly influenced the destiny of half the globe. Of these the Monguls are the chief people, and the account already given of their manners will suffice to impart an idea of the ethical condition of Asiatic Russia.

Language. The languages of all these original nations are radically different; and among the Tunguses, Monguls, and Tartars, there are some slight traces of literature; and not a few manuscripts in their several languages. The history of the Tartars, by Abulgasi, is a favorable specimen of Tartaric composition. The late emperor of China ordered many of the best Chinese works to be translated into the Mandshur language, which, having an alphabet, may be more easily acquired than the original. In the Mongul language there are also many books, written in the various countries to which their wide conquests extended. Superior, even amid their barbarism, to the chief original nations

of Africa and America, the central races of Asia deserve an attention, which has been lavished upon inferior objects.

Cities and Towns. In Asiatic Russia, the principal city is Astrachan, at the mouth of the Volga, which is supposed to contain 70,000 inhabitants. This city was founded by the Monguls of Kipschak. In 1554 the Monguls were expelled. Astrachan is built on several small hills, that rise amid the meadows of the Volga. There are 25 Russian churches, and 2 convents. The Armenians, Lutherans, and Papists, have also their places of worship; and even the Hindoos have beep permitted to erect a temple.

Azof, on the Asiatic side of the Don, is of small importance, except as a fortified post.

On passing the Uralian chain, first occurs the city of Tobolsk, which contains only about 15,000 souls; but is esteemed the capital of Siberia. Tobolsk is more distinguished as the residence of the governor and archbishop, than for the importance of its The upper town stands on a hill, on the east side of the Irtish, and contains a stone fortress of some strength. Indian goods are brought here by Kalmuck and Bucharian merchants, and provisions are cheap and plentiful.

commerce.

Kolyvan is a town of some consequence, on the river Ob. In the neighborhood there are silver mines of considerable produce. To the north of Kolyvan is Tomsk, said to contain about 8000 souls.

On the river Angara, which issues from the sea of Baikal, stands Irkutsk, supposed to contain 12,000 inhabitants. It is the chief mart of the commerce between Russia and China, the see of an archbishop, and the seat of supreme jurisdiction over eastern Siberia. The numerous officers and magistrates have introduced the customs and fashions of Petersburg, and European equipages. are not uncommon in this distant region.

On the wide and frozen Lena, stands Yakutsk, with some stone churches; but the houses are mostly of wood, and inhabited chiefly by Russians. The Lena is here about two leagues in width, (though about 700 miles from its mouth) but is greatly impeded with ice; and there are only a few small barks, chiefly employed in supplying the town with provisions. Ochotsk, on the sea of the same name, may be rather regarded as a station than a town.

Manufactures. There are some manufactures, particularly in leather, at Astrachan; and salt is prepared there, and in several other places in Asiatic Russia. Isinglass is chiefly manufactured on the shores of the Caspian, from the sounds or air bladder of the sturgeon, and the beluga. Kaviar is the salted roe of large fish. There is a considerable manufacture of nitre, about 40 miles north of Astrachan. The Tartars and Bashkirs make felts of a large size, some of which are exported. The Russian leather is chiefly fabricated in the European provinces, being tanned with willow bark, and afterwards stained. Shagreen is prepared from the

• Lesseps, ii. 344.

hides of horses or asses, but only a particular part of the back is fit for this purpose; and the grain is given with the hard seeds of the greater orach, pressed into the leather while moist. Pitch is made by the boors from the pines of Siberia. Near the Uralian mountains are several manufactures in iron and copper.

Commerce. The chief commerce of this part of the Russian empire consists in sables, and other valuable furs, which are eagerly bought by the Chinese, who return tea, silk, and porcelain ; that with the Kirguses is carried on by exchanging Russian woollen cloths, iron, and household articles, for horses, cattle, sheep, and beautiful sheep-skins. On the Black sea there is some commerce with Turkey, the exports being furs, kaviar, iron, linen, &c. and the imports wine, fruit, coffee, silks, rice. In the trade on the Caspian, the exports are the same, but the return chiefly silk. The principal Russian harbors are Astrachan, Gurief, and Kisliur, near the mouth of the Terek, but the best haven is Baku, belonging to the Persians. The Tartars, on the east of the Caspian, bring the products of their country, and of Bucharia, as cotton yarn, furs, stuffs, hides, rhubarb; but the chief article is raw silk from Shirvan and Ghilan, on the west of the Caspian.

Climate and Seasons. In Asiatic Russia the climate extends from the vine at the bottom of Caucasus, to the solitary lichen, on the rocks of the Arctic ocean. Through the greater part of Siberia, the most southern frontier being about 50°, while the northern ascends to 78°; the general climate may more justly be regarded as frigid than temperate; being, in three quarters of the country, on a level with that of Norway and Lapland, unsoftened by the gales of the Atlantic. To the south of the sea of Baikal, the climate parallels that of Berlin and the north of Germany, so that the finest and most fertile regions in middle Asia belong to the Chinese. Face of the Country. In a general view of Asiatic Russia, the northern and eastern parts present vast marshy plains, covered with almost perpetual snow, and pervaded by enormous rivers, which, under masses of ice, pursue their dreary way to the Arctic ocean. Even the central parts of Siberia seem destitute of trees, vegetation being checked by the severe cold of so wide a continent. Towards the south there are vast forests. The sublime scenes around the sea of Baikal are agreeably contrasted with the marks of human industry, the cultivated field and the garden.†

Soil and Agriculture. Many parts of Siberia are totally incapable of agriculture; but in the southern and western districts the soil is of remarkable fertility. Toward the north of Kolyvan barley generally yields more than twelve fold, and oats commonly twenty fold. Exclusive of winter wheat, most of the usual European grains prosper in southern Siberia. The best rhubarb abounds on the banks of the Ural, or Jaik, in the southern districts watered by the Yencsei, and in the mountains of Daouria.

But in no part of the Russian empire has agriculture made much progress, nor indeed is it possible, while the peasantry are slaves, and sold with the soil.

* Tooke's View, ifj. 531. + See Bell's animated description of this region.