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was not till the final occupation of the district of Semirechinsk (or seven rivers ) in 1849, that the Russians seriously thought about surveying and exploring Lake Balkash. Up to that time all that had been done was to survey parts of the shores and collect the scattered notices of the few who had visited it. The earliest information given of the lake is contained in the Chinese records, the relations of this people with Central Asia from very remote times having acquainted them first with its geography.

Si-yui or the western country in the widest