Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/21

 ASIA 9 clayey soil, impregnated with salt and nitre, varied here and there with patches of verdure. Beloochistan is mostly an arid plain covered with coarse rod sand. The mountainous re- gion of Armenia, extending toward the Black sea, abounds in fertile valleys set among rugged hills. There are several smaller and detached plateaus. Imbedded in the Ural mountains is a large plain rich in minerals. The highlands of Syria rise gradually from the neighboring deserts to an elevation of above 10,000 ft., and slope by a succession of terraces down to the narrow coast plain of Palestine, with a deep depression, the valley of the Dead sea, 1,300 ft. below the level of the ocean. In India the plateau of the Deccan rises to the height of 1,500 or 2,000 ft., shut off by the Western Ghauts from the level coast of Malabar, by the Eastern Ghauts from that of Coromandel, and by the Vindhya and Malwa mountains from the low plains of Hindostan. There are six great Asian low- lands: 1. That' of Siberia on the north, which stretches from the northern declivities of the Altai mountains to the shores of the Arc- tic ocean. It is mostly cold, barren, and gloomy, hardly fitted for the abode of man. 2. The lowland near the Caspian sea and the Aral, a sterile waste, much of it lying below the level of the ocean. 3. The Syro-Arabian lowland, the southern and western parts a desert, with few green spots. But wherever there is water this lowland is wonderfully productive. Its N. E. section, lying between the Euphrates and the Tigris, known formerly as Mesopotamia and Babylonia, once support- ed powerful nations. Though now sterile and almost uninhabited, it needs only the res- toration of the ancient system of irrigation from the two great rivers to render it one of the most productive regions of the earth. 4. The lowlands of Hindostan, comprising the great Indian desert, in the northwest, together with the fertile plains of Bengal, a region not exceeded even by China for capacity to support a dense population. 5. The Indo- Chinese lowlands, comprising the long levels of Burmah, watered by the Irrawaddy, and the low alluvial regions of Cambodia and Siam. 6. The immense Chinese lowlands, commencing in lat. 40 N"., and spreading southward to the tropic of Cancer. This plain, containing an area of about 200,000 sq. m., nearly that of France, supports a population of more than 100,000,000, in proportion double that of Eng- land, more by half than that of Belgium, and much more than twice that of any other coun- try in the world, except a portion of India. The hydrography of Asia is regulated by its mountain ranges. There are six main river systems: 1. That of Siberia comprises the Obi, the Yenisei, and the Lena, each, roughly speaking, about 2,500 m. long. These carry off the waters of the Altai chain into the Arc- tic ocean. The Obi, the most western of the great Siberian rivers, is formed by two rivers rising in the Altai range. In lat. 61, a little N. of the parallel of St. Petersburg, it receives its great affluent the Irtish, and the stream falls into the Arctic ocean in lat. 67. The double basin of the Obi occupies a third of the area of Siberia. The Yenisei drains an area of about 800,000 sq. m., receiving in its course many large branches. It debouches in lat. 72 into the gulf of Yenisei. The Lena, draining about 700,000 sq. m., rises in the mountains N. of Lake Baikal, runs N. E. for half its course to Yakutsk, receives in lat. 63 the Aldan, its greatest tributary, and thence runs between masses of frozen mud, in which are found the remains of extinct species of the elephant and rhinoceros, falling into the ocean near lat. 73, nearer to the pole than the month of any other great river. The Obi is the only Siberian river navigable for any dis- tance ; but, like all the others, it is frozen over for a great part of the year. 2. The Chinese river system comprises four minor divisions. The Hong-kiang or Si-kiang, rising in the province of Yun-nan, after an E. S. E. course of 1,000 m., falls into the bay of Canton. The Yang-tse-kiang descends in several streams from the Pe-ling mountains, which divide China proper from Tartary. Its length is nearly 3,000 m., a fifth part of which is navigable for large ships. In volume of water it is exceeded only by the Amazon and the Mississippi. It divides China proper into two nearly equal parts, passing through the most populous provinces. Its course is very winding, the general direction being first southeasterly and then northeasterly. It falls into the Yellow sea in lat. 32 N. The Hoang-ho or Yellow river, 2,500 m. long, has its source near that of the Yang-tse-kiang, but for a long distance the rivers are separated by mountain chains which border the table land. They then approach, and in 1851 their mouths were only 100 m. apart. In that year the Hoang-ho burst through its northern banks, and in 1853 its lower course had wholly changed, its present mouth in the gulf of Pe- chi-li being 260 m. N. of the former one. Nine similar changes are recorded within 2,500 years, the various mouths ranging over a coast line of nearly 350 m. Nearly all of the Chinese rivers are tributaries of these two great streams, the principal exceptions being the Hong-kiang and the Pei-ho or White river, which have their own basins. The Pei-ho, rising near the great wall, becomes navigable a few miles E. of Peking, and is an important channel for trade. It is also connected with the great canal. The Amoor, having its source in Mon- golia, for a great part of its course separates Chinese Mantchooria from the Russian Amoor Country. Its lower course is wholly within the Russian dominions. Its length measured along its windings is nearly 2,400 m., or about 1,600 in a direct line. It falls into the sea of Okhotsk, in lat. 53. 3. Of the Indo-Chinese system, the principal rivers are the Irrawaddy and the Salwen, which water Burmah ; the