Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/168

* SIBERIA. 130 SIBEBIA. Stanovoi mountains^ which extends unbrokenly from the Chinese border east of Lake Baikal to Bering Strait, about 4300 miles. In tlie far north the ranges thin out and dwindle so that the great low plain of North Euro-Asia is continued prac- tically without interruption to Bering Sea. The southern part of the western plains is the chief region of agriculture and population. The east- ern mountains are the region of mining, with agricultural opportunities in many valleys. The highest mountains are the Altai, Sayan, Yab- lonoi, and Stanovoi mountains, the culminating point, outside of Kamtchatka, being the Byel- ukha, in the Katunski-Altai. which, according to a recent measurement, has an elevation of nearly 15,000 feet. The isolated mountain district of Kamtchatka reaches in numerous peaks eleva- tions of from 10,000 to nearly 15,000 feet. Hydrourapiiy. Tlie Arctic rivers flowing through the Siberian lowlands and the Amur of the Pacific have great length and very extensive basins. The four great rivers, the Ob, Yenisei, Lena, and Amur (qq.v. ), with their numerous tributaries, afford about 30,000 miles of interior navigation. The Ob and its tributary the Irtysh are the most important rivers of Siberia, flowing as they do through the most fertile and populous districts in the southwest of the country. The Ob with its affluents supplies more than 9000 miles of navigation. Its estuary on the Kara Sea is very large, but vessels drawing more than 12 feet cannot enter it. Its long tributary, the Irtysh. is also navigable. The Yenisei is navi- gable for 1850 miles and ocean steamers might as- cend it for 1000 miles. The ice-choked northern sea, however, makes the Y'enisei as well as the Ob unimportant in sea trade. Local trade and steam navigation are developing along the river, but its chief importance is as a link in the line of water communication between Lake Bai- kal in Eastern Siberia and Tinmen, near the west- ern boundary, a very important route more than half way across Siberia. This route is by way of the Angara tributary of the Y'enisei from Lake Baikal and Irkutsk by steamer 400 miles to Bratski Ostrog, where rapids obstruct steam navi- gation, though the improvements required to make steamers available around the worst rapids ( 1 14 miles ) would not be very costly. Thence the route is uninterrupted to the Y'enisei, down that river to the Kass, whose source lies near that of the Ket tributary of the Ob. These rivers were canalized and connected by a canal, so that boats pass between the Y'enisei and the Ob (5SC miles). The route continues on the Irtysh and its Tobol tributary to Tinmen, over 3000 miles by water from Irkutsk. At that point freight is trans- ferred between boat and railroad. The Lena is navigable by river steamers for 1750 miles from its moiith, and serves consider- able local traffic. The Y'ana and Kolima, other large Arctic rivers, are still little known. The Amur basin supplies 81140 miles of navigation in- cluding the Annir. the Shilka and Ingoda. the Seya and its tributaries, the Sungari and its tributaries, and the Ussuri. The great commercial disadvantage of the Siberian rivers is that they are open to navigation only from three to five months in the year. Lake Baikal, the largest fresh-water lake in Asia, is in Eastern Siberia. Considerivble agriculture is developing around its shores and the Government has constructed a number of ports to facilitate the lake trade. Climate. The winters are long and very se- vere; the summers are short and hot. In the agricultural districts {the south) the mean an- nual temperature is aijproximately 32° F. in Eastern and Western Siberia. The mean sum- mer temperatures are 62° in the east and 03.5° in the west; the mean winter temperatures are — 0.4° in the east and 1.4° in the west. Summer on the farming lands of Western Siberia is as warm as in Central Russia. The temperatures farther north are much colder. Verkhoyansk, northeast of Y'akutsk, the coldest spot known in the world, has a mean annual temperature of 3.2° F., a mean in January of — 50° F. and a maximum cold of — 90° *to — 93° F. The rivers are frozen from 160 to 200 days in the year. The settled regions of the south might be said to have a severe North European climate, in contrast with the Arctic climate of the north. Excepting on parts of the Pacific coast, the rainfall is small and sometimes insufficient to mature the wheat crop. The annual rainfall at Aryan (Sea of Okhotsk) is 36 inches; Y'akutsk, 10 inches; Kiakhta, 8 inches; Tobolsk, 18 inches. Flora. The treeless northern tundras have mosses, lichens, and a little herbage on their sur- face. South of the tundras is the wide forest zone, one of the largest in the world. The wood- lands, from the Urals to Kamtchatka, are inter- rupted only by the rivers, peat bogs, marshes, or narrow ravines. Forests covering all the moun- tains are regarded by mining prosjiectors as an evil because they make gold-hunting difficult. Conifers, the prevailing trees, include all the spe- cies common to Europe, besides the I'iiiiin [lichla peculiar to Eastern Siberia. It is very tall and slender, with little economic value. The Siberian cedar (Pinxis ccmbra) is most useful and is largely cut for furniture. The most common and hardy tree is the larch, found in many va- rieties throughout the forest zone. Many trees connnon to temperate Europe also occupy large areas. Forest fires have desolated large parts of the woodlands. Berries of every kind supply food for men and animals. Fauna. All the waters bordering Siberia, as well as its rivers and lakes, abound with fish, which are a large food resource. The real incen- tive to the Russian conquest of Siberia was the great abundance of animals whose furs in that climate have great softness, w'armth, and light- ness. Though, owing to over-hunting, many of these animals have become extremely rare. Siberia is to-day the largest source of furs, surpassing Canada and Russia. Among the fur animals of the northern forests are the polar hare and fox, the sable, otter, red fox, ermine, wolf, bear, and the gray squirrel, of which about l.OOO.OOO skins are taken every year. Burrowing animals are very ninnerous in the south. The tiger is still found in considerable numbers in the south and southeast, especially abimdant in the Amur region. The Arctic tribes have the reindeer, and the camel is used in the more southerly parts. The mammoth, whose extermination seems to have been effected in a quite modern period, may almost be considered to be a part of the Siberian fauna. Geolooy and Mineral Resources. Most of the lowlands are overlaid with recent deposits resting upon Paleozoic or Mesozoic rocks. The extreme northeast is composed chiefly of Paleo-