N. of the gate Kupi Kew (kew means a strait or defile) are the territories, formerly part of Korchen and Onhiot, but now converted into a forest, where the emperor hunts and has several pleasure houses. Kupi Kew is the gate called Kapki by the Russians, and is in 40° 42′ 15′′ N. and 0° 39′ 4′′ E. of Peking. N. of this gate are the districts of Onhiot, Kechikten, Parin, Sharot, Uchu-Muchin, Aru-Korchin, and Abu-hanar. Oahiot has two standards on the river Irikin, 42° 30′ N. and 2o E. of Peking. Parin contains two standards, and its principal place is on the Hara Muren, which falls into the Sira Muren, 43° 36′ N. and 2o 14' E. of Peking. This district is larger than Onhiot, but has but a poor soil. Kechiktin contains two standards, and its chief station is on a small stream running N.E. to the Sira Muren, 43° N. and 1° 10' E. of do.-Uchu Muchin has two standards along the Hulgar Pira, 44° 45′ N. and 1° 10' E. of do.-Sharot has also two standards, and is inhabited chiefly towards the confluence of the Laban Pira and Sira Muren, 43° 30′ N. 4° 20′ E. Arukorchin has but one banner, which resides on the Arukondulon river, 45° 30′ N. 0° 28′ E.-Abuhanar has two standards, and is best inhabited about the Taal Noor, 43° 30′ N. 0° 28' E. Within this second division, going almost due N. from Kupi Kew, some towns are found, and the ruins of some considerable cities, as Ilan Hotun, Poro Hotun, Kurtu Hotun, and Chau Nayman Sume Hotun,-all on the Shangtu river. The last of these seems to have been the city of Shangtu, called by the Chinese Kay-ping-foo, and built by Kublay Khan, who denominated it Shangtu, or the high court,' and was the summer residence of the Ywen dynasty, who in winter dwelt at Peking. It belongs to the country of Korchin, and is the Ciandoo of Marco Polo. Immediately to the N. of the gate Chang-kyakew is a country which was conquered by the emperor Kanghee, and which is the property of the Chinese emperors. These lands, and all the rest alongst the great wall, are occupied by farmers belonging to his celestial majesty, the princes of the blood, and several Tartar lords. Here are Mongols of different countries arranged under three standards, and commanded by officers appointed by the emperor, and are therefore not reckoned among the 49 Mongol banners. Farther to the N. are the countries of the Mongol princes, of Whachit, Sonhiot, Sabahay, and Twinchooz.-Whachit has two standards, near the Cherin Pira, 44° 6' N. 0° 45′ E.-Sonhiot has two standards, and the principal station is near a lake in 42° 29′ 7′′ by observation, and 1° 28′ W. of Peking.—Abahay has two standards, which encamp about some lakes or meers, the southernmost of which is called Siretu Huchin, 44° N., and 1° 31′ W.Twinchooz has but one banner, near the Orgun Alin, or mount Orgun, 41° 41′ N. and 4° 20′ W. N. of the gate Shahu-kew, in Shansee, are the emperor's lands, 40° 27′ and 4° 12′ W. of Peking. In this district, Khuku, or Khutuk too Hotun, or city of the Lama's vicar amongst the Sharra Mongols, is the most remarkable. Here is a Lama temple where the same pantomime is carried on as at Lassa and Oorga. Here dwell the two chiefs of the Tummet tribe, appointed by the emperor. It is the capital of all the country of the Sharra Mongols, where the imperial governor and the Khutuklu lama reside.-Beyond this district lie those of the Mongol chiefs of Kalka, Targar, Maumingan, Urat, and Orloos. The two former have only one banner each, and the Virat or Urat has three standards, who range alongst the banks of the Kondulin river, in 40° 55′ N. and 6° 30′ W. of Peking. The Ortoos Mongols are hemmed in on all sides by the great wall and the sweep of the Whang

ho. The chief point of this district, which extends 300 British miles N. and S., is in 39° 30′ N. and 7° 30′ W. of Peking. These Mongols are governed by several petty chiefs under six standards, and pride themselves on the largeness and number of their tents, as well as the multitudes of their flocks. Their country once made part of the empire of Tangut or Hya. Thus we have gone over the territories and standards of the Mongol tribes as briefly as possible. Although all these tribes live a roving life, yet they have their limits fixed by custom, beyond which they must not pass; and an act of this kind would be viewed as hostile. A boundary, called the karou, or limit,' has been fixed by imperial authority between the Khalkhas, or black Mongols, and the Sharra, or yellow Mongols, just described. It runs from S.W. to N.E.

As the Sharra Mongols belong to the same stock as the Khalkhas, the similarity of pastoral manners, customs, mode of life, religious opinions, and other things, is so great, that, in describing the one branch, we have, in fact, described the other. The only difference seems to be, that the latter being in the very vicinity of China, and enjoying the advantage of frequent intercourse with a nation more civilized than themselves, they are consequently somewhat more polished than their more rude and distant kindred. Since 1620, they have been possessed of a code of laws,' subscribed by 44 princes and chiefs. In these the greater part of crimes is punished by fines, and actions of public utility are rewarded. He who refuses milk to a traveller is fined of a sheep. Trial by ordeal is admitted ; likewise solemn oaths from a superior, attesting the innocence of an inferior, institutions coinciding with those of Europe in the middle ages. The southern Mongols are those of the race which always remained in the vicinity of China, and the Khalkhas such as were driven out of China and retired to the N. Thus we have gone over the two grand branches of the Mongolian family-the Khalkhas and Sharras. There is a third branch of Mongols, which inhabit the northern part of Tibet, and who are denominated, in Tibetian, Hor, and Ghia Hor, or the Ghia of Hor. The name Ghia, in Tibetian, signifies a great and very diffused people. The name of the Tibetian Mongols, in Mongolian, is Siraigol or Charagol. As we are very ignorant of the geography of Tibet, we cannot say much about the site of this Mongol branch; but probably it is about the source of the Whang-ho, in 35" N. lat. and 19" long. W. of Peking; where we find marked, in the 5th sheet of the map of Tibet, two lakes called Charingkol and Oring-kol, and a small stream called Kara Pira, or the black river,' descending N. to the Oring-kol. In Tibet, likewise, the Mongols are usually denominated Sogh-po, or 'people of the prairies or meadows,' or, in other words, nomades or wanderers.

II. SOONGARIA, OR COUNTRY OF THE ELUTHS.

IF little is known of the geography of Mongolia, still less is known of Soongaria, and that for two obvious reasons. This country has never been explored by Europeans, nor ever trodden by a European foot since the days of Ruysbroeck, in the middle of the 13th century; whereas, the road for the Russian embassies to China being through Mongolia, we have been enabled to say something of Mongolia, from the journals of these embasThe second reason is, that, though little is known of Mongolia, yet we had some aids from the Chinese historians to clear our way, and give some idea of the country. But we have not the same aids respecting Soongaria; for if the Chinese know something of their neighbours, yet

sies.

they are profoundly ignorant of distant regions-regions not in immediate contact with their own. Hence Gibbon has justly characterized the Chi nese annals by two remarkable properties, domestic accuracy and foreign ignorance; and, from the poverty of our stock, readers cannot expect that we can say either very much, or much to the purpose, on Soongaria. We have given them fair warning, and it is not our fault if they be disappointed. We can only say, in the general, that Soongaria is a basin or con cave plateau, bounded on the N. by the Kirguisian mountains and the Little Altai, which separate it from Western Siberia; on the S. by the Alak Tagh or Alak Oola, which, in the Kirguisian dialect of the Turkish language, signifies the speckled mountain,' and which joins at its eastern extremity, the great Bogdo; on the E. by the Bogdo Alin, asserted by the Mongols and Eluths to be the highest summit of Central Asia; and on the W. by the northern continuation of the Beloor Tagh, which separates it from the country possessed by the great Kirguisian horde. Respecting its longitudinal extent, it is impossible to state it accurately for want of observations of longitude; and the same may be said of its breadth. We only know that it is a very lofty and extensive region, reaching perhaps from the 75th to the 100th deg. of E. long., or 25 deg.; or about 1200 British miles in the lat. of 45°, and from 43° N. to 52° in its greatest breadth, or 620 British miles; but the breadth and length are far from being regular; but the superficies of the whole may be about 700,000 British square miles.

Name.] The name Soongaria, applied to this region, is Mongolian, signifying the country to the left,' in opposition to Tibet, which they denominate Baronthala, or Barohn-djao, the country to the right' or to the S. Hence the name of Songaree, applied to that branch of the Eluths who possess this region, is taken from the country so called by the Mongols, or, in other words, the region does not derive its name from them, but they from it. Strahlenberg tells us, that the Kalmuks, properly called Eluths, call themselves Avirat and Virat, and Derben Virat or Oiratthat is, the four Avirat tribes, which are Torga-oth, Koshi-oth, Kay-oht, Dsongar, and Dor-both, which two last make but one tribe. Hence he also remarks, that the Mongols call the four above-mentioned tribes not only Avir-at, but also Viloth and Avil-oth; and in Tibetian they are called Oilodh; hence the modern name Eluths or Aluths. These Eluths are probably descendants of the Avars of Menander, the Aviri of Iornandes, the Ogorits of Simokatta, and are the same with the Avi-rat of De Herbelot. It is probable the Ogorits were the Oigoors so famous in Mongolian story. Abulghazi, in his romance called a history, classes the Kalmucks or Virats among the Tartar tribes, and the Oigoors amongst the Mongol tribes. Now, the Kalmucks are evidently a branch of the great Mongol nation, as well as the Oigoors, and we cannot help thinking these latter to be a branch of the same great family, and not at all of the Turkish race. But it is impossible to arrive at certainty respecting the origin and subdivision of the pastoral tribes of Central Asia, as they have neither literature nor history to aid us in the search

Climate.] There can be no doubt that this region, though in the same latitude of France, is much colder from its high elevation and the various ranges of lofty mountains which rise on the base of its plateau. The elevated region called Kankaragay by D'Anville, in which the Irtish has its source, must have a vigorous climate, as Mount Bogdo and the other ranges in its vicinity are covered with perennial snow. The Chahan Tala,

**ure palate. of the tangin Tagum kike, or Wady sa DIS bey deraet a me if he get in the surther purs Cora una vit e tot tenir a Mate Bran's opinion, that is i que the dat ʼn de wit wirit, ater what we now know of the prodenne dean of some of the "betan volans. We are rather of vymen that ater ng he de læge er urnen boundary of Western Tiw he wants seen a tertine nemtion: the piatean of the Lesser Bawara weng over than that of Thet, and her than that of Songa VEL 1 D 1 True de pre vlich separates the Great Ata from the Lower An: fum ne Moog Tager and the Kwang ang, diere e a etzan of sing pares norvard, each lower than the wher, ail we math the sumeri connes of Western Siberia. What we say en due pont it, however, nez cinerare, as we have no facts on which to geant sur egalen; and if the place n the vicinity of the source of the Korgun, and bounding Songara on the N, be 7,000 feet of elevation, ararding to Lestebant, who expired the terrace of the little Altai to the very borders of this regon, Soongara must be a very lofty region. But Chinese paintny prevente al discovery in Central Asia

Mountains.] This region is traversed in various drections by many mountain ranges, of which the names only are known. The principal range, out of all question, is the great Aini dia, or Golden mountain, called by the Rains the Great Bogte, and is as it were in the very centre of Axia at almost an equal distance from the Caspian, the Iey, the Chinese, and the Indian was, and the grand caminating point whence all the rivers of Central Asia flow to different airths except the S. Its direction seems to be from N.W. to S.E-, and has various names in different parts of its course, from the various nomadic tribes which at different periods roamed in its vicinity, as Ek or Ak, Tak, the White mountains from its mowy summits; Kin, or the Golden mountain, from the Chinese, which is nearly a translation of the Toorkish and Mongolian epithets, Altin and Altai. By the Jesuit missionaries, in their map of Soongaria, this range is called Hangay Alin; and by others Khanggai; and, in the journal of general Kokan, it is called Han-hai; and, by Sou-boung-kean-lou, Hang-hai; but none of these is the proper name of the range according to Remusat, who observes that Han-hai is one of the names which the moderns give to the Cobi, or sandy desert. But he farther remarks, that Hanhai was anciently the Chinese name of a lake in Tartary (Soongaria), very probably one of those which abound in the mountains of Altai; and it was for that reason that, in the 7th century, when Taytsong, after the Chinese manner divided the Whey-he country into foos and choos, he gave the title of Han-hai to that region where dwelt the tribe properly called Whey-he, and near the mountain celebrated as the place where Temujin defeated the khan of the Naimans, and called Hang-hai, which seems to be no other than a Mongol corruption of the Chinese name, Han-hai, originally bestowed on the region of the Whey-he, but now given exclusively to the Altai. When we consider the Selingha and Orchon, especially the latter, have full 400 B. miles, in direct distance from their sources, in the Altai, to run, before the confluent stream enters Siberia at Kiakhta, and that Kiakhta itself is 2,560 feet above the level of the sea, we may form some idea of the elevation of the Altai. From this range a great many branches are sent off in various directions under as various names. The upper course of the Irtish is flanked on both sides, before it arrives at the Saissan lake, by the Bogdo on the right, and the Chamar Daban on the left or S., which runs

E. and joins the Ui Daban. To the S. of the Chamar Daban is a high level, watered by the Bortal river, which runs E. and is lost in a lake Another range separates this upland from that watered by the Ili, which, in its turn, is separated from the Lesser Bukharia by the Alak chain, Another range, called the Malhan Atin, separates the basin of the lake Kirkir from that of the Upsa lake.

Lakes.] In respect of the number of lakes, the plateau of Soongaria bears a strong resemblance to that of Tibet. This region seems to be composed of a great number of concavities of greater or less dimensions, either surrounded by mountain-groups or bordered by mountain-chains, in which most of the rivers of this region are lost. Of these-if we can trust the Jesuit's map, made solely from itineraries or native report—the basin of the lake of Kirkir, in the centre of Soongaria, is the largest. This basin is watered by a large stream descending S.W. from the Malban Alin, and then running N.W. to that lake into which it enters, after a semicircular course of 300 B. miles. So semicircular is its course as to represent a bow, of which the space between the lake and the source of the river represents the string. To the S.W. of this is the Ekearal lake, which is fed by two streams descending N. from the Hopto, and communicating with that of Kirkir by means of a large stream which it sends N.E. to it.-N.W. of the Kirkir lake is that of Upsa, into which the Teiz Pira descends from the N.E. In the eastern extremity of Soongaria, and in the very heart of the Altai, is the large lake of Sanghin Talghin, surrounded with lofty mountains; and a little to the S.E. is Uljeyai Chaḥan Omo, the source of the Shilotoo, the chief branch of the Selingha.-On the S. side of Soongaria are the lakes of Kisalbas and the Chahan Omo. It is probable that the Chahan lake at the source of the Shilotoo, N.W. of Kara-korom was the Cianga lake of Marco Polo, where the grand khan had a summer-palace, It abounded with swans, pheasants, cranes, partridges, and quails; but as it was too cold in winter, it could only be visited in summer.-In the western extremity of Soongaria is the Balkhash, or Palkasi Noor, a large basin of water, said to be 15 days' journey in circumference. It is more than two and a half degrees in length, by a degree in breadth, But as a proof of modern ignorance, no two maps agree in the longitude of this inland fluid expanse: some placing its eastern extremity, in 77° and others in 729 E. long. Rubruquis and Plano Carpine passed by this lake in their way to Karakorom, and say that so violent gusts of wind blow from the surrounding country as to blow travellers into the lake. The mountains to the W. of this lake form the western limit of Soongaria.-E. of this lake is a range of mountains which separate it from a series of lakes running eastwardthe Alaktookol and the Kinre, into the latter of which descends the river Imil from the E., through a gorge of the mountains which shut up this concavity on the E.-Another large lake is that of Soissan, called also Honhotoo Noor, said to be 90 miles long from E. to W., and 40 from N. to S., in 47° 30′ N. lat. and 84° E. long. at its eastern extremity,-N.E of this lake is that of Allin Kol or Noor, or the Golden lake,' called by the Russians Teletskoy Osero, or the Lake of the Telessi,' a Kalmuk tribe which inhabits the vicinity. It lies in very elevated ground, and is surrounded with mountains; its bottom is rocky, the sides steep, and it is itself very deep. The northern part is sometimes so hard frozen as to be passable on foot, but the S. part never freezes. The water in this lake, as well as that in the rivers which run through the adjacent parts-contrary to what happens to other lakes and rivers-rises only in the middle of summer,