Peter Kropotkin - The Great Siberian Railway

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The Great Siberian RailwayAuthor(s): P. KropotkinSource: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Feb., 1895), pp. 146-154Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with theInstitute of British Geographers)

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1773570Accessed: 06/07/2010 07:27

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14646 THE GPtEATSIBERIAN PtAIL\VAY.HE GPtEATSIBERIAN PtAIL\VAY.verysimpleandsystematic. Onthe northern lope,the Stourholds tsown; theMedwayhasakenofftheheadof theDarent;the lWole asbe-headed stream hatusedto gothrough heMerstham otch oGroyden;andeitherthe MoleortheDarenthasbeheadeda stream hatmade henotchat CatelhamValley; the Weyhas recentlytakenoS the headofthe Blackwater, earAldershot. Onthe southernslope, he C:uckmare,Ouse,Adur,andArun maintairt pen paths to the sea. Inside of theChalkescarpment,he drainageis often by subsequent ide streams?whosedevelopment asbeendescribedby variousauthors. Outsideofthe escarpment,here are manysmall streams hat maybe regarded sshorterLedonsequents,whosebeheadingwas accomplishedarlyin thedenudationof the region. The most peculiarfeatureof the AVealdsthatthe Stourand the Cuckmarehouldnot haveere rLoween moreshortenedby the inwardgrowth of subsequent treamsfromthe coastof the Channelbetween Folkstone and Eastlzourne;as it is, theRother, n the middleof this district, has llardly accomplishednynotabledepredations.17. Now,while any one of these manyexamples totn the Tees totheCuckmare,f takenalone,mightperhapsbe eLplainedn someothermannerhanthe one bere suggested, t does not seemto be witllinthereach f reasonable rob;lbilityhat so manystreamsand rivers shouldrepeat urer nd over again the sialple arariationsf a single theme,unlesshey had been developed n a uniformand systematicmanner.lurther,he great nunlberof subsequent treams,well adjustedo theveaker tructures f the ret,ion, annotbe possiblyexplainedas super-posedroma marinecover; theycannot,ndeed,be reasonablyxplainedas he productof a single cycle of subaerialdenudation;and if theycoulde, therewould then be no explanation or the "uppeir lains"andhei"tablelands of the Ooliteandthe C:halk. Takenaltogeither,tseemshat the mostpr()bablei2zplanations theione announcedt theibeginningf theiessay: that the riversof easternEnglandareinowinthesaturestageof the secondc)cle of subaerialdenudationf a greatluassf gently dippingsedimentaryocks,and that they have irl thissecondyclee2rtendedheadjustmentsf streamso structureshatwerealreadyegun n the firsteycle.

THE GREATSIBERIANRAILWAY.By P. KROPOTKIN.

teISgreatline,which is to aonnectEuropeanRussiawith the PacificOcean,s steadilJr rogressing eastwards. It has already reached heIrtyshppositeOmsk,and will soon reachTomslr,n the very heartofiberia;whileon the otherendof the line,the Usuririveris alreadyconnectedy a railroadwith the shoresof thePacific. Ofa totallength

verysimpleandsystematic. Onthe northern lope,the Stourholds tsown; theMedwayhasakenofftheheadof theDarent;the lWole asbe-headed stream hatusedto gothrough heMerstham otch oGroyden;andeitherthe MoleortheDarenthasbeheadeda stream hatmade henotchat CatelhamValley; the Weyhas recentlytakenoS the headofthe Blackwater, earAldershot. Onthe southernslope, he C:uckmare,Ouse,Adur,andArun maintairt pen paths to the sea. Inside of theChalkescarpment,he drainageis often by subsequent ide streams?whosedevelopment asbeendescribedby variousauthors. Outsideofthe escarpment,here are manysmall streams hat maybe regarded sshorterLedonsequents,whosebeheadingwas accomplishedarlyin thedenudationof the region. The most peculiarfeatureof the AVealdsthatthe Stourand the Cuckmarehouldnot haveere rLoween moreshortenedby the inwardgrowth of subsequent treamsfromthe coastof the Channelbetween Folkstone and Eastlzourne;as it is, theRother, n the middleof this district, has llardly accomplishednynotabledepredations.17. Now,while any one of these manyexamples totn the Tees totheCuckmare,f takenalone,mightperhapsbe eLplainedn someothermannerhanthe one bere suggested, t does not seemto be witllinthereach f reasonable rob;lbilityhat so manystreamsand rivers shouldrepeat urer nd over again the sialple arariationsf a single theme,unlesshey had been developed n a uniformand systematicmanner.lurther,he great nunlberof subsequent treams,well adjustedo theveaker tructures f the ret,ion, annotbe possiblyexplainedas super-posedroma marinecover; theycannot,ndeed,be reasonablyxplainedas he productof a single cycle of subaerialdenudation;and if theycoulde, therewould then be no explanation or the "uppeir lains"andhei"tablelands of the Ooliteandthe C:halk. Takenaltogeither,tseemshat the mostpr()bablei2zplanations theione announcedt theibeginningf theiessay: that the riversof easternEnglandareinowinthesaturestageof the secondc)cle of subaerialdenudationf a greatluassf gently dippingsedimentaryocks,and that they have irl thissecondyclee2rtendedheadjustmentsf streamso structureshatwerealreadyegun n the firsteycle.

THE GREATSIBERIANRAILWAY.By P. KROPOTKIN.

teISgreatline,which is to aonnectEuropeanRussiawith the PacificOcean,s steadilJr rogressing eastwards. It has already reached heIrtyshppositeOmsk,and will soon reachTomslr,n the very heartofiberia;whileon the otherendof the line,the Usuririveris alreadyconnectedy a railroadwith the shoresof thePacific. Ofa totallength


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147HE GREATSIBERIANRAILWAY.of nearly4700 miles, rails are already aid over 1006 miles that is, 68miles more han one-fifthpart of the whole distance.Therewas at the beginninga great deal of hesitation as to orhetherCentralSiberia had to be reachedfiom the north or from the south.The northern ine oSers many substantialadvantages. It followsthegreat high-road long which the immensecaravans f tea fromSiberia,and of all sorts of goods sent from Russia to Siberia,are now trans-ported; and, after having crossed the Urals in the east of Perm, itenters, on the Siberian slope, the regions of rich ironworks,whichcan supply the railway with rails, engines, and waggons. Thein tpasses through Ekateirinburg,he centre of all the mining of theMiddleUrals, and, turning sharp eastwards,reaches Tyumen,on theTura. This northern railway, which was completedseveral -earssince, is alreadyof great importance. It connectsthe Kamawith theSiberianrivers of the Ob-and-Irtysh ystem-that is, two immensechannels of inner navigation. The liama, with its large tributaries-Vyatka, Byelaya, Chusovaya and a basin covering no less than202,600 square miles, waters in its upper parts a most importantregion containing a greiatnumberof ironvorks, and for the last twocenturies t has been the chief arteryfor communication ith Siberia.As to the West Siberianrivers,they undoubtedlywill maintain heirimportancefor shipping, even after the Siberian railway i3 com-pleted. Though standing on a ssnall tributary of the Tobo] (theTura), which itself flows into the Irtysh, the present terminus ofthat railway, Tyumen, must remain a centre of importance or allthe traffic n heavsrgoods coming from Siberia, or shippedfrom theUrals to Siberia. It must be remembered,moreover, hat Tyumenstands in easy communicationwith the Arctic Ocean,and that longbefore a more or less regular traffic had been establishedbetweenEaropeand the Yenisei,a little schooner, uilt at Tyumenand floateddown the Tura, the Tobol, and the Irtysh, went to Londonwith acargo of Siberian wheat. Now, Tyumen stands in regular steamereommunicationwith Tomskand with Biisk, in the Altai, as well as(via the Irtysh) with Omsk and Semipalatinsk, n the borderregionof the GentralAsian steppes. True that the Tllra, on the banks ofwhich Tyumen stands, is a shallow river which often becomes stillmore shallow in the summer; but this inconveniencecan easily beremediedby continuing the main line for a short distance along theTura, to its junction with the Tobol. In short, even when theSiberian railway will be completed, he northernPerm-TJumeninewill remain the chief channel of traffic for a wide, populous, andin parts densely peopled and most fertile region, which owing toits thoroughly Russian population, s consideredas the granaryofWest Siberia. Moreover, t bring3 the chief ironworks of theliddle Ulals in direct rail communicationwith theKama, which

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148 THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY.means, n fact,with the Volga,or with all CentralRussia. Therefore,the main line, Perm-Tyumen, 11 miles long, has been sery wiselyprovidedwith severalbranches. One of them runs north-westfromthe Chusovaya tation to Bereznyaki,also on the liama, but higherup,near Solikamslr130 miles); anda secondbranch 25 miles)joinsthe Ostrovskayatation,on the Iset river,with the main line; whilethis last passes,besidesEkaterinburg,hroughsuchimportantcentresof iron industry as Rushva, or liushvinsk, and Nizhne-Taghil,aminingtownof nearly30,000 nhabitants.:EIowever,his northernine couldnot satisfythe needof a railwayto Siberia. Permis not yet connectedby rail, andwill not be con-nectedin a near future,with the railwaysof GentralRussia,becaueethe very thinly inhabitedforest tracts which cover the lower RamabetweenPermand Razan belong to the least productisre arts ofRussia. Altogether, t is a fact,which cannotbe too muchinsistedupon, that the centreof Russianlife has been moving southwardsduringtlle last thirtJ,years. It is no more in Moscowand the sur-toundinyprovinces,but in the belt of fertile black earthwhichrunssouth-westonorth-east,romBessarabiao the Urals, hatthe ' densitycentre" of the population f Russia s nowsituated. In this belt are

thosetownsof Russiawhich, apartfromthe capitals,havepopulsUtionsof over 100,000inhabitants Kharkoff,RieS, Kishineff,Saratoff,andSamara), ndbecome entresof industrialandintellectual ife.It was, therefore, f firstimportanceo connectthe fertileandmoredenselypeopledpartsof SouthSiberiadirectlywith SouthRussia,andSamarawasreadilyindicatedas the head of the Trans-Siberianail-way. This young city on the Volga has a populationof 100,020inhabitants, ndis rapidlydeveloping;and since the Volga has beenspannedby a great iron bridge at Batraki,76 miles to the west ofSamara,his last stands n railwaycommunicationith all the railwaysof CentralRussia, ts distancefromMoscowby rail being 611 miles.FromSamarahe maill ine shootsstraight east-north-eastowardsUfa(224 miles),which i# built on the right bank of the Bye]aya,at itsjunctionwit.h he Ufa river. Ufa itself hasbut latel) begunto grow,andhasonly 30,000 nhabitants;butit is situatedamidsta very fertileregion,rapidly peopled by settlers from the middleprovinces,andbecomesan importantcentreof extensiveagriculture. Another200luiles n the samedirectionbring the railwayto Zlatoust(20,500in-habitants),he rival of El3aterinoburg,ndthe centreof the greatironandgold mining district of the SouthernUrals. The mountainsarecrossedhere in a depressionbetsveen the mountainsTaganai andUrsuga;the impoltant ron^rorksf Miyasarepassedby, andChelya-binsk,522milesfromSamara,s reached. Up to this litl;lespot,whichhad n 1891 only 11,200inhabitants,he railway s quite ready,andthere s regularpassengerand goods raffic. It mustalsobe saidthat


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149HE GREATSIBERIANRAILWAY.the line is ir from being idle, considerable mountsof corn and allsorts of produceof cattle-breeding eing already exportedwestwardsfrom he Kirghizsteppes.Chelyabinsk tands on the borderof the prairies of South-WestSiberia, a low watershed only separating hem from the prairiesofthe upper Ishim, which belong to the outer borderlands f {:entralAsia. At {:helyabinskbegins the first sectionof the Siberianrailwayproper, which strikes due east, along the SSth degree of latitudetowardsOmsk. This section,491 miles long, which crosses the Ishimand the Tobolrierers, as lately beencompleted,o that the railroad owreaches he Irtysh, oppositeOmsk. According o the report aid beforethe railwaycomlnittee n December ast, the line is completedon thewhole distance,with the exceptionof three big bridgeswhich are beingbuilt. One-halfof all the buildingswhich have to be erectedalont, heline are ready,and among them the arrangements or supplying theline with water are 1lot the least important. All waggens and one-third part of the -necessary ngines are alreadyon the line, and third-class traEc has been opened although gOodsand passengershave stillto be transferred or crossing the three rivers, not yet spannedbybridges.

The nest section s from Omslz o Tomsk,a distance of 3a0 miles.Apartfrom wo colossalbridgeswhichhave to be built overthe IrtyshatOteskand the Ob, and a smaller one across the Tom,there will be notechnicaldifEcultiesn building that section. It crossesthe level andfertileBaraba teppe,dottedwith relativelywealthy villages of Bussianpeasants. Therewill also be no difEcultfrn obtainingwater romwellsor from lakes-the main difficultiesbeing only to be foreseen n thefuture,as the wholeof this region, as shown by the well-knownmapsof the late N. Yadrintseff, esiccateswith a rapidity which upsets allthe former alculations f geologists. But the building of the bridgesover the Irtysh and the Ob,which both carry mmensequantitiesof icein the autume and the spring, and inundate heir low shores in thesummer,will undoubtedly epresenta difficult and costly engineeringfeat. Even the comparativelymuch smaller Tom is by no meansaneasily manageable iver, especiallywhen it is covered;n the autllrunnvitha thick layer of rapidlymoving ce. At the present ime (Decem-ber?1894) three-fourths f all the earthworkswhich have to be done nthis sectionare alreadyaccomplished,tLdhe rails have been laid overthe first 70 miles.Tomsk, the capital of We.stSiberia? s a great centre of SiberiamIlife. Its populationhas lately doubled and attains now 42,000. Ithas now a university? nd is the centre or all the trade with the richAltai mines and at,ricultural ettlements,while the populatiotl f thesurroundingregion increasesevery year by scores of thousandsofimmigrants rom EuropeanRctIssia.Since the last fimine in Russia,


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THE GREATSIBnRIAN RAILWAY. 21- 2twt \


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THEGREATSIBERIANRAILWAY. 1o1the nunlberof inlmigrants o Siberia has rapidly grownto 100,000every year, so that the imnzigration ad to be organizedon a largerscale fo alleviating the suSeringsof the massesof peasant.s,whoformerly ushed o Siberiawithoutknowingwheretheywouldfindfreeland to settleupon,or how they could reachit. Most of them settlein the government f Tomsk. As to the citJr f Tomsk, te recentrapidgrowth s chiefly lue to its having been brought nto regularsteamercommunication ith Tynmen,which,as alreadymentioned, tands inrail communicationwith tlle Rama at Perm. It may, therefore,besafelyconcludedhat from the day Tomsk s brought n uninterruptedrailway coznmunicationith Russia, the town will grow still morerapidly,asalsothepoptllation of the surroundingplains and therichvalleys of theAltai- a regionmuch ike Ssztzerlandn physical eatures,but threetimesas large.Thenextsection,betweenTomskandKrasnoyarsk,rratherbetweenthe Oband theYenisei,entersEclstSiberia. In the west of the Tomskthe railway crossesthe lowlycnds,hat is prairies,rising only by 200and 300 feet above the sea; but furthereastwards t will have tocrossthe firstterraceof the high plains of East Siberia,which lie oser1000 feet above he sea-level,and arean 1lndulatedlateau, ntersectedheraandthere by lowrangesof hills tha outspursof the mountainslying further southwards. On this sectioll,38 per cent. of all theearthvvorkshich had to be made orthe railwaywereaccomplishednDecember,1894, and it was expectedthat by January 1, 189a, therails wouldbe laid o-er a distanceof 200miles.The thirdsection,betweenKrasnoyarskndI1kutsk,will oSermoredifEcultie#.First of all, the railwaywill have to crossthe broael ndrapidYenisei,whichflows at a level of 410 feet only at Rrasnoyarsk,and immediately fterthat it will have to rise againto a level of over1000 eet that is, to thelevel of thehighundulatingplainswhichfringethe great plateau of East Asia. The spursof the SayanHighlandsreachhereto 2029 feet, while the rivers are deeply cut into the highplains. Of course,such conditionsoSer nothing which wouldmuchdiCer romthe usual conditionsof railvvay uilding in Middle Russiaitself, but in East Siberia the laying downof the rails certainlywillnotprogresswith the same rapidity as it has hithertoprogressednWestSiberia,while the cost of the constructionwill be considerablyincreased. Detailedreearchesuly have beenmadeup till now in thissection. But it is well worthmentioning bat, at tbe sametime,engi-neeringworkshane beenaccomplished n the Angara, n order o clearits bed fromthe rockyrapidswhichhitherto stood n the way of navi-gation onthis beautifulriver. The Angaraconnects, s is well known,Lake Baikal with the Yenisei, andnow, after the persevering ffortsof CaptainWiggins, a rater communication etweenIrkutsk and theYeniseimeansa watercommunicationithWestEurope. Thera.pids f


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152 THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY.the AngarabelowIrkutskarenot very dangerous,mallerboatshavingalways navigated n this partof the great East Siberianriver,and alittle clearingof the bedwill, andpartlyhas,set things right; but therapidsbetweenIrkutskand Lake Baikil will be much moredifficultto clear; however,during he last summersomeprogresswas made nthis part of the river as well, and the day is not far distantwhenIrkutsk may becomethe port of Ijake Baikal,althoughthis seemedquitehopeless hirtyyearsago.At the present ime,onlyresearches rebeing made orthe furthercontinuation f the Siberian ailway,and the last reportsarethat aneasypassagehasbeenfoundacross he easternborder-ridgef the highterraceof the plateau theStanovoior YablonovoiMountains. This iswhatmayhavebeen expected. As to the westernborder-rangef thesameplateau, t will offernodifficultieswhatever, s it is piercedby thebroatlvalleyof the Selengaandthe Uda,whihappearsas an immenserailway rench,risingwith a gentle gradientfromLake Baikal (1500feet) to the Stanovoiwater-parting, 000feet above he sea. The mostdifficultpartof the railwaybetweenIrkutsk andGhita at the easternfoot of the Stanovoiwater-parting)s where t hasto followthe southcoastof the Baikal,for which purposea waymust be cut through heaockycragsrising-abruptlyfromthe waters of the lake. But here,also, the most difficultpart of the work was donein 1865-1866bythe Polish exiles,who built the presenthigh-roadalong the southernshoreof the lake,breaking he rocksin Siberian ashion,with the aidof water pouredon the rocksafterthey had beenheatedbg big fires,andallowedto freeze n the crevices.The real engineeringdifficultieswill beginonlywhentherailwayis built betweenChitaand the Amur,where it will have to crossaselies of parallelranges, hroughwhichthe lowerShilkahaspiercedtsrockychannel. But a few years will pass beforework is startedinthis partof the GrandRailwaytrunk.In the meantime,the railwayprogresses t its other end,on theshoresof the Pacific. A telegram eceivedat St. Petersburg t theendof December ast announced hat the rails had been laid fromA7ladi-vostok to within onemile fromthe village Grafskaya,nthe Usuri-that is, on a distanceof 250 miles. Teeinicallyspeaking, his sectionoXered o difficulties, part romsomemarshyplaceswhichthe line hadto cross. Thediflicultieswererathern tlleabsenceof population. Butto this difficulty,which alsowill be metwith furtherdownthe banksof the Usuri,a newonewill be added. llhe factis, that the Usuri, ike-the owerSungari,andthe banksof theAmurbetween he Little Khin-gan(Dousse-alin)and the moutllof the Usuri,belongto what Pescheldescribedas 4'youngriver valleys." The whole of the middleIJsuriregionw-asquiterecently(in the laterPost-Plioceneimes)an immenselake,whichonlylately beganto desiccate. The IJ8uri andits countless


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153HEGREAT IBERIAN AILWAY.smaller ributarieshave not yet dug out permanentbedsacross his flatand low countriy,nd everyyear, n July andAugust,when he torrentialrains broughtby the monsoonsbegin, the whole is transformednto alabyrinth of ponds,marshes,and lakes. This is why the population,which had beensettledalong the banksof the Usuri at regular ntervalsof about 18 miles, could-cultivate lse low ridges ouly which intersectthis periodically nundated and, and,after having vainly struggled foryears againstnature,permissionwas given (upona reportof the presentwriter) to leave those villages, and to settle elsewhere, n the Pacificcoast. The RailwayCommitteehaving now decidedagain to repeoplethis part of the lJsuri region by settlers flore Transbaikalia,here isgreat dangerof their meetingwith the same fa,ilures s before,unless,of course,a better exploration f the wholedistrict eads o the discoveryof spots better sllited for a permanentpopulation. At any rate, therailmrayngineerswill have to contendwith gleat technical difficultiesin crossing he lowlandsof the MiddleUsuri,$and perhaps hey will becompelled o seek for a more advantageous irectionof the railway,atthe foot of the mountains omeway off the banksof the Usuri it6elf.It must be owned that for some time to come he railwayalong theAmur and the Usuri will probably emaina mere strategic line. Ofall the; mmenseterritory x-hich goes under the name of tlle AmurEet,ion, ouly the; space;between the; Zeiyaand the Bureya rivers, inthe;east of Blagovyeschensk, ffersa really rich territoryfor humansettlements,owing to its fertile soil and elevation above the levelof the rivers. The; remainder, n the north-west of Rumara, isbut a valley cut through the high plateau, surrounded y e:tremelycold and wild highlands; and in the east of the Little Khingan hereare but the moreelevated lat lidges which are suitable or settlements,while all that surrounds hem belongs to the just-mentioned ype ofperiodically nundatedmarshy ow plains.Quite difEerents the railwayacrossWest Siberiaand the govern-tnents of Irkutsk and West Transbaikalia. lKillions and millons ofhumanbeings may find in the3e regions all that is wanted for a richdevelopment f agriculture nd all sortsof industries.A few words need,perhaps,be added as to the remarkablyow costoftravelling to Siberia. Under the present ariff, he distanceof 2180English miles fromGranica, n the Austrianfrontier, o Gthelyabinsk-sia Warsaw,Brest-Litovsk,Vyazona 150 milesbefore eachingMoscowwhere he line starts to Salnara) and Samara-is covered or less thantS (47 roubles) n the third class, and for t9 2s. (91 roubles) n the

* It i3 worthnoticing that ^hen tlle writerwent up the Sungari in 1864 he rneton the lower Sungari,with a region of exactly the same character,which the Chinesehad abandoned s quite hopeless or colonization n accountof its low-lyingcharacterand inundations.


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15454 DR. Sl EN HEDIN"S TRAl ELS IN CENTRAL ASIA.R. Sl EN HEDIN"S TRAl ELS IN CENTRAL ASIA.secondclass. Anotherpoundwouldpaya third-class icketto the stationon the Irtysh oppositeOmsk. But even these low fees will be reducedunder he new zone-tariwhich s going to be intloduced.

DR. SVEN HEDIN'STRAVELS N CENTRALASIA.[WEhave received he followingcommunicationromDr. Sven Hedin,datedfromKashgar,November , 1894: ]I have just returned fromMustagh-ata, . . and send you a shortaccountof the work done duringthe past summer. On June 21,1894,I left liashgar and proceeded y way of Yangi-Hissar nd Ighiz-yar othe valley of Gedyek,and thence to that of Kinkol. Having crossedthe passes of Ghichikli, iichik, Khatta, and Kolrmamak, reachedTagharma, nd advanced y Ulugh-rabat o Su-bashi July 8). At thelatter place there is a C:hinese(rtress,situated at the westernbase of)Iustagh-ata. Along the whole route T made a topographicalmap,collected specimensof rocks, and made geologicalobservationswhichwill complete hose of Bogdanovich. I regularlymademeteorologicalobservations hrice daily with three aneroidsanda boiling-point her-mometer,and on every opportunity ook photographs nd studied themodeof life of the Kirghiz.From July 12 to 2o my campwas situatedat Little Kara-Kulandat Bassik-Kul. The whole of this neighbourhood a# surveyedwithgreat care, in order to serve as my base of operations or the wholecountry. (;eological, slimatological,nd other nvestigation#Mere con-tinued,and numerou# xcursion#made in all directions. Little Eara-Kul is an obstructionake danlmedby the moraines f a glacierwhichhas long #ince retreated,and i# now representedby everal #mallglacier# n the upperslopesof the Mustagh-ata. The moraine# f thisold glacier,however, till remain, nd have bloclredhe valley of Sarik-Kol in such a mray hat the water i#Uillg from the glacier#furthersouth accumnlates nd form# Lake. Hence Little Kara-Kul# also asettling ba#in or the river; the glacierwater enteringat the south endcarries n large quantitiesof glacial mud, while the little streamthatissues from the nortbernend ;s quite limpid. The alluvitlmaccumu-lated at the upper end, where t formsan abruptslope to the deepestFortion of the lake. Availing myself of a boat nnade f skins, Imeasured he depthsat 103 differentplaces. The ma2ritnumepthof78 feet is found in the southern alf; the centre in general varies idepth from50 to 65 feet. The water is clear,fresh,and excellent todrink. Several springs enter the lake at the foot of the crystallinerocks which rise on the ea#ternand westere shore#. The streamofKara-Kul alls into the lke-bel-su,a river of considerable ize dllringsummer, ut almost dried up in winter. It formsthe 1lpper our#e fthe Gez-daria.

secondclass. Anotherpoundwouldpaya third-class icketto the stationon the Irtysh oppositeOmsk. But even these low fees will be reducedunder he new zone-tariwhich s going to be intloduced.

DR. SVEN HEDIN'STRAVELS N CENTRALASIA.[WEhave received he followingcommunicationromDr. Sven Hedin,datedfromKashgar,November , 1894: ]I have just returned fromMustagh-ata, . . and send you a shortaccountof the work done duringthe past summer. On June 21,1894,I left liashgar and proceeded y way of Yangi-Hissar nd Ighiz-yar othe valley of Gedyek,and thence to that of Kinkol. Having crossedthe passes of Ghichikli, iichik, Khatta, and Kolrmamak, reachedTagharma, nd advanced y Ulugh-rabat o Su-bashi July 8). At thelatter place there is a C:hinese(rtress,situated at the westernbase of)Iustagh-ata. Along the whole route T made a topographicalmap,collected specimensof rocks, and made geologicalobservationswhichwill complete hose of Bogdanovich. I regularlymademeteorologicalobservations hrice daily with three aneroidsanda boiling-point her-mometer,and on every opportunity ook photographs nd studied themodeof life of the Kirghiz.From July 12 to 2o my campwas situatedat Little Kara-Kulandat Bassik-Kul. The whole of this neighbourhood a# surveyedwithgreat care, in order to serve as my base of operations or the wholecountry. (;eological, slimatological,nd other nvestigation#Mere con-tinued,and numerou# xcursion#made in all directions. Little Eara-Kul is an obstructionake danlmedby the moraines f a glacierwhichhas long #ince retreated,and i# now representedby everal #mallglacier# n the upperslopesof the Mustagh-ata. The moraine# f thisold glacier,however, till remain, nd have bloclredhe valley of Sarik-Kol in such a mray hat the water i#Uillg from the glacier#furthersouth accumnlates nd form# Lake. Hence Little Kara-Kul# also asettling ba#in or the river; the glacierwater enteringat the south endcarries n large quantitiesof glacial mud, while the little streamthatissues from the nortbernend ;s quite limpid. The alluvitlmaccumu-lated at the upper end, where t formsan abruptslope to the deepestFortion of the lake. Availing myself of a boat nnade f skins, Imeasured he depthsat 103 differentplaces. The ma2ritnumepthof78 feet is found in the southern alf; the centre in general varies idepth from50 to 65 feet. The water is clear,fresh,and excellent todrink. Several springs enter the lake at the foot of the crystallinerocks which rise on the ea#ternand westere shore#. The streamofKara-Kul alls into the lke-bel-su,a river of considerable ize dllringsummer, ut almost dried up in winter. It formsthe 1lpper our#e fthe Gez-daria.

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Peter Kropotkin - The Great Siberian Railway