5. Surface, Plains, and Table-Lands.-Nearly the whole of Siberia and Western Turkestan consists of one vast continuous lowland plain, of nearly the size of Europe, and only partially separated from the great European plain by the Ural Mountains. Only its southern portion is capable of cultivation. In the vicinity of the Arctic Ocean it forms a succession of desert tracts called Tundras, which in summer are covered with moss, and interspersed with lakes and marshes, and in winter are buried under a solid covering of ice-the subsoil being constantly frozen. The eastern half is less uniformly level than the western, and is more generally covered with forests. Indeed, one unbroken forest region, immediately south of the tundras, extends from Arkhangel, in European Russia, to Kamtchatka and Behring Strait. This forest, chiefly of pines, is about 4000 m. in lineal extent, and is the largest on the surface of the globe. South-west of the wooded region is that of the Steppes, which consist of immense barren plains, abounding in salt lakes, into which many of the rivers of Europe and Asia discharge their contents. This forms one of the most depressed portions of the earth's surface, and includes the Caspian, the surface of which is 83 ft. below that of the Black Sea, and having a depth in the south of nearly 3000 ft. Other plains are Mesopotamia, or the lower basin of the Euphrates and Tigris; the Thur, or valley of the Indus; Plain of Hindustan, or valley of the Ganges; Indo-Chinese Plain, in Further India; and the Chinese Plain, or the lower basin of the Yang-tseKiang and Hoang-ho. More than a half of the surface of Asia is occupied with an immense elevated plateau or table-land, extending without interruption for about 5500 m., from the Mediterranean and Red Seas in the W. to the coast of Corea in the E., with a breadth varying from 2000 to 700 m. It is divided into the following distinct portions: Plateau of Asia Minor, 3280 ft. high, and plateau of Armenia, 7000 ft., bounded by Mount Taurus and the Caucasus; plateau of Arabia from 5000 to 8000 ft. high, occupying the whole interior of that peninsula; plateau of Iran, 3500 ft., between the Persian Gulf and the plain of Turkestan; plateau of Pamir, 15,600 ft., N. of the Hindu Kush Mountains, and containing the Sir-i-Kol, the most elevated lake in the world; plateau of Tibet, from 10,000 to 14,000 ft., N. of the Himalaya, and originating all the great rivers of Southern Asia; plateau of Gobi or Shamo, 3000 ft. high, 1200 m. long, and from 500 to 700 m. broad, in Eastern Turkestan and Mongolia-it consists of an immense rainless desert of shifting sand containing little vegetation; plateaux of Malwa, Dakhan, and Maisûr, in Hindustan, from 2000 to 3000 ft. high, and separated from the table-lands of High Asia by the valleys of the Indus and Ganges.

6. Peninsulas and Isthmuses.-The principal peninsulas are the following: Anatolia or Asia Minor, bet. the Black Sea and the Mediterranean; Arabia, bet. the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf; Hindustan, bet. the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal; Further India, or the Eastern Peninsula, bet. the Bay of Bengal and the China Sea; Malay Peninsula, a southern prolongation of Further

India; Corea, bet. the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan; Kamtchatka, bet. the Seas of Okhotsk and Kamtchatka. Nearly all the Asiatic peninsulas stretch southward-the chief exception being Asia Minor. The Isthmus of Suez connects Asia with Africa; and the Isthmus of Kraw, Siam with Malaya: the other isthmuses of Asia have no distinctive names.

7. Capes and Islands.-Baba, W. of Asia Minor; Ras-al-Had, S. E. of Arabia; Comorin, S. of Hindustan; Dundra Head, S. of Ceylon; Negrais, S.W. of Pegu; Romania, S. of Malaya; Cambodia, S. of Anam; King, E. of Japan; Patience, E. of Island Saghalien; Lopatka, S. of Kamtchatka; East Cape, the most eastern point of Siberia; Severo, or North-East Cape, N. of Siberia. ISLANDS. -Rhodes, Samos, Scio, Mitylene or Lesbos, in the Egean Sea; Cyprus, in the Levant; Socotra, S. of Arabia; Ceylon, S. of Hindustan; Hainan, S. of China; Formosa, E. of China; Japan Isles, E. of Mantchooria; Saghalien, a semi-peninsula, E. of Siberia; Kurile Islands, bet. Japan and Kamtchatka; Aleutian Isles, bet. Kamtchatka and Alaska; New Siberia, in the Arctic Ocean. For the islands of Malaysia (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Philippine Isles, &c.), see under "Oceania."

8. Seas, Gulfs, and Straits.-Black Sea, N. of Asia Minor; Sea of Marmora, bet. Asiatic and European Russia; Egean Sea, or Archipelago, W. of Asia Minor; Levant, W. of Syria; Red Sea, Str. of Bab-el-Mandeb, and G. of Aden, bet. Arabia and Africa; Arabian Sea, bet. Arabia and Hindustan; Persian Gulf, Str. of Ormuz, and G. of Oman, bet. Arabia and Persia; Gulfs of Kachh and Cambay, N. W. of Hindustan; G. of Manaar and Palk Strait, bet. Hindustan and Ceylon; Bay of Bengal, bet. Hindustan and Further India; G. of Martaban, bet. Pegu and Tenasserim; Str. of Malacca, bet. Malaya and Sumatra; G. of Siam, S. of Siam; China Sea, bet. China and the Philippine Isles; G. of Tonquin, bet. Tonquin and the island Hainan; Formosa Strait, bet. China and Formosa; Yellow Sea, bet. China and Corea; Str. of Corea, bet. Corea and Japan; Sea of Japan, bet. Japan and Mantchooria; G. of Tartary, bet. the mainland and Saghalien; Sea of Okhotsk, bet. Okhotsk and Kamtchatka; Sea of Kamtchatka, G. of Anadir, and Behring Str., bet. Siberia and Alaska; Gulfs of Obi and Kara, N. W. of Siberia.

9. Mountain-Systems.-The Bolor Tagh Mountains, in the centre of Turkestan, midway between Spain and Kamtchatka, and between Novaia Zemlia and Ceylon, is the grand centre from which all the great mountain-ranges of Asia and Europe diverge. This great primary chain stands on the lofty plateau of Pamir (15,600 ft.), between the sources of the Amoo and the Yarkand, and attains an elevation of 19,000 ft. The following are the principal chains that radiate from it in all directions:

The Western System.-This great range forms the northern boundary of the table-lands of Western Asia, and is then prolonged through European Turkey, till it reaches the Alps, Cevennes, and Pyrenees, terminating at the shores of the Atlantic. The Asiatic portion separates the

waters flowing into the Indian Ocean from those that discharge themselves into the Black Sea, Caspian, and Sea of Aral. Its principal members are the following: 1. The Hindu Kush, separating the Panjab and Afghanistan from Turkestan, and the basin of the Indus from that of the Amoo; maximum elevation about 20,000 ft. 2. The Paropamisan Range, in the N.E. of Persia, separating Turkestan from the plateau of Iran; highest summit, Koh-i-Baba, 16,000 ft. 3. The Elburz Range, S. of the Caspian, Mt. Demavend, 18,464 ft., and Zagros, or Mountains of Kurdistan, 12,000 ft., separate the basins of the Euphrates and Caspian : height of snow-line on the Elburz, 11,000 ft. 4. Mountains of Armenia, between the basins of the Caspian and Black Sea : highest summit Mt. Ararat, 16,964 ft. 5. Taurus and Anti-Taurus, enclosing the table-land of Asia Minor, separate the basins of the Euphrates from that of the Black Sea; highest summit Mt. Argish, 13,000 ft. 6. The Lebanon Range (10,061 ft.), proceeding from Mt. Taurus southward along the Syrian coast to Mt. Hermon in the north of Palestine, 9053 ft. high, and thence continued through Palestine into the peninsula of Sinai Mt. Horeb, 8593 ft., Mt. Sinai, 7497 ft. 7. Mt. Caucasus, proceeding in a north-eastern direction from the centre of the Western System, and separated from the Mountains of Armenia by the valley of the Kur (p. 326, under "Russia").

The South-Eastern System.-This system extends from the southern extremity of the Bolor Tagh to the China Sea, and forms the southern wall of the lofty plateau of High Asia. It contains the loftiest elevations on the earth's surface, and consists mainly of the following chains: 1. The Himalaya ("abode of snow") between Hindustan and Tibet, and separating the basin of the Ganges from the upper basin of the Brahmaputra. The three loftiest peaks are Mt. Everest or Gaurisankar, 29,002 ft. above the level of the sea (the culminating point of Asia, and probably the highest summit on the earth's surface), bet. Nepal and Tibet, lon. 86° 30' E.; Kunchinjunga, in Sikhim, 28,150 ft.; and Dhawalagiri, in Nepal, 28,080 ft. Several other peaks in this range rise to an elevation of 25,000 ft., and not fewer than a hundred attain a height of 20,000 ft. The chain is 1500 m. long, and from 100 to 350 m. broad: height of snow-line on the south side, 16,200 ft.-on the north side, 17,400 ft. ; highest elevation at which wheat grows, 13,000 ft. 2. The Karakorum Mts., in Tibet, midway bet. the Himalaya and Kuen-Lun, and nearly as lofty as the former: highest summit, Dapsang peak, 28,278 ft. 3. The Mts. of Arakhan, bet. the Irawadi and Bay of Bengal, 5600 ft. 4. Mts. of Siam, Cambodia, and Anam, in Further India : highest summit, Tidibang-sa, in Malaya, 6561 ft.

The Eastern System, extending from the Bolor Tagh due east to the Pacific Ocean, and consisting of two main sections: 1. The Kuen-lun Mountains, separating the upper basins of the Indus and Brahmaputra from that of the Yarkand, about 21,000 ft. high. 2. The Pe-ling, between the Yang-tse and Hoang-Ho. Several counterforts set out from the Pe-ling-viz., the Yun-ling, 12,000 ft., between China and Tibet; the Nan-ling, 8000 ft., between the basins of the Yang-tse-Kiang and Canton river; the Kihan-Shan, In-Shan, and Khin-gan Mountains, forming the S.E. wall of the desert of Shamo.

The North-Eastern System, extending E.N.E. from the Bolor Tagh to Behring Strait, separates the river-basins that incline to the Arctic Ocean from those inclining to the Pacific. It embraces-1. Thian-Shan, or Celestial Mountains, in Kashgaria, separating the basins of the Obi and the Yarkand; Tengri Tagh, 21,000 ft., being far above the limit of per

ennial snow. 2. The Altaian, Sayansk, and Yablonoi Mountains, in the S. of Siberia, separating the basin of the Amoor from those of the Yenisei and Lena; Mount Katunsk, in the Altai, 12,790 ft. 3. Stanovoi and Aldan Mountains, in Eastern Siberia, between the Arctic Ocean and Sea of Okhotsk -Schiwelutch, in Kamtchatka, 10,548 ft.; Kliutschewsker, 15,825 ft.; these and many other summits are active volcanoes. The limit of perennial snow in Kamtchatka is at an elevation of 4475 ft.

10. Volcanoes.-These are not numerous, except in Kamtchatka and the islands which line the eastern coast, especially the Japan, Aleutian, and Kurile Isles; Pecha and Ho-Chan, in the Thian-Shan range, are the most remarkable exceptions to the general rule of the proximity of volcanoes to the sea. Earthquakes are numerous in S. and E. Asia, as also in Asiatic Turkey. (See under ". Oceania.")

11. Mountain-Passes.-These are very numerous, and many of them highly celebrated. Those across the Himalaya sometimes exceed by half a mile of elevation the loftiest summit of the Alps: thus the Ibi-Gamin Pass, between Gurwhal and Tibet, has an elevation of 20,459 ft., and is the highest known pass; Mustakh Pass, crossing the Karakorum Mountains, 18,435 ft.; Parang Pass, 18,500 ft.; Kiobrang Pass, 18,313 ft.; Niti Pass, from Kumaon to Tibet (lon. 80°), is 16,814 ft. high. The Khyber Pass, leading from Peshawur to Jelalabad (3373 ft.), though narrow and dangerous, is the only route from Northern India to Afghanistan. The Bolan Pass, from Dadur to Quettah, 5793 ft. high and 59 m. long, is the only practicable carriage route from the lower Indus to the tableland of Biluchistan. Bamian Pass, between the Hindu Kush and the Paropamisan Mountains (8496 ft.), is the only pass practicable for artillery from Afghanistan into Western Turkestan. Pass of Keli-Shin, in the Zagros Mountains (9600 ft.), leads from Persia to Baghdad. The Pass of Golek Boghaz (Cilician Gates), across the Taurus range, connects Cilicia with Cappadocia, and was the route by which Alexander the Great entered Cilicia. Pass of Beilan (Syria Porta), between Mt. Amanus and the Mediterranean, connects Asia Minor with Syria: this was the pass through which Darius fled, after his defeat by Alexander on the adjoining plain of Issus, B.C. 333.

12. River-Basins and Capitals.-The river-systems of Asia surpass in number those of any other continent, though none of them attains the dimensions of the Amazon or Missouri. This is owing to the different disposition of the mountain-chains, which in America are placed on one side of the continent, whereas the principal chains and table-lands of Asia traverse its central regions, and send the rivers in five different directions, corresponding to the five great basins to which they respectively belong-viz., the Black Sea and Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, and the basin of continental streams. The following Table shows the direct lengths and areas of the various river-basins, together with the capitals of the different states and principal divisions of states contained in them. When the name of the state is different from that of its capital, the former is added within parentheses :-