1. Basins inclined to the Black Sea and Mediterranean. Kolapur, HAIDARABAD. Katak, Sambalpur. CALCUTTA (Bengal), Patna (Be- LHASA (Tibet), Kush-Behar, Ta- Mandelay (Birma), Pegu, Munipur, 3. Basins inclined to the Pacific Ocean. 216,000BANGKOK 1250 580 99,200 1800 547,800 (Siam); SAIGON (Lower Cochin China). Canton, Kwei-lin (Kwang-se). Nankin (Kiang-su), Ngan-king (Gan-hway), Woo-chang (Hoopih), Nan-chang (Kiang-si), Chang-sha (Hoo-nan), Kweiyang (Kwei-chow), Ching-too (Se-chuen), Yun-nan. Kai-fong (Ho-nan), Lan-chow Nikolaïevsk (Primorsk), Blagoves- 13. Lakes. The lakes of Asia are very numerous, especially in Asia Minor, Western Turkestan, and the great Central Basin. To Asia belongs the greatest lake in the world (the Caspian), and the largest fresh-water lake in the Old World (Lake Baikal). Beginning at the N.E. of Asiatic Turkey, and following the order of the riverbasins in which they occur, the following are the principal lakes :— tse. Kizil Irmak Basin. Tuz-Gul, in the centre of Asia Minor, 45 m. long, 16 m. broad, 3000 ft. above the level of the sea, is the saltest lake known, and has no outlet. Jordan.-Sea of Galilee ; Dead Sea, intensely salt, 1292 ft. below the level of the Mediterranean, the lowest lake known. Euphrates.-Lake Van, in Turkish Armenia, salt; no visible outlet. Indus.-Munchur, in Sindh ; Wallur, in Kashmir; Rhawan and Mansarowar, at the source of the Satlej. Brahmaputra.—Tengri-nor and Paltee, in Tibet. Yang- Poyang and Tong-Ting, in China Proper. Hoang-Ho. Ko-ko-Nor, N. W. of China Proper. Yenisei.-Baikal, in South Siberia, the largest fresh-water lake in the Old World; area 14,000 sq. m., drained by the Angara. Obi.-Zaisan, in Dzungaria, drained by the Irtish. Basin of Continental Streams.-The Caspian, area 178,866 sq. m., being the largest lake in the world, 83 ft. below the level of the sea; Lake Urumiah, W. of the Caspian, very salt; Sea of Aral, E. of the Caspian, area 27,000 sq. m., and 117 ft. above the Caspian, receives the Amoo from Lake Sir-i-Kol, height 15,600 ft. above the sea, the highest lake known; Lake Balkash, far E. of the Sea of Aral, area 11,500 sq. m.; Lake Issyk-Kul, 200 m. S. of Lake Balkash; Lob Nor, in the basin of the Yarkand, and Tengri Nor, in Tibet; Zurrah or Hamun, in Afghanistan. 14. Climate. Extending from the immediate vicinity of the equator to far within the Arctic circle, Asia exhibits every variety of climate, from the intense heat of the torrid zone to the extreme and long-continued cold of the circumpolar regions. Three climatic zones, however, are easily distinguishable. The most northern of these, which includes the great Siberian plain, is characterised by extreme cold for nine months in the year, then giving place to a brief period of excessive heat. The mean temperature of this zone extends from the freezing-point of water to below zero. The coldest portion of this dreary region, and, so far as yet known, of the whole globe, is in the lower basin of the Lena, where Yakutsk, for example, has a mean annual temperature of 13°.9; summer 58°.7, and winter -36°.7, or 36 below zero; being a difference of 95° between mean summer and mean winter. For the month of January, the mean temperature is -45°.5, while that of July is 68°.8 Fah. In Northern Siberia the ground is perpetually frozen to a great depth, the superficial stratum alone thawing in summer. The rivers are not clear of ice till June; but as the ice melts in their upper courses earlier than in the lower, extensive areas are for a season under water. (See under "Siberia.") The Middle Zone, which embraces the high table-lands of the interior, is cold and dry, and subject to the influence of piercing winds from the north: here large tracts are seldom visited by rain, especially the great desert of Gobi or Shamno, a large portion of Biluchistan, Persia, Northern Arabia, and Southern Syria, in some of which a drop of rain is never known to fall, and in others only at long intervals, and in very small quantities. The Southern Zone, comprising all the countries south of the table-lands, is characterised by intense summer heat, extreme moisture, and no real winter: here the rain falls with extreme violence at particular seasons of the year; at Calcutta no less than 64 inches fall annually; and at Bombay, 16 inches of rain have been known to fall in a single day. 15. Geology. The geology of Asia has hitherto been very imperfectly explored, but the facts already ascertained warrant the following generalisations: TERTIARY AND ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS COver the plains of Siberia and Western Turkestan, of Hindustan, Further India, and China, the Arabian and Syrian deserts, and the tableland of Persia. SECONDARY STRATA embrace numerous tracts in Asia Minor, Palestine, and Western Syria, the north-western half of Persia, parts of Arabia and Biluchistan, Tibet, Central China, the eastern part of Mantchooria, and several tracts in the basins of the Lena and Obi. PALEOZOIC AND TRANSITION ROCKS Occupy extensive tracts lying to the N. of lakes Balkash and Baikal respectively, the Stanovoi and Aldan Mountains, portions of the middle basin of the Yenisei, and a long belt lying S. of Cape Severo. Numerous large tracts of upper palæozoic also occur in Asia Minor. CRYSTALLINE STRATA prevail in the mountain regions of Central Asia, from Mount Elburz in the W. to the eastern extremity of the Yablonoi Mountains in the E., and from the Altai to the Chinese Sea; Siberia, E. of lon. 165°; many tracts in Asia Minor; together with the southern portions of the three principal peninsulas-Arabia, India, and Further India. IGNEOUS ROCKS prevail extensively in Asiatic Turkey, Central Hindustan, the mountain-chains of Altai, Stanovoi, and Kamtchatka, and the Aleutian, Kurile, Japan, and Formosa Isles. 16. Minerals.—Asia has in all ages been celebrated for the number and variety of its mineral productions. Diamonds and other precious stones abound in India, Birma, the Ural and Altai Mountains; Coal, in Syria, Birma, Hindustan, China, and Japan; Salt, in Asia Minor, Arabia, Hindustan, China, Siberia, and Central Asia; Petroleum, on the shores of the Caspian; Bitumen, in the Dead Sea; Nitre, in India; Sulphur, in Ladakh; Gold, Iron, Copper, and Platinum, in the Urals; Gold, Silver, Iron, Lead, in the Altai; Mercury, in China, Tibet, and Japan; Tin, in the Eastern Peninsula and Japan; Volcanic products, in the Taurus range and in Japan. 17. Botany. The vegetable products vary exceedingly in the different countries, according to latitude, elevation, and other climatic influences. The entire continent embraces no fewer than eight of the twenty-five botanic regions into which Prof. Schouw divides the vegetation of the globe-viz., the 1st, 2d, 3d, 6th, 7th, 8th, 12th, and 13th of his system. (See p. 54.) The characteristic vegetation of the first three regions is given at length under "Europe," p. 81. The sixth, or Japanese region, embraces Japan, Northern China, and the eastern part of Eastern Turkestan. Its vegetation occupies a middle position between the floras of Europe and North America, with a considerable affinity to that of India, as shown by its palms and bananas. The seventh, or Indian region, which embraces Hindustan, Ceylon, Further India, and the S. of China, and which is unrivalled for the richness of its vegetation, will be described under "Hindustan ; as also the eighth, or Emodic region, which comprises the mountains of Northern India, between the elevations of 5000 and 12,000 ft. The twelfth region, or Region of Balsam Trees, comprising the S. W. of Arabia, Persia, Biluchistan, and Sindh, will be noticed under the first of those countries; as will also the thirteenth region, usually known as the Desert Region, which comprises the remainder of Arabia and the great African desert. 18. Zoology. The Asiatic continent constitutes the second of the six zoological kingdoms into which naturalists have divided the globe. (See p. 57.) It is divided into four zoological provinces-the Northern, Central, Southern, and Transition. The Northern province, or Arctic Asia, extends from the Arctic Ocean to the Altai Mountains, and from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean; being bounded on the south by the isothermal curve of 32° Fah., which marks the limit of the permanent frost of the soil. The Central province extends from the Altai to the Himalaya and Hindu Kush Mountains, and from the Caspian Sea to Japan. The Southern province, or Tropical Asia, comprises all the remaining countries of Asia lying east of the table-land of Iran; while the Transition province embraces Western Asia south of the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, and the Paropamisan Mountains. The fauna of the last-named region is peculiar, and forms a connecting link between the three zoological kingdoms of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The fauna of the Northern province resembles that of Northern Europe; while in the Central and Southern provinces are found the elephant, rhinoceros, Bengal tiger, and many other formidable animals, together with the camel, auroch, yak, musk-deer, argal, and Tibet goat. It is probable that all the domestic animals of Europe, with the exception, perhaps, of the sheep, have been originally derived from these two provinces. Asia has comparatively a less variety of birds and reptiles than of quadrupeds; but the cassowary, bustard, pheasant, domestic fowl, and a number of other gallinaceous birds, are abundant; while, among reptiles, the Indian python, the cobra de capella, and the crocodile, or gavial of the Ganges, are formidable in the extreme. The The following tables-the materials of which have been derived, for the most part, from Johnston's 'Physical Atlas '-present an accurate synopsis of the fauna of Asia, so far as presently known. first column gives the name of the order; the second, the total number of species presently known; the third, the total number found in this continent; while the remaining three columns show the number of species found in Northern, Central, and Southern Asia, respectively. |