358 ALTAI at AlingsSs, Aug. 9, 1736, died March 5, 1796. A devoted pupil of Linnaeus, he collected for him in his rambles over Europe, particularly Spain, various specimens of flowers, the most remarkable of which was that of a Peruvian plant, afterward extensively cultivated under the name of Alstromer lilies or incas. ALTAI, a mountain range on the boundary between Russia and China, divided into various groups. The mountains were long designated as the Great and the Little Altai, and the name Altai is still occasionally applied to the vast network of ranges, chiefly in Chinese and part- ly in Russian territory, and extending, with irregular branches, from Siberia and China to the N. Pacific, diverging in many directions, intersected by numerous lakes and rivers, and including the Aldan and other mountains. The Altai range in a narrower sense extends from the vicinity of Tomsk, lat. 56 N., to the junction of the Bukhtarma and the Irtish near Bukhtarminsk, lat. 50 N., and from the Koly- van mountain on the west, Ion. 82 E., to the Sayan chain on the east. The region embraced within these limits includes an area of about 40,000 sq. m., comprised in the Russian gov- ernments of Tomsk and Yeniseisk, principally in the former. The Altai system proper, some- times called the Ore Altai on account of its mineral wealth, consists of several ridges ex- tending from the banks of the Irtish in a direc- tion generally E. N. E. At their western ex- tremity they rise above the valley of the Irtish in hills about 500 or 600 ft. high, and within a distance of 15 or 20 m. attain a height of 3,000 or 5,000 ft. ; this may be considered the aver- age elevation of the greater part of the ranges, until they approach Lake Teletzkoi. Here they rise above the limit of perpetual snow, many of the peaks reaching an elevation of 10,000 ft., and are known as the Altai Bieli. Beyond Lake Teletzkoi there are two well de- fined ranges, the principal of which, called the Tangnu Oola, is within the Chinese boundary, and is imperfectly known. The other is pierced by the river Yenisei, which divides it into the Sayanian range and the Ergik Targak Taiga. Eastward of this point the mountains stretch away into the independent chains running E. and N. E. as far as the sea of Okhotsk, and formerly included in the general appellation of the Altai system. Geologically the moun- tains have been described as a rocky promon- tory jutting out from the mainland of primitive rocks which forms the table land of Chinese Tartary on the S. into the ocean of diluvial de- posits which forms the great Siberian plain. The geological formations, however, have not been carefully studied. Stratified rocks not yet classified form the greater portion of the Altai range. Clay slate, chlorite slate, and mica slate abound in the upper districts ; and through these granite, gneiss, syenite, por- phyry, and greenstone have forced their way. Limestone, carboniferous limestone, and sand- etones especially rich in fossil remains, are also found. The metals are gold, silver, copper, and lead, mines of which at some unknown re- mote period were worked to a great extent by some unknown people. They were reopened by the Russians in the last century at the W. end of the range ; but of late attention has been given almost wholly to the washing of detritus brought down by the Irtish, Obi, Yeni- sei, and other rivers, whose sands are rich in gold. The product of the other ores is not im- portant. The diminished production of silver being ascribed to the exhaustion of the mines, investigations were instituted by Professor B. von Gotta at the instance of the czar (1858), and resulted in the publication of his geologi- cal and mineralogical work on the Altai (Leipsic, 1871). The scenery is grand, especially among the stupendous rocks and glaciers in the heart of the mountains, on the banks of the Katun- ya. The two pillars of the Katunya are the highest peaks of the Altai, rising to nearly
- 13,000 ft. The short summer is excessively
1 hot. The extreme cold of the winter is made salutary by the clearness of the atmosphere. In the forests are birch, alder, aspen, acacia, willow, larch, fir, and Siberian stone pine trees. The dried leaves of the mxifraga crawifolia, used as a substitute for tea, are gathered in the Tchernaya mountain. The animals of the Al- tai region are bears, wolves, foxes, lynxes, mountain hares, wild sheep and boars, wild ! goats, musimons, and occasionally tigers. Ven- omous serpents are found in the valleys. The best furs are obtained from black-skinned I sables, as well as from martens and from the kulonok (mustela Sibirica). A marmot pecu- liar to the Altai haunts the snow. There are otters, beavers, musk deer, numerous elks, large stags, and red deer. The most remarkable bird is the mountain swallow (hirundo alpestris or Dauriea). Among the fishes are red and other salmon, eel pouts, pike, sterlet, and sturgeons ; great numbers of the last are used for the manufacture of isinglass and caviare. There are excellent horses, fat-tailed sheep, and a few camels. Game, poultry, and bees abound. Mosquitoes are numerous in summer, especially in the lowlands. Most of the cereals are suc- cessfully cultivated, and even melons in the W. part. The inhabitants of the Altai consist chiefly of white Kalmucks or Teleuts in the east, near Lake Teletzkoi, and the nomadic moun- taineer Kalmucks in the southeast. They are governed by native chiefs, the Russian govern- ment interfering little with them excepting for the collection of the tribute of furs, to which even some of the tribes living beyond Rus- sian jurisdiction are made amenable. Except- ing the peasantry on the north and northwest, chiefly descendants of fugitive Russian serfs, who belong to the orthodox church, and a few tribes of Mohammedan descent, the great bulk of the Altai population are pagans wor- shipping in temples. Carsten's " Ethnological Lectures on the Altai" (St. Petersburg, 1851) divides the Altai nationalities and languages
