Peter Alexeivitch Kropotkin

“ The forests decrease as one travels southwards. For instance, while both slopes of the Sayans are covered with forests, the Tannu-ola and the Khangai Mountains have woods on their northern faces only, and the Ektagh Altai is quite devoid of woods, even on its northern slope.
Climate.—Owing to its high altitude, north-western Mongolia is very cold, and the severity of the winter is intensified by the prevalence of cold but dry north-western winds. The north-east wind brings more moisture. ”

“ Beside the harbour are engineering works, dry docks and barracks, stores and workshops belonging to the Russian Caspian fleet. Besides the petroleum refineries the town possesses oil-works (for fuel) , flour-mills, sulphuric acid works and tobacco factories. Owing to its excellent harbour Baku is a chief depot for merchandise coming from Persia and Transcaspia—raw cotton, silk, rice, wine, fish, dried fruit and timber—and for Russian manufactured goods. The climate is extreme, the mean temperature for the year being 58° F., for January 38°, for July 80° ”

“ Each group of principalities constituted a separate aimak, and each principality a separate hoshun. Under Manchu rule the aimaks became converted into the same number of military corps, each composed of so many hoshuns as military units. ”

“ Mongols. The former, belonging to the Khalkas, occupy the Gobi and the regions of the Kentei Mountains and Khingan Mountains, while the second, divided into numerous minor branches, roam over south-eastern and southern Mongolia. The principal occupation of the Mongols is cattle-breeding, and Russian writers estimate that on an average each yurta, or family, has about 50 sheep, 25 horses, 15 horned cattle and 10 camels. The transport of goods is their next most important occupation. ”

“ Along the south-western border of this division of Mongolia a gigantic border-ridge, the Ektagh (or Mongolian) Altai, runs in an E.S.E. direction from the Russian Altai to 99° E. and is probably continued even farther by the Artsa-bogdo, the Saikhat and other ranges as far as the northern loop of the Yellow river. The passes across the Ektagh Altai lie at altitudes of 10,000 ft. in the north-west and 9250 ft. in 93° 20′ E.; farther east they become much lower. But while its southern foot stands in the Dzungarian trench, i.e. at altitudes of 1550 ft. only near Lake Ulungur, and at 3000 ft. ”

“ It is 8 m. from the Bokhara station of the Transcaspian railway, 162 m. by rail W. of Samarkand, in 39° 47′ N. lat. and 64° 27′ E. long. The city is surrounded by a stone wall 28 ft. high and 8 m. long, with semicircular towers and eleven gates of little value as a defence. The present city was begun in A.D. 830 on the site of an older city, was destroyed by Jenghiz Khan in 1220, and rebuilt subsequently. The water-supply is very unhealthy. The city has no less than 360 mosques. Nearly 10,000 pupils are said to receive their education in its 140 madrasas or theological colleges ”

“ In the 5th century they attacked the Russians in the Black Sea prairies, and afterwards made raids upon the Greeks. In 922, when they were converted to Islam, Ibn Foslan found them not quite nomadic, and already having some permanent settlements and houses in wood. ”