Reise um die Erde, durch Nord-Asien und die beiden Oceane, in den Jahren 1828, 1829, und1830 by Adolph ErmanJournal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 6 (1836), pp. 387-393Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of BritishGeographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1797575 .

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386 Etudes de Geographie, c.

of llours of marcll. 4thly, Tllose measulecl ollly by days' jour- seys. 5thls, Indications of distances ancl bearings furnisbed liy Alabic ̂ riters. Of these, tlle iilst class is eviciently tlie nlost to be relied upon; and M. l)'Avezuc does our coulltryman, Sllamt, the justice to place him at tlle head of the list. All the learlled tranSeller's routes are discussed and conlpared witll the Arabic ansl Spanish u r iters- as lbllu lSatfta, Ibnll Khalddll, Edrysy, the Author of tlle Cartis, Leo Africanus, Marmol, &c., with an lti- erary furnisbed by Ebn-el-Dyn, translated b) Mr. Hodgson,

Collsul from the Vlited States at Algiers, and published by tlle " Oriental Tran.slation Colnnlittee " of London in 18q1; alld also tlle trarels of Sir Grenville Temple in the Beglik of Tutlis (a valuable addilioll to our geography of that part of Africa, and not sufficielltly kllown), combilled with variozs itilleraries furllished by

atives ot different parts of tlle country. Besides these sources, WI. D'Avezac has also consulted the ̂ orks of those enlillent geo- graphers, D'Anville and Rellnel; ulodern ̂ riters on this subject, as A1. \valckenaer, M. Dureau de la Malle, &c.; and has pro- cured itinelaries from his corlespolldents, M. Graberg de Hemso, W1. de la Porte, and officers emploaed ill Africa; in short, from all asailable sources; and by the help of nwhich he has reconciled mally apparent difficulties demollstr:lted tlle idenlity of the river of 1'aXlet alld the Zyz, as llad been before shovsn by M. \Valcke- naer *-and corrected many errors and discrepalleies. We are far fionl nieanint, tosavthat manydo 1lot aet exist: 1lo one-better thall the author of the " Etudes" knows tilat many inaccuracies in the interior still do alid must exist, till Afiica can be visitecl with greater secElrity thall there seems any probability of at plesent; but, as l!vl. D'Avezac jtistly obserses, tile present outlirie is an approxi- nlation starting from known points;-alld the sources collsulted havillg been always the l)est that were accessible, it must be COI1-

si(lered a1l important additioll in critical geobraphy to our informa- tioll of tlle northern part of the continellt of Africa.t

* Recherclles G6ograshique>; sur l'Iuterieur dc l'Afriqvlo Septentionale. + It Inay be permittesl ill a note, perhapsz to notice that the author has been

rnlller severe in bis remarks upon one of the last publishe(l, And, at the time of pub- lication, certaillly the best, map of Maroccothat by M. Graberg de Hemso, of lZlo- rellce. ln it there are doubtless some inaccuracies ill nalnes, and l)erbaps a river that nl:ly not esist on the southern slope of the Atlas (the existence or non-existence of which might be a disputed )oillt); but sholll(l not the critic be on bis guard agninst lnucll greater inaccuracles in his own mapt where the Wazl SGs falls into the Atlantic forty-five miles in latitll(le out of its true pOSitiOll the town of Noull is laced on a riner kom which it is distal)t sixteen aniles * and the rivers Messa, Shleema (four nliles south of Cape Noun), and Draha, to the south of Atlas, do not alzlear at a11.- Ev.

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( 387 )

Vi.-Reiwe urn die Erde, durch Nord-A.sien und die beiden Oceane, in den Jahren 1828,, 1829, und 1830. VOI1 AC{OIP}1 Erman. Berlill} 1833 & 1835. (TFravets round thc FrlC thlough Northerz Asia and both Oceans, iel the Ybars 1828> 29} and 30? 13y Adolph Erinan. Berlin. ilZirst Part, i 2 vols. 8vo.)

Suen is the title of a work lately pubitshed at Berlin, givilig an accolilit of a jouriley round tile workt, cilieHy devoted to nlagnetic alid meteolological observatiolls} made partly in compally tvith the Yvell-known ProNessor Hansteel) of Clsristiania: and ctlri11g \\hich

Mr. Erman llas liad tI)e opportiltlity of observillS terrestlial Ilia- netism with the saine instruinelits, and by like methodst from Beri to the molitil of the Oli; tllence to the sea of Oktotzk; alld fron Kamtshalka, rotlnd Cape Horn, to Europe.

ln a brief allalysis se desire to point attentiorl to a very raluable work; reserving for some future occasioll longer extracts from the account of sonle almost unklown countries.

Quitting St. Ietersburg Mr. Erman went to Moskow, Kasall, and Pelnls crossed the Ural Mountains to Tobolsk, and along tlle Olxi to Obdorsk situale near the arctic cilcle, at a small distance from the river. Havillg returlled to Tobolsk he proceeded to lrkutzk? alld visited from that place Kiakhta alld tlle coulltry soutl of the Baikal Lake. Thegl he went from :Irkutzk to Y<lkllzk? and crossing the Aldall Motllltains to Okllotzk. Frolll tlle llst l)amed place he passed to Kalntshatka, and thellce to New Arell- angesk, in tlxe islalld of Sitkllas and returned lo Surope by \\rAy of

Cape Horn; tOtICllitig iR this passage ollly at San Francisco ill Califorllia) at tlle island of Otaheite and Hio Janeilo. rl5lle tssro publislled voltltnes contaill onl his iourney to Tobolsk, and hence to Obdorsk \vilil llis astrollolnical and mat,lletic observataons.

*he otject wllicll Professor Hansteexl and our traveller had i vieur obliged thenl to Illake exact observatiolls on the geograpllical position of }31.{Ces, aI1(l tlleir elevation abose tlle level of the sea; and ill tllis res<ect tlley lase collsiderably elllargcd OIII krlosslede of tllese countries. As far as rlobolslQ the ,eographical pOSitiVII

of tlle places X+as fbulld stlfficielltly exact, as tlley ale laid dowll i tlle Illaps of tlle ellSSiAll ,:7OVerilmellts) pttbliS}Ied ill 1806 by lvin (lisllef. 13tlt they are nluch less so along the ballks of tile Obi,, where to tlle pOSitiOIl of the maps tlle folloFin correctiolls are to be tnade:-

Delljikolvo . in lat.-0? 2' in long.-0? 17t YelisArowo . . -o 4 . -0 16 Shorkal . . . +() 25 . -2 25 Beresosv . . . o o . -2 13 Obdorsk . . . -0 r . -3 27

Professol Hansteen} who alone descended tlle River Yenesei to

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Travele round the WbrZd. <>ot o

the Icy Sea, found likewise that the places towards the mouth of tlle river were laid down abotlt three degrees too far east. But Mr. Erman has not given the detail of his observations.

Betw?een Yakuzk aud Okhotzk he agaid follnd considerable diS ferences between his observations and the maps. The fbllowing correctlons are necessary:-

Yakllzk . . inlat. +0? 1t inlong. oo 5/ Porotosvsk , . +0 12 . . -0 14 Lebeghine . . o 51 . . +0 2 Nokhinsk . . +0 49 . * -0 38 Aldanskul +0 51 . . -o 84 Perewos j * ' Tshernolyes . * +0 28 . . -1 27 Okhozk . . . +0 1 . . -0 18

Still greater are the differences betweeu his observations and the maps in the pellinsula of Kamtshatka.

The mouth of Tigil River in lat.-0? 1 lt in long. + 1? 51t The village Tigisk . . -O 3 . . +1 40 YelosYka . . . . -O 8 . . -O 48 I?liutshewk . . . . -O 12 . . -J 48 Petropauls harbour . . -o 1 . . -O 18

By these observations of Mr. Erman the fbrm of the peninsula of Kamtshatka must greatly be changed oll our maps.

Mr. Brman flllther obseretes} that the places Iying on the road between Petersbulg and Yakuzk are laid down with some det,ree of accuracy there occurring rarely errors of thirty minutes of longitude.

A-ot less importalit are his 013seivatiolls Oll the elevation of a great nutnber <)f plaees through which 11e passed in Russia and Siberia; they are tlse more valuable 38 our autllor has takell great pains to compare his barometrieal observatiotis with others which have been made at Oanzig and Mitau for a long series of years

I] passilig tiom Petersburg to Aloskuta lle foulicl Pomoranya 32 feet above tile seas and Nowgorod StErelikii 64 fEet. 'lshen he el essed the higil ground M hich divides the ss aters running in Op}?o- site direction to the Baltie and Caspian seas, and fbund the town of Waldai 867 feet, and Chatilosto 745 feet abose tile level of the sea. At Wuidropusk tl)e ground had loutered to 5!)7 feetJ bilt it rose agaill; 'lorJok on the riser Tsverza, having an elevatiol) of 661 feet. The tOWI1 of Moskma he found not more than 415 feet above the sea.

SI. Erman took great pains to aseertain tile elevatioll of tile town of Kasan and tilat of the moutil of the River Kasalika, ad in this task be was nsueh aided by different series of barometrieal observations) wllicil bad bedh made at the University of Kasan.

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Tratels round {he World. sg9

The elevation of the town he foursd to be 104.8 feet, and that of the m-outh of the Kasanka only 28.9 feet above the sea. This deterinination is of great importance, as it has some referenceito the depressiols of the Caspian Sea below the level of the ocean. We translate the passage literally.

" It i8 hardly necessary to mention that in this lnanner is also ob- tained, by means of the result just spoken of, the solution of a noted question, -viz., the level of the Caspian Sea; for in measuring the course of the river Twerza and of the Upper Wolga, we find from Torjok to the mouth of the Kasanka about 155 German miles,* whilst the Wolga, from this last point to the Caspian below Astrakhan, traterses a space of *205 German miles. Now our olservations give us for the first 155 nliles an inclination of 98.5 toises, or 630 feet English; and for the other 205 miles a descent of 4.5t toises + x, if by x we designate tlae difference of level of the; Caspian below the ocean; supposing that at an equal elearation the pressure of the air is the same on the Baltic as at Kasan.

i; It hence results that7 hosvever great we suppoge the gradual diminution of the inclinatIon fronz the Twerza to the mouth of the Wolga, we shall have with little doubt a positznre value for x. If, for example we were to suppose the inclination from Torjok to Astrakhan diminishes uniformly, and that at Astrakhan it is equal to zero, we shall find that the difference of ievel of the Caspian below the ecean is 42.8 toises, or 274 feet English; and at the same time the incli- nation of the Twerza at Torjok gives 0.810 of a toise, and thait of the \Volga at Kasan 0.416 of a toise, for each German mile.'2 Vlde p. 359.

Fronl Kasan Mr. Ermatl travelled to Perm in a nortil-eastern dilectioll. After passing the river Wiatka at Malmuish (135 -feet), he elltered a much more elevated coulltry betweel1 the rivers Wiatka and Kama, Milet being 321, Arporetch 514, Zlukikaksi aS9, Kojil alld Uri 886, and Suri 9l2 English fEet above the sea. The lligh hills, over which tlle road lead.s, between Suri alld Debjosui, rise to 1085 feet, alld the latter place is still 957 feet above the sea-level. Here Mr. Elmall came nearest the line of separation betureen tlle waters running into tlle Caspian and White Sea, and it may therefore be supposed that the high larld separating the upper blanches of the Kama and Wuitshegda rises at least to 15()0 feet. From I3ebjosui he descended gradually into the vale of the Kama to Perm, which is elevated 372 feet.

Fl olll Perm he went to Yekatarinburg, across the Uraliall Mountains. Kut}gur on the Suilva is only 488 feet high, alld may be considered as placed at the base of the Ural, for at a short distance

* One German mile is equal to four and a half English miles nearly. t There is manifestly some diffictllty here ')5 .7 toises wouId seem to be the

descent: it may be a misprint, or we may have mistaken the passage, It wilE be found at p, 359,-ED,

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TraveX tound the World. o

fiEom it is Molggtlnowo, at 9137 fbet llitll. Thollgh tlse troulld fa- thel east is extrenJely llllestell it docs not suddellly rise the villag,e Bisersk lxaving all eles*ation only of 931 fEet. Betweell tllis viJ}age lld that of Klerlosstsk oceurs tlle first r idgc of the Ulalian Mo.llltai,ls tlle heights rising to 1341 fFet. 'I'he village of Klellowsk, bet^eell tlle first and second ridge is at 100? iet. tJ5lle secood lidtey ssthich is the widest} laises to 1701 feet ill the Illourstaitl-tDass} between the villages Bilimbuiexvsk allcl Reshbtin. At the base of this ridge i8 built the town of Yekatarinbulg, 976 fEet above the sea.

llaselling alollg tl)e lsase of the eastern declivity of tlles Uralia Moltot3itls oll a road which did 1lot rise above I200 feet, nol sillk Ivszer tharl 900 fEet Mr. Ermall measured Mount Bla,oclats COI1SiSt;"g entirely of nlagnetic iron-ole, and lying near the village of KIJ8CII;v} $8? 1 7t N. Iat. He fbullfl its sllmmit 1534 feet above the sea. Farther to tlle north, alld nearly i} tlle parallel of Werkhoturie, iS 1OUIlt KAtShkallar} %llicl} lises to 29Zfeet. To about the salne

lleigllt lises Mount KatlJakotso} nearly N. Iat., and the two

iligll summits of tlle Uralian Moulltaills near 55?> N. Iat. called )}OUllt Kossolur and lagalsai, do lsot appear to exceed it. The lliollest pOltiOs of the lange seels to 1)e beyorld tlle polar circle, betweell 66? 4&3t and 67? 13t, wllere blr. Erlllan determined the elevatioIx offivetIlollntaillst tlJe most llo+therll and highest risillt, to 4908 feet, the second to 3993> tbe third to 2407, the fburtll to 2240 alld tlle fifth ollly to 1290 feetX These moutltai)ls lie north of Obdorsk} alld are, tllerefbre} called by llim the ObdorskiaIa Mot lltailS.

Tlle lOWel' pOlstiOll of the toutn of Tobolsk utas iatld tQ be ollly 128 alltl tlle llppet S;)7 feet above tlle lestel oli tlle Icst Sea.

I1rolll :Irkllzk} sllicll is 1246 fEet above tlle stea, :N11. 1?1Illall went to Kiachta but tile eleNtatioll Qf tlle latter tossIl lle (3id nea deterrnltle by hts OWIl observalions. He ltSt( :br thslt pur)ose tl)ose nlade lxy the Acadelllicialls in tlle timeof Catllelitle 11., ViZ.7

2228 fFet above [lle seXlX

Vcly lltiluerolls are tile obselsvations Iliafle by Alr. Eriliall on the road bete>eetl llskuzk alld Yakilzk alid otilers stere olulte a few la s afterss*al ds by LieutX Dase, tile conspallioll of lrofessor Hansteell. Ollr allthor colX)aled tilein witil rreat care,, especially those niatle on alle tract of lalid ufhicll COl}tAillS the sources of the Lelia river lxecalise this colitry has aIwass attracted the attelitio of tile geogx a}llelss, on accoulit of the pectilialities of its silrfice. WIJollt,ll tlle coulitry betuBeen Irkuzk and Tilltlxenowsk ors the Lelia is extremely ullevell it is llot mountaillolisy btit a consifterable risil), is perceptible from the town of Irkuzk to the villat,e of Katshuga} whelse ahe rivulets 11ave their 8OttrCtS wllicll forsl tlle upper br.lilcil of the Lena. The lowest pOillt he fbund at tile

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Zzra ve7s r ott1z f 1 the [Bos lcl . o91

villat,te of Ellulllutosssk, at some distance fiorll Jlkuzk, vilicll was ouly 1117 feet hibh, but a hill near it r-ose to 1461 feet. At the village of Olsollsk the ^,rollnd l-Xad risell to 1692 feet, alld at Baghendaisl es-en to 177 1 feet. rrhis \\taS the hithest poillt of the road. Khogotsk was 161S, Mansur-sk ]611, alld Katshtlc, only loC)9 feet lligh. As Mr. Erman proceeded down the river Lella on the ice, the observatiolls nllicll he made may be collsidered as illdicating the fall of that great liver. At BotouTsk lle fotlnd the surEace of its ice still 1044 feet, at Parshillk 62I feet, at Nelill.sk 432 feet, at Olehma 411 feet, alld at Zrakuzk ollly 287 feet above the level of tlle lcy Sea. For it is here to le observed tllat Mr. Erman calne to ttlese conclusions by comparin^, llis observatiolls alld those of Lieut. Due sTith the nleall elevation of tIle l)arometel at Ustyanslc, on the shores of the Ictt Sea at tlle mouth of tlle Yalla river, sshich was foulld by Capt. \Yraugel 337'ft 78 of the French foot.

I8'ronl Yakuzk to Okhozk Mr. Elman passed the rant,e of tlle Aldall mountains. He ellcounteled hele a ditRiculty ill makillg his observatiolls; for thele exists a differcnce in tlle presstlre of the air column at eqllul levels oll the ballks of the Lella, atlcl on the shores of tlle sea of Okhozk. Il1 reclucillt, the barometrical obsersatiolls at both places to tlle lesel of tlie sea, he found th? elevation of thfe columu of merctlry at Yakuzk 337"'CtI, alld at Okhozk 331/lt3l. He says that this strallge diSetellce llas alteady been observed by other nattlral philosophers, alid that it exists also il] I(amtsll'ltka. I,1 older theletoreto g-ive llis barorlietical oljser- vations the greatest possible exactness, in older to measure the elevatioll of the groulld, l-se laas supposed that tbe presstlre of the air contillually decleases ill proceedill,:, froln Yakuzk to Okllozk) though lle thinks it ptol:)able that the }it,hest part of tlle Alclan

oulltains mav form a kiizd of boundary lane. The COUlltly ]yil alollg the road leadillt, from Yakuzk to Ok-

hozk mRas be divided illtO ts o pol tions; tl1at \\tiliCtl lies to the west of tlle Alclvan rivelt a tlibLltary of tlle Ijella, lises contilluallyX l)ut gla- dually, as it proceeds to tlae east. At rl'sllasingllisk, several nsiles east of Yuktlzk it attaills only 347 feet; at; Rlontjega, somewhat more tha half-wray betnveell the Leala alld Aldall, 642 feet; and at Nokllillsk, Oll tlle llei,l-lts tBrtllixl^, the ztestel1l banks of tlse Aldan lizer 7o1 feet. The deplessiolls betweell these hills ale fl.lt, and clescend rarely a 1lulldred feet u1lder the llleals level. Pgldslllsku lerem,tos, irl the valley of tlle river Aldal is 4(?4 feet alvove the sea.

On the eastetn banks of the Aldan rivel, tlle mountaill-lmllge, whicll has derived its llame froln tlle stream, rises with a steep ascent Bielsku Perewos, situate Oll a small tributary of the AIdall? lies 764 feet high; and east of it are two lllountaills, the

VOL. V1. 2 D

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392 Tratels round tAle World.

M7estern risillg to 9{0 feet, antl the eastern to 1502 feet. Gar- nastakh a solital-y abode of a Tunt,uxe fanliltJ, lies in the uliddle of the lallge, 1531 feet above the level of the sea, on a rivtllet. It is evelywhere inclosed vith llip;h al-ld steep mountains. of wllich that to the south, called by tlle 1lative.s Ulat,tshau, is tlle highe$t. Its sunumit attaills t722 feet above the les-el of the sea. Dellse forests ascend on its sicles to 22a2 feet, but single lal cll trees as far as tS04 feet. Betweetl Gal n.lstakll and fXlluk- hiuna, which lies ill a loll,itudillul valley Ol1 tlle ballk of a lives lbearing tlle sanle nalle ic sitllated tiat part of the Aldan mOUll-

taills oZllich is called Sem KilrebtiJ or tlle Seve!l l3acks, (lllel z711ich rises above the boulldary of tl-e lalch-trees (pi?llrs Iczrir). Its nleall elevation is betweell 2400 and 2600 feet. lAut the tnoull- tai)ls betsveell Allakhiulla antl tile sea-coust ale still hiOher. Tle

molilitaill-paOss about six miles west fiolll Khoilsia is 2619 feet high; Ithoillia itself, '>f247; Xlld Moullt Wapitall, the hig,llest pOillt

of the .Ridan lncltairls ill tllis palt lises t) 40.9o feet. ()ll the c'tst of XIOllllt Kapitilll the country contillues to be holn 2400 to {)600 (llsose tlle level ot the sen, alld only to tlle east of Ketzll-l(la, ill (i0? 40' N. lat and 141? 38' E. long. of Greenwich, it descelleis M itil a l ather steep declivity. Okhozk is ollly thil teell feet ahove the sea.

WI1. Ermal] made a great nllmbel of barollletrieal obselvaliolls ola tlle n-lountains ill tlle illterior of tlle pellinsllla of Kamtshatk;-a: alid

that he mit,ht lje ellablecl to cletelmil-le the elevatioll of the InOLlll-

taills exfactly, I-le caused collespondino sets of observations t) 1)e made at rl'ig,ilsk near the nlouth of tlle rli^,il river, oll tlle sffeStt->lX

coast of the pelinsula; ancl at Peter P.llll.s t-l al bourr oll its eaSttzril

sho] es. el e, too, lle obsel-vec t}le (llfiel ence ill lile pl essul e of the air at the satne level. Tle tileall elevatiolJ of tlle balolilet?l at '1rigi! <,k (in lcit S8?) was 33 1 "J99, an(l t Peter Paul' s E4al boll r (irl lat. 5So) 334'tQU; so ti-sat at a uistclilce of {ive clet,lee of lzlt. there esisted an appalent diffelence ill tile level of the seil, anioulit- illt to 24*83 toi5e5, or 139 feet

'l'he trasels of A1:r. E1Xslil in Walultsilatl;l xvere lirlliteri te) tile countly betuZeen tile Illowltil c)f tile rl'iOl}il liver (ill lt. ttJ8? 112t), a1X{ Peter Paul's Elarl30Ear (ill lat o3? 0t N.), a,2d especia}ly di- Jected to tlle exall-lillatioll ot the nolcallexes, slsicll occtlpy itl tllis

aIt tlle illteriol of the penillstllcl. I-:le visited fisst tlle solcclno of Sllivelutsh, ̂ tiicll r ises witl1 t\\?o peaks; [lle 1lortil-\Jeksteril (ill

lat. 56? 40t N. (lllel ill long. 1tS0? 12' actt) KIttaills arl elesclliols of 87 1 6 feet; and the southeastel ll (in lat. 56? 4()' 328, alld ill lol),. 60? 1o" :1X,.) 10,59l iet abose tEle se-l. 'i'lees vere folllld to

(scend its sides to 2837 feet. He ti-len exanlined tlle greslt volcallo of Klilltshewsk, whose sumlllit lle foulfl to attaill 1a,825 feet above tlae level of the sea. A currellt of lava of recent date de-

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