National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-08
TIE nASPLAN SEA.

Humboldt has described under the name Of |
the concayity of the Caspian basin, that enor-
nous extent Of land, as large as France, which |
the Caspian would even now cover If its level |
were equal to that Of the Black Sea; but It is, |
In fact, eighty-fve feet lower. The low plains |
around Astrakhan have nothing picturesque
about them; they cannot be compared 10 the |
southern shore Of the Mazanderan, where the |
shadowy palm tree waves its branches, and the |
green hills and blue distances of Demavend |
present such beautiful landscapes; nor to the
Caucasus mountains, raising above the waters |
their plains Of verdure, where the defile of
Derbend, guarded BY It's city, built like an am
phitheatre, or pyramid Of gigantic blocks of
stone, charms the eye; but 1t is in the northern
plains, with their desolation and uniformity,
that the work Of the ocean may be clearly read
by the geologist. . &C.,.
The Russians divide these steppes according
to the nature of the soil, into the sandy, the
rocky, and the saline; the first form the greater
part Of the western basin; the rocky plains
extend eastward In the direction Of Tartary,
and the saline occupy o considerable space
between the Volga and Urel. As q general
rule, they all merit the title of desert: and
when the locusts arrive, which Is very fire.
quently, there does not remain q single blade
Of grass, and the reeds growing near the
marshes are eaten to the very level Of the
water. 1t may be imagined how miserable is
the scene in the depth of winter, when the
great plain Is concealed under Q veil of snow,
which the icy wind raises in wirlwinds; but
even In the joyous season of summer there Is
nothing pleasing in the broad extent Of white
and red sand, with patch here and there or
mugwort showing their dark leaves. -
Sometimes the traveller crosses with difficulty
deep ravine worn by the torrents Of rain, then
skirts marsh, with its water glsncing through
forest of reeds. In the distance, clump Of
willows marks saline spring; the breeze blow
ing over the burning steppe raises cloud Of
dust. The remains Of dried-up plants rush
along by thousands, curieusly rolled into balls
by the wind, seeming 10 pursue each other, and
leaping up many yards in height, as If they
were living beings. At the end of each stage
the carriage stops before a miserable cabin,
half-buried in the sand, where human figure
appears; but rarely are the tents of the Kali
mucks or Kirghiz tribes seen, and hundreds of
leagues may be traversed without trace of
man. The largest of these steppes exceed 500
miles. The coast of the Caspian to the north
are fat, and the banks of sand render naviga-
ton almost impossible, where the mighty
streams of the Wong, the Terek, the Ural, and
the Emba, ceaselessly labor to fill up the sea
itself.
To the south the Caspian divides itself into
site coast. According to a local tradition, it
was possible to walk across from Baku to
Tartary; thus the depth of the water varies
much, in some places not exceeding eight or
nine feet, and Its greatest depth is a few hun
dred feet. At recurring periods of seven years
1t increases about three feet, and then dimin-
ishes for the next seven. The saltness of the
water is also very unequal; where the rivers
pour In the fresh stream it is possible to drink
It. in other places it is charged with salt fact
which has given rise to much discussion
From the salt part of the sea narrow canals
run into the land, which, being in time evapor-
ated by the heat of the desert, become real
magazines Of salt. Some Of the more ancient
bays present number of basins with every
degree of saline concentration.
One is still receiving water from the sea, and
has only deposited on its banks a very thin
layer of salt; in second, the ground is con-
cealed by thick crust of rose crystals, like
marble pavement; third is one compact mass
of salt, where little pool of water shines here
and there; and another has lost all the water
by evaporation, and the strata of salt, where a
little pool of water shines here are already par
TALLY covered by sand. In all this, 1t will be
perceived, there is resemblance between the
Caspian and Dead sea. The waters of both
escape only by evaporation, and each Ia dis
tinguished by its intense saline properties, as
well as by salt on its margin. OF the thousand
bays and lsgoons storing the salt of the Cas-
plan, none is more remarkable than that of
Karaboghaz, an inland sea, which probably
once united the Sea Of Hyrcsnia with the Sea
of Aral.
1t covers an immense space of ground, while
the canal connecting it with the Caspian is
never deeper than seven yards, and the current
runs at speed of three knots an hour. All the
nayigators of the sea, and the wandering Turco-
mans, are struck with the steady, unrestraintd
flow Of this salt water rolling through black
reefs, and fancy an abyss must swallow up the
water and lead it by subterranean paths to the
Persian gulf. But science can explain it very
satisfactorily. In this basin, exposed to high
winds and intense heat, evaporation goes on
very rapidly; tho immense marsh over which
1t flows keeps the salt and concentrates 1t, only
restoring to the atmosphere the water brought
by the Caspian current. Already no animal
can live in it; the seals which used to visit its
shores come no longer; the shores are deprived
tom, and the souniing- line comes up coated
with salt crystals.
It is believed that the Karaboghaz daily re-
ceives $50, 900 tons of salt-more than is con-
sumed in the Russian Empire in six months.
After violent tempests its extent is soon dimin-
ished, its banks are transformed into immense
fields of salt, and its appearance is that Of @
marsh only. Not more singular are the vol
canic forces at work under the soil at Baku,
and even recently an island has suddenly risen
near the shore. The springs of naptha are
most abundant; about fourteen miles from
Baku are the hot springs, which were called
the eternal fires, and were for centuries wor-
shipped in the temple of the Persian sect of
Guebres; but the city is now deserted. A stray
spark will at most places set fire to the gas
which issues from the ground, and during
stormy nights monte of light hangs its phos-
phorescent folds on the sides of the mountains
The laborers dare not dig too large a hole,
or the naptha would flow In such quantities
that it cannot be stopped. Even in the middle
of the sea it boils on the surface of the waves
and spreads Q rainbow-like film. A burning
torch thrown on the water creates an immense
confsgrstion. What riches are buried beneath
these shoresl Every year more than fftet n
hundred tons Of liquid naptha are pumped up,
but the torrents of gas freely escape into the
air, some charcoal burners alone making use
of it. In some parts of the coast the indenta-
tons have most remarkable form, resembling
In striking manner the fiords of Norway; the
long way into the sea forming chains inter-
rupted by the water, which has worked its way
through the rock.
The thousands of canals which separate them
are an unexplored labyrinth, even TO the fish
ermen, and the most exact map can give little
idea of this mingled scene of islands, channels,
and bays. They do not possess the wild gran
deur of Norway; the height is not great, and
there are ugly banks OF sand; neither are
the shores bordered by precipitous rocks, down
which flow mighty cascades; and the horizon
is closed by the level plain of the steppes in
stead of the glaciers of the Scsndinavians Alps;
still they are not inferior in geological interest
The Russians have steamers on the Caspian
sailing regularly between Australian and Pc
trolaks, on which great variety Of character
may be seen, half Asiatic, half European
Chamber Journal.
A RARE PREDICA NEWT.
Yesterday afterpoon "a the A o,clool, trn;S