Wichita eagle., 1888-07-10
THE CLIMATE OF SIBERIA.

Not An Bazrea Arctic waste-Beauty
and Profusioo q Siberian FlowerA
It is hardly necessary to say that . country
which has an area Of Ave and half million
square miles, and which extends in latitude
as far as from tho southern extremity OF
Greenland to the island Of Cuba, must pre-
sent great diverxties ct climate. topography
and vegetation. and cannot be everywhere q
barren arctic waste. A mere glance at q map
il sufficient to show that q considerable part
OF western Siberia lies farther south than
Nice, Venice or Milan, and that the southern
boundary Of the Siberian province OF Sem
irechinsk is nearer the equator than Naples.
In country which thus stretches from the
latitude Of Italy to the latitude Of central
Greenland one would naturally expect to
find, and, as q matter of fact, one does find,
many varieties of climate and scenery. In
some parts of the province Of Yakutsk the
mean temperature Of the month Of January
is moro than 80 dogs. below zero Fair,
while In the province Of Semipalatinsk the
mean temperature Of the month Of July Is "a
dogs above, and such maximum temperature
as IS and 100 degs in the shade are compare
lively common.
On the Taimyr peninsula. east Of the Gulf
OI w, tA0 pJ& IA OA~4 SASNAA SAo '" .
out in summer to q depth Of only few
inches, and supports but scanty vegetation
of berry bushes and moss, while in the south
ern part Of western Siberia watermelons and
cantaloupes are profitable crop, tobacco Is
grown upon thousands Of plantations, and
the peasants harvest annually more than So
600, 900 bushels OF grain. The fact which
desire especially to impress upon the mind OF
the reader Is that Siberia is not everywhere
uniform and homogeneous The northern
part Of the country differs from the southern
part quite as much es the Hudson Bay terri
tory differs from Kantucky; and 1t is as
great mistake to attribute the cold and
barrenness of the Lena delta to the whole Of
Siberia as it would be 30 attribute the cold
and barrenness Of King William Land to the
whole Of North America.
To the traveller who crosses the Urals for
the first time in juno nothing Is more sur
prising than the fervent heat Of Siberian
sunshine and the extraordinary beauty and
profusion Of Siberian flowers Although We
had been partly prepared. by our voyage up
the Kama, for the experience which awaited
us on tho other side Of the mountains, we
were fairly astonished upon the threshold Of
western Siberia by the scenery, the weather
and the fora. In the fertile, poisoning
country presented to US as we rode swiftly
eastward into the province Of Tobolsk, there
was absolutely nothing even remotely to sug-
gest an arctic region. Il we had been blind
folded and transported to it suddenly In the
middle Of sunny afternoon, we could never
have guessed to what part Of the world we
had been taken. The sky was as clear and
blue and the air as soft as the sky and air Of
California; the trees were all In full leaf;
birds were singing over the Howery meadows
and in the clumps Of birches by the roadside;
there were drowsy hum Of bees and faint
fragrance Of flowers and verdure in the air;
and the sunshine was as warm and bright as
that Of June afternoon in the most favored
part of the temperate sona-George KEENAN,
In The Century.