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116
EAST ASIA.
In any case any conventional frontier between Mongolia
and Manchuria can have
all the less significance that both races are steadily retreating before the Chinese
immigrants, who already form the majority of the population. Probably not more
than one-twelfth of the inhabitants of Manchuria belong to the race whence the
country
takes its name.
MAIN PHYSICAL FEATURES.
Manchuria is naturally divided into two distinct regions, draining one north-
wards through the Amur to the Sea of Okhotsk, the other southwards to the Yellow
Sea. The two basins are separated by a slightly elevated ridge which runs west-
wards to the Mongolian plateau. But great differences prevail
in the regions lying
on either side of this low water-parting, Northern Manchuria forming part of the
Siberian world, while South Manchuria belongs in its climate, vegetation, arid
inhabitants to China.
The Great Khingan presents a far more imposing appearance as seen from the
banks of the Nonni than towards the west, where its base is deeply rooted in the
Mongolian plateau.
The conic crests of the now extinct volcanoes formerly stretch-
ing along this range stand out boldly at the head of the deep and densely wooded
gorges excavated by the affluents of the Nonni. But other cones rise also above
the plains watered by the Nonni, and which were formerly dotted over with now
dricd-up lakes. In the valley of the Udelin, a tributary of the Nemer, which
joins the Nonni between Mergen and Tsitsikhar, a group of volcanic hills marks the
spot where the ground was violently agitated by an earthquake in 1720, followed
the next year by a fierce eruption, which lasted for over a twelvemonth. These
igneous phenomena were carefully described by five imperial envoys, who visited
the district at different times, so that there can be no reasonable doubt of the
occurrence. From a new crater which rose to about 830 feet, with little over half
a mile in circumference, four lava streams flowed down to a great distance across
the plains, one of them damming up the Udelin, and converting it into an exten-
sive lake. The group of hills contains rich sulphur beds, which, however, the
Government does not allow to be worked. Several other hills in the valley are of
igneous origin, but it is doubtful whether they have shown any activity in recent
times. In this respect the group here described is quite unique. Such volcanic
action at a distance of over 600 miles from the sea-coast is a clear proof that the
s;iliuo waters of closed basins may perform the same office in nature's underground
laboratories as do the marine waters in the production of volcanic eruptions.
North of the Upper Nonni valley the Great Khingan is connected by a high-
land region with the Dause-alin, or Little Khingan of the Russians. This upland
tract, known by various local names, is crossed by a much-frequented route between
Mergen and A'igun. In a forest clearing at the highest point of the route a Chinese
temple entertains travellers of all nations in the empire who come to worship at
its shrine. The custodians of the sanctuary, banished from the " Flowery Land,"
are required to look after their comfort and guide them over the dangerous parts
of the country. The Dause-alin, which appears nowhere to rise higher than 5,000