RECOLLECTIONS CONNECTED WITH SOME ASIATIC TOBOLSK; a great thoroughfare to China for all merchants, and the repository for Siberian furs till forwarded to Moscow: Russian state prisoners were formerly banished hither. Narym, on the River Oby, in the government of Tobolsk; its environs abound in sables, ermines, and foxes. Orenburg, in the west, Yakoutsk, in the east, and Irkoutsk, are tolerably well built towns; the last is the chief place in Eastern Siberia. Chinyang; here is a good arsenal with Chinese arms and stores. Nimgouta; famed for its ginseng root. Tsitchicar; a modern city, built by the late emperor of China. Zehol; here the Chinese emperor received the British embassy in 1794; it has a temple dedicated to the great idol Budha. Samarcand; here Tamerlane the Great was born, and kept his magnificent court. Bokhara has a manufacture of fine linen. Balk is the chief trading town between Western Tahtary and Hindoostan. Badakshan; famed for its minerals, and its caravan trade to Cabul and China. Pekin, Nankin, Canton, all celebrated as rich and extremely populous cities; the port of Canton is the resort of foreign merchants; rice and tea are grown in the greatest abundance in China, and the finest porcelain is made there; Nankin has a tower 200 feet high, which is cased in porcelain. Kinkitao and Lassa resemble the Chinese towns: near Lassa is the mountain on which stands the palace of the grand Lama, or high priest of Tibet: Tassudon, in the province of Bootan, south-west of Lassa, has a temple dedicated to the great idol, which is there the object of worship. Taheran; now the residence of the Persian monarch, and called the northern capital of Persia. Ispahan; noted for its trade, superb mosques, canals, and gardens. Shiraz, for its rich wines, and the tombs of the Persian poets, Hafez and Sadi: forty miles north-east of Shiraz are the ruins of Persepolis. Ormus, a Persian port; excellent salt is produced here, the Persians took possession of it after it was evacuated by the Portuguese, who claimed it in the reign of Henry VII. Gombroon, or as the Persians call it, Bunder-Abassi, is a good port. Hemadan; supposed to be the ancient Ecbatana. Herat ; noted for its beautiful manufactory of Persian carpets, and its roses, whence much of the perfume called otta of roses is made. Zarang, or Segistan, famed for its beautiful china. Erzerum is the thoroughfare and resting-place to the East Indies for all caravans and tradesmen: the Euphrates rises a few miles to the north-east of Erzerum. Erivan, capital of Persian Armenia; Mount Ararat is 30 miles south of this town. Mecca; here Mahomet was born, and devout mussulmin resort to Mecca at least once in their lives; an annual pilgrimage is also made to the mosque erected there. Medina has a magnificent mosque, containing the tomb of Mahomet. The trade of Mecca and Medina entirely depends on the resort of pilgrims thither. Mocha ; famed for its excellent coffee; the English East India company have engrossed much of the trade of this place. Sana, capital of Arabia Felix, famed for its mosques, caravanseries, and stoneless raisins. Muscat; the commerce of Persia, Arabia, and India, is collected at this town, which lies on the mouth of the Persian gulph, and is thence distributed. Judda, is a port of Arabia Felix |