Directory_and_Chronicle_1850 — Page 331

1850.

Notices of the Sagalien River.

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on

Between Sagalien hotun and the junction of the Songarí, a distance of about 230 miles, the valley is much compressed, and the river re- ceives no confluent of any size except the Tcholankio the north. The Songari joins it in lat. 474° and long. 142′, nearly doubling its volume of water. This great tributary is formed by the union of the Songari, the Nonni, and the Hourha, whose united val- leys cover an area of upwards of 200,000 square miles. The Songari (i. e. Fir-flower river) rises in the Changpeh

on the frontier of Corea in lat. 42°, and flows northerly and westerly through the commandery of Kirin, receiving the contributions of scores of small streams as it winds its way along the edge of the deserts of Inner Mongolia, till after a course of about 250 miles it joins the Naun or Nonniju at Pétune in lat. 45°.

This last stream is the largest branch of the two, and somewhat resembles the Ohio. It rises not far from the Humari river in lat. 534°, just south of the Sialkoi mountains, which here take a complete circuit, and inclose the basin of the Naun on three sides; the river flows nearly due south about 400 miles to its junction with the Son- gari, fertilizing and communicating with one of the best portions of Manchuria. Its branches are numerous, but none of them are large,

except the Toro 陀喇 and Tchol 線爾 near its junction. There

are several settlements in this valley, of which Merguen and Tsi- tsihar, the capitals of the two commanderies of the same name, are the largest; the inhabitants are mostly Daiiris or Dagooris, who live both by the chase and agriculture, and who have given the name of Daurian to the Yablonnoi or Outer Hingan mountains, over which they roani for food.

After the junction of the Naun and Songari, the united stream, under the Chinese name of Kwantung (i. e. Mingled Union) flows northeasterly about 380 miles, receiving in this part of its course several tributaries, of which the Hurha is by far the largest. The town of Pétune is the dépot of trade between this region and Peking; further east are the towns of Larin tk Altchucu BP and Tchulgue or Hurun, all of them

阿勒楚喀

at the mouths of rivers of the same name, and San-sing 姓 or Miao at the junction of the Hurha. This last named stream rises in the Long-White Mts east of Kirin, 200 miles, passing through lake Puni

and runs due north about

in its course, just as the

Jordan flows through the Sea of Galilee, till it joins the Songari; the town of Ninguta in the commandery of that name is the largest settle-

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