GUIDE TO THE GREAT SIBERIAN  RAILWAY.
The ,,belki"of the Altai are formed principally of crystalline rocks, containing
granite, syenite, diorite and porphyry.
The sedimentary rocks raised by crystalline strata belong to the palaeo-
zoic age, divided into the upper silurian, the devonian and the carbonifer-
ous systems. The Juras-
sic formation occurs only
on the northern slope of
the Altai. Deposits of sil-
ver-lead and copper ores
are found between cryst-
alline and sedimentary
rocks. The considerable
glaciers of the Belukha
are the feeding-ground
of the Katun (pi. 6) which
together with the Biya
forms the river Ob. The
picturesque and large
Lake Teletsk which in
its beauty is not inferior
to the Lake of the Four
Cantons (Vierwaldstat-
ter), has an outflow
through the Biya.
The shores of this
alpine lake, situated at
an elevation of 473 feet
above thelevelof the sea,
have a wild and impo-
sing beauty.
The surface of the
blue waters, framed in
verdant and hilly shores,
narrows gradually, pres-
sing its gushing and
silver-lined waves over reefs into the steep and rocky bed of the Biya.
Both rivers meet at the foot of the Altai and, joining their waters, form
the majestic Ob. The Anui, Charysh, and Alei which, upon the left, are the
upper tributaries of the Ob, take their rise on the Altai plateau. The Chumysh,
Tom, a'nd Chulym, rising among the Kuznetsk Alatau, fall into the Ob on the
right. The upper branches of the Irtysh, flowing into the Zaisan lake, also
take their rise on the northern slope of the Altai plateau within the confines
of the Chinese Empire. After leaving the lake, the Irtysh receives from the
right the Bukhturma, Uba and Ulba, rising among the belki of the Siberian
Altai. The valleys of these rivers, the north-western slope of the Altai, the
Salair ridge and the Kuznetsk Alatau are well provided with silver-lead and
copper ores, with iron-ore, quarries of varied-coloured stones, and gold in
veins and gravel.
The remains of the ancient Chud mines found at many places, and the
name of the mountains ,,Altai", which means ,,gold mountains", are a testi-
mony to   the   mineral   wealth  of  the  country, which already in prehistoric
PI. 8. Altai, the Razsypnoi cataract (phot, by prof. Sapozhnikovi.