northern Siberia is frozen solid to
the depth of many feet, and even during the hottest summer it thaws down
only a few inches. The climate is continental in character, being marked
by fierce winds and great extremes both in temperature and moisture. In
midsummer the temperature may reach one hundred and ten degrees, while
in midwinter it has been known to reach ninety degrees below zero.

Roughly speaking, Siberia may be divided into three longitudinal belts:
first, the tundra, which borders the Arctic Ocean and extends several
hundred miles south of it; second, the forest belt, several hundred
miles wide, which extends across the continent; third, the southern
part, consisting of desert steppes, swamps, grassy plains, and a few
broken forests.

The tundra is a vast lowland plain which in winter is a desolate, frozen
waste, and in summer a vast swamp of lichens and arctic moss. Here
nature is embalmed in eternal frost, and life is a terror-inspiring
struggle with cold and hunger.

In spring, when the snow is gone and the ground begins to thaw,
thousands of geese, ducks, swans, and other feathered creatures appear,
enlivening the monotonous scene for a few months; then, when the sharp
September frosts announce the approach of winter, with their
tundra-reared progeny they wing their way southward, leaving the icy
plains to the wandering fox and the arctic owl.

One writer speaks of the tundra as the very grave of nature, the
sepulchre of the primeval world, because it is the tomb of so many
animals whose remains have been protected from putrefaction for
thousands of years. How interesting would it be could these animals be
brought to life and be endowed with sufficient intelligence to relate
the history of their age and generation!

The reindeer in the valley of the Lena spend the winter near the
forests, but as the spring advances they migrate to the thousands of
islands in the delta to escape the heat and mosquitoes farther south. To
reach their destination they are obliged to swim across broad channels
of water. The animals have special places for crossing, and on their
return south the natives station themselves at these places and
slaughter them in large numbers.

All the swamps and marshes throughout Siberia are the breeding places
of innumerable mosquitoes, which in summer fly over the country in such
dense clouds as to render life in certain sections almost unbearable.

Just north of Mongolia where the Ye