'Central Asia. Part V. A contribution towards the better knowledge of the History, Ethnography, Topography, and resources of part of Asiatic Turkey and Caucasia' [‎46] (61/360)

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AST
The population is composed of a great variety of races, including'
Russians, Cossacks, Tartars, Kalmucks, Indians, Persians, Armenians, &c.
1 he most numerous are the Kalmucks, who occupy larg'e tracts to the east
of the Volga. They are a mild and intelligent people, but addicted, it has
been said, to dishonesty. Astrakan is politically divided into four circles—
Astrakan, Krasuo \arsk, \enotawyevvsk, and Tcherno-Yarsk. The popu
lation of the Government in 1850 was 290,000. (Imperial Gazetteer.)
ASTRAKAN—Lat 4G 0 25 / Long 48 o 0 , Elev.
A city in Russia, capital of above Government, on an elevated island
in the A olga, about 30 miles from its embouchure in the Caspian Sea.
Jt is irregularly built, its streets are crooked, mostly unpaved and dirty,
being covered with mud in winter and with sand in summer. Some of
the houses are of brick or sandstone, but by far the greater number are
of wood. Of streets, there are altogether 146; square or public areas, 40;
market-places, eight; 11 wooden and nine earthen bridges. In the upper
part of the town stands the Cathedral, from the towers of which, savs Dr.
( roebel, a fine view of the city is obtained, with its broad streets and canals
bordered by trees, the haven covered with ships, and of the broad majestic
A olga, with its beautiful green islands. The Cathedral is in the form of
a parallelogram, with four small gilt and painted cupolas on the roof, and a
large one in the centre for the admission of light. Its walls inside are hung
with coarsely painted pictures, set in costly frames, mostly of silver filigrane
work. Ihere are besides 31 stone and three wooden churches, and 15
mosques, many of the former richly ornamented and gaudily furnished.
1 he other public buildings of note are the Archiepiscopal Palace, the
(rovernment Offices, and the three factory An East India Company trading post. halls, for the Russian, Asiatic,
and Hindu dealers or merchants. An interesting architectural antiquity
is a small disused Moresco Church, in the fort of Peter the Great, said to
have been built by order of Joan IV. Astrakan is the seat of a Greek and
Armenian .Ecclesiastical Eparchy, also of Greek and Armenian Archbishop
rics. It contains a High Court of civil and criminal jurisdiction, also a
Greek theological seminary, a botanic garden, a gymnasium, and upwards
of 20 superior and ordinary schools, with about 1,000 scholars of all ranks.
The manufactures are inconsiderable, not giving employment to more than
200 work-people; they comprise silks, cottons, woollens, shagreen skins,
morocco leather, and soap. The fisheries form the staple trade of the citv,
immense quantities of fish, caviare, and isinglas being exported to foreign
countries. In the fishing seasons, from 20,000 to 30,000 persons connected
with the fisheries resort to the city. The haven of Astrakan is now so
sanded up as to leave only six feet depth of water, so that large vessels
have to land their cargoes on an island near the Caspian. A few steam tug
boats are employed in taking vessels up and down the river. In 1846 three
iron steamers were started to ply between Astrakan and the other ports of
the Caspian. Previous to that period there was but one steamer on the
> olga, and it was of only 40-horse power.
Iresh water being scarce in the city, some attempts were lately made to
obtain an increased supply by Artesian wells, hut none was found at a depth
ot 400 feet. From some of the borings, however, there issued streams of car-