That not all the vast plains of Central Asia, from Thibet to the Altai Mountains, and from the Belur range to the Chinese Gobi, belong to the first class of plateaus, has been demonstrated by the Russian measurements, made by Fuss and Bunge in 1832, between Lake Baikal, Kiakhta, and Peking, and rendered highly probable by the investigations of Klaproth, Humboldt, and Zimmermann. Toward the northwest the plateaus generally sink from the moderate elevation of the Middle Gobi, 4000 feet, to Lake Baikal, 1332 feet above the sea, Lake Zaison, not 1000 feet above the sea, and the border of the plateau at Choimailocha, the Chinese frontier post on the Siberian line, 1000 feet above the sea, then to the lower border of the plateau of Bookhtarminsk (936 feet) and Semipalatinsk on the Irtish, (708 feet,) where the great Siberian plain begins. In the valley of the Tarim and of Lake Lop, pomegranates and grapes thrive, and cotton, which has been raised of an excellent quality in Eelee, is found at a height of from 1200 to 2000 feet. And in contrast with the great arctic plain of Northern Asia, not 500 feet above the level of the sea, this central plateau will take its place as distinctively of the second rank. The plateau of Persia lies on the border of both classes; for while the central portion touches 4000 feet, some parts rise much higher and some sink much deeper than the normal point. These balance each other, and the average is about the maximum elevation of plateaus of the second degree. East of the Persian plateau lies the plateau of Cabool, 6000 feet above the sea. On the northern edge of Afghanistan is the plateau of Bamain, 7500 feet in elevation. More to the south is the high plain of Candahar, being 3500 feet, and the City of Candahar, 3264 feet above the sea. The plateau of Kweltah west of the Bolan Pass is 5220 feet. Still farther to the south is the great plain of Beloochistan, 7000 feet, with the City of Kelat, 5418 feet above the sea.