he large areas of land available for tillage.

Of the native peoples of northern Siberia the Yakuts are the most
numerous. They resemble both the Eskimos and the Lapps. They occupy
several valleys, including that of the Lena River and a strip along the
Arctic Ocean to the west. So inured to cold are these people, that where
the temperature ranges from ninety degrees below zero to ninety-three
degrees above, the adults wear light clothing in the depth of winter and
the children sport naked in the snow.

The desert zone includes a vast region east of the Caspian Sea and
extends to the Tian Shan Mountains, which separate it from the desert of
Gobi. Here, as in the Mohave Desert, are found the leafless, thickly
spined forms of the cactus family.

A product peculiar to Siberia and highly appreciated by the inhabitants
on account of its edible qualities is the cedar nut found in all of the
northern forest region. So great is the demand for these nuts that in
Tomsk alone thousands of tons are sold each year. They resemble pine
nuts. A gum called larch-tree sulphur, chewed by both natives and
settlers, is also obtained from these forests. Bee-keeping, especially
in eastern Siberia, is an important industry which has been followed
from remotest ages. The annual yield of honey is estimated to be upward
of three million pounds.

The camel is usually associated with the hot desert regions of the
Sahara and Arabia, yet in Siberia immense numbers of camels are used. It
is not an uncommon sight to see them in midwinter hauling sledges along
frozen roads and ice-covered rivers.

The richest gold fields are in the swamp and forest sections of central
Siberia and in the Ural and Altai Mountains, although the metal is
widely scattered all the way from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific. The
word Altai means gold. The world's supply of platinum virtually comes
from the gold-mines of Siberia as a by-product. In many parts of the
mining region, as in Alaska, the frozen ground must be thawed by fires
before it can be worked.

The building of the Trans-Siberian Railroad has wrought a wonderful
transformation in Siberia by giving a great impetus to agriculture and
other kinds of business. This great achievement, begun in 1891, was
practically completed in eleven years, at a cost of one hundred and
seventy-five million dollars. Subsequent work, together with equipment,
double tracking, and the building of additional lines, has doubled the