BARRABA, (defart of); a tract of land in Siberia, lying between the rivers Irtysh and Oby, in the province of Tobolsk. It is uninhabited, but not thro' any deficiency of the soil; for that is excellent for tillage, and part of it might also be laid out in meadows and pastures. It is interspersed with a great number of lakes, which abound with a species of carp called by the neighbouring people karawshon; and the country produces great numbers of elk, deer, foxes, ermine and squirrels. Between the Irtysh and Oby are some rich copper-mines; particularly on a mountain called Pilgora, from the pila or white firs that grow upon it. Every hundred weight of the ore found here yields 12 pounds of pure copper; and there is no occasion for digging deep in order to come at it. Most of these ores, besides being very rich in copper, yield a great deal of silver, which affords so much gold as makes rich returns for the trouble and expence of extracting it.