SEMI PALATNOI, a fortress of Asiatic Russia, in the southern part of the government of Tomsk, erected for the
semipela-purpose of protecting the trade carried on with the Cal- gians. mucks and Bucharians. It was first built in the year 1718; but, owing to the inundations of the river, it was swept away, and had to be removed successively from one spot to another. The principal fortress forms a square composed of wooden ramparts, and surrounded by a ditch. There are two villages, the one above and the other below, both palisaded, like the fort, and containing above two hundred houses. The trade carried on by the Russians with the Kirghises consists of an exchange of toys and trifles for horses and cattle. It is also frequented by traders from Little Bucharia, who bring chiefly cotton goods of inferior quality. Long. 80. 10. E. Lat. 50. 20. N.