TOMSK, the capital of the above government, on the Tom, not far from its confluence with the Obi; N. Lat.
26. 29., E. Long. 84. 58. It stands in a fertile region, occupied with corn-fields and pastures. It consists of an upper town, inhabited chiefly by Russians, and a lower town or suburb, occupied by Tartars or Bukharians. The latter is regularly built, and consists chiefly of low wooden houses, from among which the minarets of several mosques rise. The upper town has larger and more handsome buildings, churches, monasteries, mosques, a bazaar, a college, schools, hospitals, &c. Coarse cloth, leather, and soap are made here; and a considerable trade is carried on in corn, leather, fur, and fish. Pop. 20,202.