or AMUR, a great river of Chinese Tartary, which has its rise in the central deserts of northern Asia, among the mountains of Daouria, in about long. 109. E., and lat. 49. N. It has a winding course. It has first a northerly course; it afterwards makes a long detour towards the east; and finally, turning to the north, falls into the sea of Okhotsk, in about lat. 53. N., opposite to the middle of the island or peninsula of Saghalien. This river is called Amur by the Russians, after the confluence of the Argun and the Schilka; and still higher up the Schilka is formed by the union of the Onon and Ingoda. It is called Schilka by the Tungoose; Saghalien Oula, or Black Mountain River, by the Tartars; and Ghelon Kiang, or the Dragon River, by the Chinese. It was first known to the Russians in 1639, and they resolved to annex to their empire the territory through which it flows, on account of the valuable furs with which it was known to abound. Many sanguinary conflicts, accordingly, took place between them and the Chinese, which ended in a treaty in 1689, by which the Russians abandoned their settlement on its banks, from which they were wholly excluded. They have still establishments on some of its head waters; but the stream, in its lower parts, and at its mouth, is constantly watched by a guard of Chinese armed boats, and all intruders are rigidly excluded. It pours a large volume of water into the ocean; but we have no precise information respecting its magnitude. The length of its course cannot be less than 2000 miles.