Desert of, a tract of land in Siberia, lying between the rivers Iritsch and Obi, in the province of Tobolsk. It is uninhabited, but not owing to any defect of the soil, which 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, abounding with a species of carp called by the neighbouring people karaschev; and the country produces great numbers of elk, deer, foxes, ermines, and squirrels. Between the Iritsch and Obi are some rich copper mines, particularly on a mountain called Pictowa, from the picta or white firs that grow upon it. Every hundredweight of the ore found here yields twelve 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 considerable portion of silver; and this, again, affords as much gold as makes a sufficient return for the trouble and expense of extracting it.