a town of Asiatic Russia, in the government of Irkoutsk, and district of Verschnei-Oudlinsk. It is situated in a uniform and rather elevated plain, traversed by a river of the same name, and is surrounded by a lofty range of granitic and wooded mountains of a bleak aspect. It was visited in 1822 by Captain Cochrane, the celebrated pedestrian traveller, who mentions that it is a neat and regularly-built town, containing 450 houses, with 4000 inhabitants. Owing to the narrow and jealous policy of the Chinese, no stone buildings are by the treaty allowed to be erected, excepting only a church for public worship. Beyond the fortress, and immediately opposite Mainatchin, is the Chinese town Old Kiaakhta, the residence only of the merchants; no officer or stranger being permitted to sleep in it, according to an article in the treaty. The old town contains, according to Cochrane, forty-five dwellings, many of which are very superior edifices, and have within them very rich stores. Though situated in a dreary and sterile oasis, Kiaakhta, by means of its commerce, possesses many comforts. It is 330 miles south of Irkoutsk. On one of the mountains by which the place is surrounded are seen the boundaries of the Russian and Chinese empires, placed opposite each other; the Russian boundary being marked by a hillock of stones, with a cross at the top; whilst that of the Chinese is marked by a kind of pyramid. This place is remarkable as the centre of all the trade which is carried on between the Russian and Chinese empires; the Chinese, by the jealous policy of their rulers, being prohibited from trading with Russia through any other place. It was fixed upon by the treaty concluded between these powers in 1728, as the only medium of their mutual intercourse; and a great fair is accordingly held in December, when merchants flock thither from the most distant parts of the Russian empire. At this great commercial rendezvous are exchanged clothes; furs, namely, those of foxes, sables, river and sea otters, wild cats, beavers, and millions of squirrels, this latter fur, from its lightness, warmth, and durability, being a favourite with the Chinese; Russia and Morocco leather; for nankeens, silk stuffs, tea, rhubarb, &c. Woollen cloths and copper money are also exported to China, as well as many articles of curiosity and ingenuity, and some trinkets. The Russian and Chinese towns are quite separate from each other.