a town of Asiatic Russia, in the government of Irkoutsk; situated on the right bank of the Selenga, in a country consisting chiefly of naked and sandy mountains; and it is ten miles farther down the river before any lands are found fit for the purposes of agriculture. In 1596 a wooden fort or ostrog was built on this spot, which was afterwards converted into a regular fortress, and gave rise to the town, which now contains three churches and a hundred and fifty houses. It is supported, notwithstanding its dreary situation, by being the great thoroughfare of the China trade through Kiachta. Rhubarb is imported in large quantities from the adjacent country of Mongolia. Long. 107. 3. E. Lat. 51. 6. N.