Genghis Khan, who subdued China and began that wonderful career of Tartar conquest that extended to Middle Europe, was born on the banks of the Kerolun.  Some of his early battles were fought in its valley.

The Shilka is formed by the Onon and Ingodah, that rise in the region north of the head waters of the Kerolun.  From the sources of the Onon to Oust-Strelka is a distance of seven hundred and fifty miles.  There are many gold mines along this river, and the whole mountain chain is known to be rich in minerals.  Including its tributaries on both sides and at its formation, the Amoor as it flows into the Gulf of Tartary drains a territory of 766,000 square miles.

There is a little island just below the point of land extending between the two rivers.  As we approached it the steamer turned to the right and proceeded up the Shilka, leaving the Amoor behind us.  I may never see this great river again, but I shall never forget its magnificent valley and its waters washing the boundaries of two empires and bringing the civilization of the East and West in contact.  I shall never forget its many islands, among which we wound our tortuous way; its green meadows, its steep cliffs, and its blue mountains, that formed an ever-changing and ever beautiful picture.  I shall never forget its forests where the yellow hues of autumn contrasted with the evergreen pine and its kindred, and which nature has lavishly spread to shield the earth from the pitiless storm and give man wherewith to erect his habitation and light his hearthstone with generous fire.  Mountain, hill, forest, island, and river will rise to me hereafter in imagination as they rose then in reality.  A voyage along the entire course of the Amoor is one that the longest lifetime cannot efface from the memory.

For a hundred and sixty years the little post of Oust-Strelka was the most easterly possession of Russia in the Amoor valley.  In 1847 Lieutenant General Mouravieff, having been appointed Governor General of Eastern Siberia, determined to explore the river.  In the following spring he sent an officer with four Cossacks to descend the Amoor as far as was prudent.  The officer took a liberal supply of presents for the people along the banks, and was instructed to avoid all collisions with the natives and not to enter their towns.  From the day of his departure to the present nothing has ever been heard of him or his men.  Diligent inquiries have been made among the natives and the Chinese authorities, but no information gained.  It is supposed the party were drowned by accident, or killed by hostile residents along the river.