Fogs are of rare occurrence, and then only in autumn, and are not dense enough to obstruct the navigation; but storms are violent and frequent, although not of long duration. The lake freezes over in the end of November or towards the middle of December, opening again in March. The ice is of no great thickness, but sufficiently strong to bear the ordinary winter traffic. The future importance of the lake depends in a great measure on the navigability of the river Ili; for when the districts round Kulja, which have so recently been the scenes of the most horrible bloodshed and desolation, are restored to a new life, a great deal of the traffic with Western China will pass this way, and Lake Balkash and the Ili may then become a great artery for the communications between the north-west and south-east.
