Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the farming folk of the region about Moscow were emigrating south and east and establishing themselves in the fertile plains of the Don, the Volga, and the irtysh.
"A Political and Social History of Modern Europe V.1."
Carlton J. H. Hayes
I meant to write you a farewell letter from Moscow, but I had not time; I write to you now sitting in a hut on the bank of the irtysh.
"Letters of Anton Chekhov"
Anton Chekhov Translated by Constance Garnett
All around, desert, dreariness; the bare sullen bank of the irtysh in sight....
"Letters of Anton Chekhov"
Anton Chekhov Translated by Constance Garnett