| Show THE STEPPES OF SOUTHERN RUS i I 1 SIA the phy physical peculiarities of the southern provinces of russia are likely to exercise no lit tte influence inAuen ce on oil the future of the empire kand ap few books of real value have appe appeared nied on tile the surjeet in En england gand we believe we shall do a welcome servine service ta to oar our readers blonden ipg far them the information contained in a wort r recently published in germany by a gentleman w t d many y years ears in different part offlie of the aza ia dom dominions 1 and was as himself afire a frequent q nent witness to the iceney scenes he lige describes rites the V e steppes step as they are generally pene rally called extend from the borders of hungary to those of china the they Y constitute an almost ted plain covered in pring and autumn by a I 1 11 I 1 rf i 11 J iria b bv bj v drifting shows up in n some alt e ground bare in others bets and in sam andr dy or direr amt so excessively fine that on the calmest day they bey hang suspended suspend edin in tile the air having the appearance rather of vapor exhaled from the ground than of earthly particles raised by the agitation of the atmosphere the slight undulations that occasionally occur assume but rarely the character of hills but artificial arti fical hill hillocks 6 acks or tumuli are frequently met with the origin of which it is impossible to trace the darkness dark nesa of bygone ages the most singular characteristic ic however of I 1 the stepp is the total absence of trees on oil soil remarkable for its Tich richness ness and the luxuriance of its herbage For hundreds of miles a 4 traveler may proceed ina straight line without encountering a bush unless lie he hippen happen to be acquainted with a few favot favored d spots known to the tartar sportsmen to whom they answer the purpose 01 of game preserves countless herds of cattle roam over these noble pasture ground son which a calf born at the foot of the great chinese wall might eat his way along till he arrived a well fatted batted ox on the banks of alie prepared to figure with advantage at the odessa IN ra arket the poor animals suffer I 1 much during the hot and dry su summers in in ers when av every ery bl blade 4 de of grass is is parched up lint nt them the careful herdsman who has provi provider provided dei himself with ail an abundant stock of hay is able to keep his hii beasts alive till autumn returns to gladden them I 1 with fresh abundance wherever a ridge ot of hills occurs occur of sufficient height to lifford afford protection against blasts that come sweeping in un unbroken bouise course from of the arctic ocean the character of the country is changed in the crimea for though the northern portion partakes of all the ther rude characteristics ol of the stephev the south coast sheltered by the cen aral mountains enjoys a climate equal af ital italy I 1 Y wd and tillous til lods the vine and the e to be cultivated w with ith as much success as in provence what these mountains are to the south southern coast of the cri crimea the himalayas are to india which if di divested e d of her mountain mount aim anee and laid open to the bi eatn of the north role pole wp bild soon be converted into a ne new w ati steppe pre I 1 the I 1 ie icy blast driven far into the tropics would quickly sheep and pagodas from the earth and her fair fairfield nelda invaded by the tarter and his herds would cease cease to excite the cupidity of foreign adventurers I 1 jv 1 I 1 I 1 A country constituted by natline as are alth we russian steppes is evidently destined rather for a wande wandering flue and pisto pastoral ial people than for fora a se settled t and agricultural population for in hi regions gigions ri where hot but few fayr objects occur there is but bullitte to attach nw A to 0 avy apy particular spot the russman however dinv inv in a spirit of in Q over which but little influence appears ap ars to bave halve prescribed to itself the tas task k of converting the ir tribes ibes into titled agri and the steppe 6 itself ini int prie rie vist cornfield corn field german 1 and aad balagula Balag nari 1 colonists have been ter tempted ted by an offer of peculiar vil egesto themselves iad in dit ferent Aint parts I 1 I 1 of llie count hopet nat 6 their 6 brex example i mple might 1 j atom afi the native t tribes eibes freiri roving VI alg habits colonists hiye haye li lien been en 10 lo sted in the me caraty of large the plan has been Sit Id tended with partial success but the foreigners soon discover the capabilities of the 3 country and in proportion altheir aa their means in 1 I 1 creme crease rarely fail to invest their surplus capital in the purchase of flocks and herds herd s the numerical anoint of the custo mary standard by which wealth is ii estimated throughout the steppe I 1 I 1 we the steppes ep pesAs as one vasi vast plain but it must be borne in in mind that this plain is of an elevated character and terminates at I 1 the black sea in an an abrupt terrace rg eisinga a a bove the to the hei height ht of fr from I 1 22 to a feet the rj rivers rs which intersect tills this plain and i which C h in spring iti are swollen blithe by the ap rapid idillar idil law of the accumulated saws ws of winter whiter cut edt deep furrows farrows in the surface and as change their cour courses sear they occasionally leave 9 dry rv ravines avines ines that thi the bui of oe country ajit I 1 would be attached in other parts part of world warlito tc the trifling elevations eleva tiona gons and de thus th for med but bt in the step steppe lie the slightest a i of su surface 1 becomes a I 1 landmark p ark of importance I 1 1 y P 1 ti la J I 1 T I 1 an na 4 sq PW tebe 1 om inal t jo ar by thein thy in 1 habib bitetto ha t 4 e very every peculiarity af pf shape which the growled rd 1 is made to lo assume under the action of wa e ei I 1 the thein 11 n water flows but slowly awa away som isom ghelev 01 of the stepp and often after I 1 a suc succession cemon of rainy weather remains for rita many days apon the ground the depth of several inches iia A portion of this water is absorbed by ille lesoir heso soil ir but the greater part finds its way slow ilg f j nd into the rivers carr carrying yi n a a aldag nin w auli ith it a sufficient quantity y of earth to tb I 1 imp impart art a black and turbid aurbia loois to all the streams that iab intersect act the steppe marry of the ivers I 1 bu but t the principal streams 3 are led fed only vy yjih jahe rain ain and anaw ah and d their b beds ds 21 consequently qan quent aly ly anre re dry in Au surn rimer mer I 1 each 0 these aft ravines vine terminates in a waterfall f formed br in A originally I 1 il no doubt by the terr terrace that a bbunds the aba sea 1 terraced acee ahw tore but 1 in F proportion 9 portion as the wa water wore ava away a chan ann 1 ae nef I ta ft p I 1 1 I ea I 1 the the fl waterfall vater fall gradually grada ally recede e I 1 dand and 4 I 1 P 1 q burse r L 0 of ages 0 es made its way farther and F i ill 1 t to the interior of country country I 1 ja in sonie ansta ai t this gradual retrogression retrogress ian odthe of the water fall or I 1 apin align of the rayer bed is sufficient r ay pi abe be wired noticed by the me inhabitants who frequently pretend b to be ahle able to tire average number of feet which a ravine works its way backward year by year I 1 the rhe elevation or of the ground being so nearly alike throughout abe whole of the steppe the ravines formed by the action of the rainwater are of nearly equal depth in every part ait oit of the cauntay cau coti they are seldom less thaila than a hundred gi indred feet depp dep T and seldom exceed a hundred and fifty fifth thase ravines i with kith their la a teral branches on each side as their edges d aes ar are at all times exceedingly abrupt i offer to the tarvel I 1 er as a well as to the herdsman herdem an driving his lowing and bleating charge across across the pla plain in ii an impassable n apas barrier to avoid which daiell it t is often necessary to go round for or many miles the cinq consequence eq uerice is q that several roads or tracks briick are always su sure r to meet at the head of a which thus becomes a spot of some importance throughout the surrounds in I 1 ri winter alyee ravine 1 is usually 1 filled bythe by the drift drifting irig snow and ia then exit extremely eme I 1 ly dang dangerous orous to any one mot inot well acquainted aci quain ted with the country count rv men alen and cattle are at that season often buried in the snowdrifts snow drifts and their fate is ascertained only when the 1 melting I eli oi of the snows snowa leaves their bodies exposed emp at the foot of the tee occasionally in passing over the steppe the I 1 traveler ira apler perceives a slight depression depress ion of the surface as if a mighty giant gian had thad laid his hand leand upon the plain and pressed it down in such national basins called slavok s by the ha natives tiles the rain collects and though mhd th soil soon absorbs the 1 water the place gener generally ally retains some frome moisture 1 lono long after the rest of tile the country has been parch I 1 ed up by the su armor heats tile the stai pit ma may easily be supposed adm such aji a time the an object of ab no trifling importance to the herdsman and is carefully guarded against the intrusion of strangers A belief prevails up upon ja the steppe that the ar are e hoiem holes formed by the ilie ancient j Mong lians who dug out gut the he earth to fetn f awer tumuli b but ta gf p iv po no good reason n to ku suppose appose I 1 0 lb zt d wise than kiy r r t alp ing of oe hie subjacent strata i the climate amate of the steppes stepper is one of ext extremes enies rn in summer the heat is as intense as the cold isi is severe in winter the waters of the bla black k sea exercising apparently but little influence in intern tempering peri ng the atmosphere e this I 1 is a a accounted foj for by the abrupt rise of the coast which arrests the strata of air air immediately above the surface ot of the water and leaves a free coarse y to those portions of ake air that fly ata higher level the steppe therefore has usually an arctic winter and al tropical summer and enjoys only during spring and autumn short intervals of that ate to w which aich i its ts geographical position siti orr in the I 1 temperate temp zone would appear to entitle it I 1 I 1 I 1 the snow storms of southern russia are ter tile the howling blast lifts the snow show in vast and fills the whole atmosphere with a thick drift of flying snow evry every ravine or hollow is filled by the whirling st ormand ind and landmarks are burie dand cattle attl and men n caught in tise these storms storm 9 are ay overwhelmed fiven the government 1 couriers are allowed to stop at such 1 ti dimcy anc these u usually agn ala last about three days when a buil f u cornea com e ver over 0 the face of nature the wi winter ra te r of the steppe in intensity cold frea antly surpassed the severest seasons known on t tle V shores of the Balti cand the cutting blasts from ithe north sweep sweepingly huge masses of snow into the black sea olten often cover it with a thick coating of ce for many leagues in the winter beaw between een 1837 and 1838 the maxi maximum muril height of the thermometer for four weeks was 10 degrees R and several times it fell below 30 der dar qs es 32 degress below the zero of fahrenheit a temperature at which in st Peters petersburg burk it i is s customary to close churches and theatres theartres the atres the steppe accordingly participates in all tile the severity of 0 a russian winter but enjoys few of the iid advantages vantages which to the northern russians gofir go far to redeem the intensity of the cold in no northern r thern russia and even in the ukraine the snow remains on the ground curing the gretter greater part 0 of if the winter and the sledges quickly wear tu all e surface of the road into a sil smooth looth mass of which the heaviest goods may be traer I 1 ported with a speed and facility surpassed sed wy only by a railroad the Ius russian sian then therefore lore usually prefers the winter for traveling but also for the conveyance byance of heavy goods from fro in one to another to the denizen ot of the steppe this natural railroad is unknown the that prel prevail vail throughout the grinter greater part of tile the winter keep the snow in a constant state of agitation him and prevent it from gea caking king on the ground the snow in consequence never co be dieppe but seems to lie scattered ovet it in p patches 1 at elleg according as the wind may ma have drifted it about bhea the melts jo on n the step pethe spring i mayba naab P said to commence ce this usually takes taker piece in april april 1 1 but may is far advanced b before alpe thomais tho the mais mass of df wai ater has haa had time to findig find ha way int info 0 tha rivers during this melting celtin il sea season poil the surface of the steppe aicon is converted I 1 into intha a searf hnud i through which neither man nor beast can wi wade ide P I 1 jer J er ti ex arvery rayme e fu a a torrent 0 o t the I dirtiest water that c can an well ill be I 1 imagined 2 ana 1 about the ahe dv dwellings of nien men the accumulated filth of the winter is at once exposed to i the disappearance of the snowy arin mantle tl that for a season had charitably covered a multitude of sins this i operation is frequently interrupted by y the return n of frost arid and the descent of fresh masses of snow for there is no country perhaps where winter makes a harder fight for it before he allows himself to be beaten out of the field for I 1 a few days perhaps a delightful south wind 1 I n d ivi wilt ill diversify diver diversify sif y the the plain with iq and hyacinths then all at once onca a rude northeaster easter will come from the ural mountains ansak making ma king ng the sowers flowers vanish in a trice and envelo enveloping pLing the whole scene anew in one white shroud another shift of 4 the wind and a gale from the north 0 west will come sweeping g along discharging ia its he heavy clouds and wreathing the face of the steppe from the ural to the carpa chiani when hen at last boisterous old h baa really been forced to veatris beat his retreat a most delightful p briod of the year sup succeeds eeds and the itar covered i with a beautiful ka and 4 luxuriant h herbage er bage smiles ile like jilke a lo 10 lovely vely oasis quis between the parched desolation of the summer and the dreary waste of the winter the whole earth seem I 1 r clad in the color of hopp while the sky eky assumes that of truth and though it is certainly monotonous enough to behold nothing but blue above and green below yet the recollection of past harushi hardships ps and the cons consciousness piousness ious ness of present abundance makes the season oneff rejoicing to lo the even excites for a a while the admiration of the stranger the latter however I 1 is 8 certai ai before long to groit weary op of a spring unadorned by a single flowering by a single bub bubbling blink brook i nt a ahill jail to break the tedium of the landscape land scap x through which a well mounted rider may gallop for hundreds of leagues and scarcely meet an object objected ab raae make him conscious that he has quitted the spot whence be started from hungary Hangary he may urge urge his hig steed to the borders of Cir Cire cassia assia without passing e grove of trees frees fro from in the car pat hians to the capital of mongolia he will not one once ve be gladdened by a sound of a streamlet illet ip 0 over its pebbly y bed grass grass gra grass s and nothing but grass not nor inus t this grass gras bp b supposed to resemble that which em belli bellis bes the velvet lawn of in an english park the hex herbage bage of the ster sterpe pe is so coarse tb that at tin an Ila boref would |
