The rain-water flows but slowly away from the level surface of the steppe, and often, after a succession of rainy weather, remains for many days u)on the ground, to the depth of several inches. A portion of this water is absorbed by the soil, but the greater part finds its way slowly and imperceptibly into the rivers, carrying along witli it a sufficient quantity of earth to impart a black and turbid look to all the streams that intersect the steppe. Many of the rivers, indeed all but the principal streams, are fed only by the rain and snow, and their beds, consequently, are dry in summer. Each of these ravines terminates in a waterfall, formed originally, no doubt, by the terrace that bounds the sea ; but in proportion as the water wore away a channel for itself, the waterfall giadually receded, and, in the course of ages, made its wjiy farther and farther into the interior of the country. In some instances this gradual retrogression of the waterfall, or termination of the river-bed, is sufficiently rapid to be noticed by the inhabitants, who frequently pretend to be able to determine tlie average number of feet which a ravine works its way backward year by year.
The elevation of the ground being so nearly alike throughout the whole of the steppe, the ravhies formed by the action of the rain-water are of nearly equal depth in every part of the country. They are seldom less than a hundred feet deep, and seldom exceed a hundred and fifty. These ravines, or vuipolotsh, with their lateral branches on each side, as their edges are at all times exceedingly abrupt, offer to the traveller, as well as
468 GENERAL ASPECT OF THE STEPPE.
to the herdsman driving his lowing and bleating charge across the plain, an impassable barrier, to avoid which it is often necessary to go round for many miles. The consequence is, that several roads or tracts are always sure to meet at the head of a vuipolotsh, which thus becomes a spot of some importance throughout the surrounding country. In winter, the ravine is usually filled by the drifting snow, and is then extremely dangerous to any one not well acquainted with the country. Men and cattle are at that season often buried in the snow-drifts, and their fate is ascertained only when the melting of the snow leaves their bodies exposed at the foot of the precipice.
The above description does not, of course, apply to the larger rivers that are supplied with water throughout the year. The banks of these are less abrupt, but their elevation, though more gradual, is about the same, being seldom less than a hundred, nor more than a hundred and fifty feet, over the level of the water. The beds of these large rivers are in general remarkably broad, and are almost always fringed with a belt of reeds, six or eight feet high, that forms an excellent cover for every description of water-fowl.
While the action of the rain is exercising so powerful an influence in the interior, the sea, as may easily be supposed, is not idle on the coast. A very remarkable characteristic of the Black Sea is, that at the m.outh of every river a large lake is gradually formed by the action of the sea. If any of our readers will take up a map of the Black Sea, they will perceive a lake of some extent laid down at the mouth of almost every river, and some of these lakes, it will be seen, are marked as unconnected with the sea. These lakes are known along the coast by the name of Ihnan. These limans are supposed to have been formed by the action of the sea driven into the mouth of the river by the violence of the prevailing storms, and constantly undermining the terrace of the overhanging steppe. During tranquil weather, an opposite action is going on. The rivers, as we have above said, are always turbid with the soil of the steppe, and their water, arrested in its course by the tideless sea, deposits its sediment in front of the liman, where a low strip of land is gradually formed. This natural mound, by which every liman is in course of time protected against the further encroachments of the sea, is called a percssip. Where the supply of water brought down by a river is tolerably large, the peressip is never complete, but is broken by an aperture called a gheerl, that forms a communication between the liman and the sea. Many limans, however, are fed by streams that bring down so feeble a volume of water, that the mere evaporation is sufficient to carry off the whole surplus, and the peressip in such cases becomes perfect, forming a barrier that completely cuts off all communication between the river and the sea. Limans so circumstanced exercise a baneful influence upon the country, in consequence of the offensive effluvia that arise from the stagnant water in summer.