Occasionally, in passing over the steppe, the traveller perceives a slight depression of the sm-face, as if a mighty giant had laid his hand ujion the plain and pressed it down. In such natural basins, called stavoks by the natives, the rain collects, and though the soil soon absorbs the water, the place generally retains some moisture long after the rej?t of the country has been parched up by tlie summer heats. The stavok, it may easily be supposed, is, at such a time, an object of no trifling imjwrtance tothe herdsman, and is carefully guarded against the intrusion of strangers. A belief prevails upon the steppe, that the stavoks are holes formed by the ancient Mongolians, who dug out the earth to form their tumuli, but there is no good reason to suppose that the depression has originated otherwise than by a slight sinking of the subjacent strata.
The climate of the steppes is one of extremes. In summer, the heat is as intense as the cold is severe in winter, the waters of the Black Sea exercising apparently but httle influence in tempering the atmosphere. This is accounted for by the abnipt rise of the coast, which arrests the strata of air immediately above the surface of the water, and leaves a free course only to those portions of the air that fly at a higher level. The steppe therefore has, usually, an arctic winter and a tropical summer, and enjoys, only during spring and autumn, short intervals of that moderate temperature to which its geographical position, in the temperate zone, would appear to entitle it.
The core or substance of the long winter of the steppe is formed by the three months of December, January, and February, during which all the energies of nature appear sunk in an unbroken sleep ; but though unbroken, it is by no means a quiet sleep that Dame Nature is allowed to enjoy during this period of the year, for the snow-storms are of frequent occurrence, and so excessively violent, that even the most seasoned veterans of the steppe stand in awe of them. The Russians distinguish these snow-storms into three separate classes. A storm during which the snow simply falls from the clouds is called a myattyol ; a storm that raises the snow from the gTOund, and drives it in large masses before the wind, is called a zamet ; but the storm which combines the characters of both the foregoing, and which goes by the name of a viuga, is the dreaded foe against whom all hasten to seek shelter. A zamet is not without its beauties when contemplated from the summit of a tumulus or from some other accidental elevation ; the sun may then be seen shining brilliantly overhead, its rays reflected by myriads of icy crystals floating in the air below. For the traveller, however, who does not happen to look down upon it, but, on the contrary, is closely cultivating its acquaintance, the zamet has few charms, and is not unattended by danger. Every road or track is frequently altogether effaced, the ravhies are filled up, and cases even occur Avhere men and cattle are suddenly caught by a drift of snow, and completely buried under its accumulating mass. To the viuga no traveller attempts to expose himself ; and even the government couriers are excused if, during the three days, the usual duration of one of these storms, they remain closely housed at the station which they happen to have reached.
The winter of the steppe, in intensity of cold, frequently surpasses the severest seasons known on the shores of the Baltic, and the cutting blasts from the north, sweeping huge masses of snow into the Black Sea, often cover it with a thick coating of ice for many leagues from the shore. In the winter between 1837 and 1838, the maximum height of the thermometer for four weeks was — lO'^ R., and several times it fell below — 30° (32° below the zero of Fahrenheit), a temperature at which, in St. Petersburg, it is customary to close churches and theatres. The steppe, accordingly participates In all the severity of a Russian winter, but enjoys few of the advantages wliich to the northern Russian go far to redeem the intensity of the cold. In northern Russia, and even in the Ukraine, the snow remains on the ground during the greater part of the winter, and the sledges quickly wear the surface of the road into a smooth mass of ice, over wdiich the heaviest goods may be transported with a speed and facility surpassed only by a railroad. The Russian, therefore, usually prefers the winter months, not only for traveUing, but also for the conveyance of heavy goods from one place to another. To the denizen of the steppe this natural railroad is unknown. The storms that prevail throughout the greater part of the winter keep the snow in a constant state of agitation, and prevent it from " caking" on the ground. The snow, in consequence, never covers the steppe, but seems to lie scattered over it in patches according as the wind may have drifted it about.