GENERAL ASPECT OF THE STEPPE.
The steppes, as they are generally called, extend from the borders of Hungary to those of Chma. They constitute an almost uninterrupted plain, covered in spring and autumn by a luxuriant herbage ; in winter by drifting snows, heaped up in some places, and leaving the ground bare in others ; and in summer by clouds of dust so excessively fine, that even on the calmest day they hang suspended in the air, having the appearance rather of a vapour exhaled from the ground, than of earthy particles raised by the agitation of the atmosphere. The shght undidations that occm' assume but rarely the character of hills, but artificial hillocks or tumuli are frequently met with, the origin of which it is impossible to trace through the darkness of by-gone ages. The most singular characteristic, however, of the steppe, is the total absence of trees, on a soil remarkable for its richness and the lUxm-iance of its herbage. For himdreds of miles, a traveller may proceed in a straight fine without encountering even a bush, unless he happen to be acquainted with the few favoured spots known to the Tartar sportsmen, to whom they answer the purpose of game preserves. Countless herds of cattle roam over these noble pasture grounds, On which a calf born at the foot of the Great Chinese Wall, might eat his way along, till he arrived a well -fattened ox on the banks of the Dniester, prepared to figure with advantage at the Odessa market. The poor animals suffer much during the hot and dry summers, when every blade of glass is parched up ; but the careful herdsman, who has provided himself with an abundant stock of hay, is able to keep his beasts alive till autumn returns to gladden them with fresh abundance.
Wherever a ridge of hills occurs, of sufficient height to afford protection against the northern blasts that come sweeping in an unbroken course from the shores of the Arctic Ocean, the character of the country is changed. In the Crimea, for instance, though the northern portion partakes of all the rude characteristics of the steppe, the south coast, sheltered by the central mountains, enjoys a cHmate equal to that of Italy, and allows the vine and the olive to be cultivated with as much success as in Provence.
The greater part of the second volume of Mr. Kohl's work on Southern Russia is occupied by what he caUs a Characteristic Description of the Pontine Steppes. The foUowing pages are not given as a close translation, but rather as jui abstract of the author's lively and grapliic account.
A country constituted by nature as are the Russian steppes, is evidently destined rather for a wanderingand pastoral people, than for a settled and agricultural population ; for in regions where but few prominent objects occur, there is but little to attach man to any particular spot. The Russian government, however, in a spirit of perversity not unusual in governments over which public opinion exercises but li-ttle influence, appears to have prescribed itself the task of convertingthe nomadic tribes into settled agriculturists, and the steppe itself into one vast cornfield. German and Bulgarian colonists have been tempted, by the offer of peculiar privileges, to estabUsh themselves in different parts of the country, in the hope that their example might gradually wean the native tribes from their roving habits. Wliere the colonists have been located in the vicinity of large towns, the plan has been attended with partial success ; but the foreig-ners soon discover the capabilities of the country, and in proportion as their means increase, rarely fail to invest their surplus capital in the purchase of flocks and herds, the numerical amount of which constitutes the customary standard by which wealth is estimated throughout the steppe.
W'e have described the steppes as one vast plain, but it must be borne in mind that this plain is of an elevated character, and terminates at the Black Sea in an abrupt terrace, rising above the water to the height of from 120 to 180 feet. The rivers which intersect this plain, and which in spring are swollen by the rapid thaw of the accumulated snows of winter, cut deep fmTovvs in the surface ; and as they frequently change their courses, they occasionally leave dry ravines that break in some measure the uniformity of the countiy. Little importance would be attached in other parts of the world to the trifling elevations and depressions thus formed; but in the steppe, the slightest variation of surface becomes a landmark of importance, and separate denominations are given by the inhabitants to every peculiarity of shape which the ground is made to assume under the action of water.