" Here we are in the land of the Tshabaums,^^ is a common expression with Russian travellers on entering the steppe, where the first objects that usually present themselves to the stranger, are some of the numerous flocks of sheep belonging to the wealthy nobles of Russia, some of whom count their woolly treasures by hundreds of thousands. To their owners, these flocks possess an interest beyond any that the steppe can off'er ; but to a stranger, the wild and exciting life of the tabuntshiks is certain to off'er more attraction. We are accustomed to speak of the wild horses of the steppe, but the expression must be received Avith some allowance ; for, in the proper sense of the word, wild horses have long ceased to inhabit any part of the steppe subject to Russia, nor have we any authentic record of the time when this noble animal ranged free and uncontrolled over the the plains bordering on the Euxine. At present, every tabooUy or herd, has its owner, to whom the tabuntshik has to account for every steed that is lost or stolen ; and it is not till we reach the heart of Tartary, or the wastes that stretch along the sea of Aral, that we meet, for the first time, the horse really in a state of nature. The taboons of the steppe, however, present the animal in a condition sufficiently bordering on freedom to allow of our studying his natural habits and disposition with more correctness than it would be possible for us to do in the more artificial condition in which alone we are in the habit of seeing him in Europe. Although, therefore^ in a statistical point of view, the sheep constitutes a more important part of the pastoral population of the steppe, ten flocks of sheep, at least, occurring for one herd of oxen or horses, yet we shall venture, in our remarks on the nomadic life of this part of the great Russian empire, to assign the prominent place to the taboons or breeding studs, which serve to mount nearly the whole of the imperial cavalry, and from which, in a moment of emergency, the government might derive, for the equipment of an invadmg army, resom'ces the extent of which are but httle dreamt of in the more civilized regions of Europe.
Many of the Russian nobles possess enormous tracts of land in the steppe. Among the largest proprietors may be named the families of Potocki, Orloff", Rasumoftsky, Skarshinsky, Woronzoft', &c. The scanty population makes it impossible, even if other obstacles did not exist, to bring any very considerable portion of their estates under the plough ; and most of the wealthy landowners have, consequently, found it to their interest to devote their chief attention to the breeding of sheep, cattle, and horses. Even at a very remote period, it appears to have been the practice of the lords of the steppe to follow a similar comse. The horses, more light of foot than either sheep or oxen, may easdy be made to range over
Tshnhawn is the South Russian word for a slieplicrJ. Tabuntshik is the name given to the man charged with the care of a herd of horses.
a larger expanse of ground, and thus obtain support from land too poor to afford pasturage to any other description of cattle.
A small number of stallions and mares, placed under the care of a herdsman, are sent into the steppe as the nucleus of a taboon. The foals are kept, and the herd is allowed to go on increasing until the number of horses is thought to be about as large as the estate can conveniently maintain. It is a very rare thing, however, for a taboon to contain more than a thousand horses, but there are landowners in the steppe who are supposed to possess eight or ten such taboons in different parts of the country. It is only when the taboon is said to be full, that the OA\mer begins to derive a revenue from it, partly by using the young horses on the estate itself, and partly by selling them at the fairs, or to the travelling horse-dealers in the employ of the government contractors.