The Ukraine has been, from remote antiquity, the theatre of sanguinary battles. It was anciently inhabited by the Cimmerians, extending from the river Kuban to the mouth of the Dniester towards the Black Sea. Herodotus relates, that at the time of the irruption of the Scythians into the country of the Cimmerians, the latter were overcome by the superior numbers of the invaders, and their sovereigns sacrificed by the sword of the victors, and buried on the banks of the Dniester, where the vestiges of their tombs were still traceable. In proportion as the traveller advances towards the east and south of the Ukraine, similar tombs become more numerous; and the Steppes assume an aspect still more monotonous and sterile. Occasionally the pelican of the desert is to be met with. At sight of a human being, this rare and unsocial bird, a fitting representative of the Black Sea, takes rapidly to its wing, uttering a wild and piercing cry. Here and there, too, may be seen an enormous and isolated oak tree, whose spreading branches and venerable head awaken a reminiscence of bygone ages. Were these time-honoured oaks gifted with the faculty of speech, and could they describe all the events to which they have been eye-witnesses, what strange things could they not tell us, what mysteries unveil, what mundane vanities rebuke; might they not, perchance, instruct us, how to interchange our ideas by some hitherto unknown medium of converse with our distant friends? how to unfold the secrets of our hearts, to the objects of our affection, by the roaring of the winds or the sacred power of music. Whoever has not seen the mighty Steppes of the Ukraine, especially in the dead of the night, and at the rising and setting of the sun, cannot possibly describe the sensation which they produce; their vast expanse, their soul-chilling monotony, shake, humble, crush the human mind.
The traveller in journeying over these Steppes, occasionally meets with large inns, or caravansaries, the true oases of this great desert. They are for the most part kept by Russian Puritans, or by Jews {Karaimes)
whose lively gesticulations and oriental characteristics bespeak an Asiatic origin. In these resting places, particularly in such as are kept by Russian Puritans {Marhitani) there is need of precaution; personal security is often endangered, and frequent murders have been committed, few being discovered, from the secluded nature of the locality. The traveller, therefore, in these regions, should be well provided with fire-arms, of which the innkeepers stand in great dread. Banditti sometimes lie in wait for the merchants returning from the marts at Kiow, or from the port of Odessa, and who are supposed to carry with them considerable sums of money.
After the wars of the Scythians, the Cimmerians and the Khosars, supposed to be the earliest ancestors of the Cossacks of the Ukraine, traded with the Greeks of Byzantium; the industry and activity of the latter, induced them to establish Greek colonies, and to build several cities in these provinces; amongst others, Olbia and Nicosia, whose names bear testimony to their Hellenic origin. At a subsequent period, this country witnessed the sanguinary wars between Mithridates and the Romans. The Goths, in their turn, about the year 214, and the Huns about 376, extended their incursions to the banks of the Dnieper. In the tenth century, the Moscovites (Russians), inhabitants of the shores of Ladoga, driven from the north to the south, poured down upon these fertile territories, under Rurik, who established his residence in the wealthy town of Kiow.
The companions of Eurik, Oskold and Dyr, were raised to the dignity of governors of Kiow; but Oleg, guardian of Igor, the son of Rurik, after having caused the above governors to be massacred, and having, subjugated the Viatichans and the Radimitchans, the Severians and the Drevelians, nations of Slavonic origin, founded the Russic power, which became more formidable under Igor, and arrived at a great point of maturity under Vladymir the Great.