RUSSIA. 



RUSSIA. 



To the north and east of this portion of the basin of the Volga 

 extends that of its largest affluent, the Kama, which comprehends an 

 area of about 200,000 square miles. As this basin lies contiguous to 

 the Ural Mountains, the country adjacent to the range is traversed by 

 a few offsets of that chain. But the country lowers rapidly to the 

 westward. The town of Perm, hardly seventy miles distant from the 

 great range in a straight line, is only 576 feet above the sea-level. 

 Alon? the rivers there are valleys, or rather depressions, from 10 to 

 20 miles wide, and between these depressions there is a swell of elevated 

 ground from 200 to 400 feet above the valleys, the highest part of which 

 is a level or undulating plain, equal in width to the adjacent depres- 

 sion*. The higher portions of the country are entirely covered with 

 forests of pine, oak, and lime-trees. A great part of the lower country 

 h aim wooded, but extensive tracts have been cleared, and yield rye, 

 barley, and oat*. In a few places wheat is cultivated. The basin of 

 the Kama contains the richest mines of iron and copper in Russia, and 

 immense quantities of salt are extracted from salt-springs. In this 

 region platinum has been found. 



The lower course of the Volga traverses an immense steppe or 

 desert, which not only extends over the whole of the lower basin of 

 the river, but stretches out eastward to the banks of the river Ural, 

 along the coarse of which it extends from its mouth to the place 

 where it issues from the valleys of the Ural Mountains. On the 

 shores of the Caspian Sea the steppe extends from the mouth of the 

 I'ral to that of the Kuroa. But the grenter part of the country 

 between the Knma and the upper course of the Manytch on the 

 north, and the base of the Caucasus on the south, is a steppe of the 

 fame kind. The western border of this immense desert lies close to 

 the right bank of the Volga. About 52* 80' N. lat, or where the 

 ridge of the hills of Samara is broken through by the Volga, there 

 begins on its right bank an elevated tract running at an elevation of 

 800 to 500 feet above the lowest level to the point where the Volga 

 turn* to the south-east (48* 80' N.). The elevated ground does not 

 cease at the bend of the Volga, but continues to advance southward 

 along the left bank of the river Serpa, an affluent of the Volga, which 

 runs from f outh to north. Near the place where the Sarpa originates, 

 the elevated ground, which has the form of a low mountain ridge, 

 between 51 and 46* N., is gradually lost in the plain which extends 

 north of the river Manytch. The steppe thus confined, as fir as it 

 belong* to Rnwia, contains an area of about 386,000 square mile*. 

 The whole of this region is unfit for cultivation, and supplies only 

 scanty pasture for the herds of the wandering tribe* which inhabit it 

 That part of it which lie* west of the Volga is called the Rumanian 

 stepp*. This portion is not level ; the surface consists of gentle 

 swells of a roundish form, so that the view seldom extends over many 

 miles. The soil consists almost entirely of a yellow clay, and rarely 

 of sand : it is impregnated with salt ; and pit*, or small salt-Ukes, are 

 common. Vegetation is confined to a few plants, soeh as wormwood, 

 ssUola, and a coarse grass which grows in toft* several feet apart ; 

 between these the yellow soil is without any vegetation. The shore 

 of the Caspian Sea between the mouths of the Volga and those of the 

 K'ima is very low to a distance varying between 20 and 40 miles from 

 the sea. It is inundated when a strong south-easterly wind happens to 

 blow for some time, and vtssek are sometimes driven on the sand-hills 

 which rise on the west of this level tract. [CAIMAX.] At the back 

 of these hills there are extensive salt-takes, which once evidently 

 formed part of the Caspian before the sand-hills existed. Among these 

 Halt-lake* those called Solenol Khaki are very remarkable. They occupy 

 a depression from 12 to 15 miles in width, with a very swampy surface, 

 over which the salt lakes are dispersed. In this tract the river Manytch 

 originates : it run* nearly due west for about 60 or 70 miles, and then 

 enters an arid plain of moderate width, which extends westward to 

 the mouth of the Don and Sea of Azof, and is inclosed on the south 

 anH north by more elevated land. There are strong grounds for sup- 

 posing that this level tract wss once covered by a strait which con- 

 nected the Black Sea with the Caspi*n. The number of Kalmuks 

 who find on the Rumanian 



!,-:-.:..- . : 



at 20,000 tent* 



who possess portions of it The wild animals, which abound in the 

 *Vppes, are horse*, antelopes, foxes, wolves, and the jerboa. The 

 Kirghiz steppe, east of the river Ural, presents similar features to the 

 great Russian ateppe just noticed ; and it is highly probable that the 

 whole region, as far as the Lake of Aral, was once covered by a salt 

 sea. The Obstshei Sirt, which form* part of the northern boundary 

 of the steppe, is connected at it* eastern extremity with the most 

 westein ranges of the I'ral Mountains, near 52* N. lat, whence it 

 extends westward to the point where the river Ural turns southward. 

 The elevated ground continues westward until it reaches the Volga 

 opposite Kamyshin, between 51* and 52* N. lat The ObsUbei Sirt 

 rise* with a gentle declivity about 600 feet above the steppe, which 

 extends along it* southern side, and is considered by Pallas to be the 

 ancient coast-line of the sea, when the waters of the Caspian covered 

 the whole plain south of it It differs considerably from the steppe 

 itself, toe soil containing a considerable portion of black mould and 

 bemj covered with grass. 



Near the western extremity of the Obstshei Sirt, not far from the 

 town of Kamyhin, begins the Naryn, an elevated tract of sand, which 



ac ea wt e aspan. e numer o amus 



he Rumanian steppe pasture for their numerous herds, 

 camrb, black cattle, horses, sheep, and goats, is estimated 

 ts or families, beside* a considerable number of Coesaks, 



runs in a south-east direction through the great steppe, south of the 

 Obstshei Sirt, and terminates not far from the shores of the Caspian 

 Sea. Its length is above 300 miles, and it varies in width from 30 to 

 100 miles. The surface is covered with hills varying from 12 to 30 

 feet in height ; they lie generally in groups close together, and consist 

 of fine white sand intermixed with broken shells and decomposed lime, 

 and are quite destitute of vegetation ; but it is remarkable that a few 

 feet below the surface spring- water is always found among these hills, 

 and in some of the depressions many rare plants grow. On the west 

 of the Naryn extends the worst part of the steppe. It appears that 

 a great depression occurs here containing numerous salt lakes, which 

 begin on the north with the lake of Elton, about 70 miles south-west 

 of Kamyshin, and extend parallel to the Naryn, south-eastward to the 

 shores of the Caspian. In some parts there are hills covered with 

 gypsum, and consisting of great masses of rock-salt Salt however 

 can be obtained with less expense from the lakes. Immense quantities 

 of salt are obtained from the lake of Elton, which, near 49 N. lat, 

 46 40' E. long., U 12 miles long, with a width of nearly 10 miles. 

 The surface of the. lake is covered with a thick layer of salt, like ice. 

 The salt is transported* to Saratov, where many millions of cwts. 

 of salt are usually stored. Between the series of salt lakes which have 

 been already noticed, and the banks of the Volga, is a tract of sandy 

 hills similar to the Naryn, but of leas extent The vegetation of this 

 tract is very scanty, but there are some spots which supply pasture. 

 It has no permanent watercourses. 



That part of the steppe which lies east of the Naryn appears to be 

 less sterile than the country just described. Here the yellow clay is 

 more intermixed with sand, and more fit for supporting vegetation. 

 But the soil is also impregnated with salt ; and saline plants, with 

 short wormwood, are the vegetation most frequently met with. Three 

 rivers traverse it from north-west to south-east ; two of them, the 

 Lesser and Greater Usen, fall into the salt lake Kamysh Samara, The 

 third river, called Kushum, falls into the lake of Zagan, or Zagan-Nor. 

 The bottoms in which the Usen run are one or two miles wide. They 

 are covered with poplars, willows, wild olive-trees, and tamarisk 

 shrubs, and constitute the only wooded tracts in the whole extent of 

 the steppe. 



Though the Ural River is considered as the boundary-line between 

 Rus*ia and the Kirghiz country, the Russians consider two localities 

 on the Asiatic side of the river as belonging to them, the rock-salt 

 mines of Ilek and the salt lake of Inderskoe. The first are about 80 

 miles west-by-south from the town of Orenburg. The salt lake of 

 Inderskoe, which is near 49 N. lat, about 8 miles from the eastern 

 banTc of the Lower Ural, is about 55 mile* in circumference. Its sur- 

 face Is covered with such a thick layer of salt that, according to Pallas, 

 it may be crossed by a man like a sheet of ice. 



No country on the globe is subject to a greater diversity of heat 

 and cold than this steppe, especially th eastern part The Ural, 

 notwithstanding its rapid current in it* upper course, is covered with 

 ice at the end of October or the beginning of November, and it does 

 not break up before the middle of April. During this season the frost 

 is continuous sod intense. The thermometer generally sinks 15* 

 below zero, and continue* so for several weeks together, and some- 

 times it descends to -30 and -35. During this time a considerable 

 quantity of snow falls, bat it dors not cover the ground, being carried 

 over the plain by violent whirlwinds, which cause it to accumulate in 

 certain places. The spring is very short In the middle of May the 

 heat begins to be oppressive in the daytime. In June and July the 

 thermometer rises to 100*, and at Orenburg it sometimes attains 110. 

 The heat is generally attended with a total want of rain, and a southern 

 wind which dries up the water of the lakes, and converts them into 

 swamps. The nights however are cooL In September the heat 

 decrease* rapidly, and soon afterward* night-frosts become frequent 

 In this season rain is rather common. 



That portion of Southern Russia which lies west of the lower basin 

 of the river Volga extends along the coast of the Black Sea as far 

 west as the Danube and Pruth. It terminates southward with the 

 peninsula of the Crimea, which contains a mountainous and very fertile 

 and also a level region ; the latter exactly resembles the great steppe 

 '.y ing west of the lower course of the Volga. [CRIMEA.] The country 

 which extend* from the shores of the Putrid Sea northward between 

 the Dnieper on the west and the river Moloshnya on the east, as far 

 north as 47 N. lat, is likewise a salt steppe ; the waters of the lake* 

 as well as those of the small rivers being slightly impregnated with 

 salt It is not however level, bnt the surface consists of an alternate 

 succession of elevations and depresrions. The higher land has a soil 

 consisting of reddish clay, which is very barren. In the lower tracts 

 the soil is an intermixture of black mould and sand, and mostly 

 covered with gross, which supplies tolerable pasture. The most 

 western portion, extending between the Gulf of Perekop and the 

 eeetuary of the Dnieper, is a sanHy waste, which is entirely barren and 

 uninhabited. 



North of this country there is a steppe of somewhat different 

 character. It comprehends the whole country south of the granite 

 tract that traverses Russia from east to west, from the banks of the 

 Don and the Ilawla (its confluent, which joins it at its most eastern 

 bend) to the Pruth, with a width varying between 80 and 120 mile*. 

 This tract also may be included within the steppe, being similar in soil 



