MEMOIR OF PALLAS. 45 



/irg, and varied by hills and rich meadows. Few 

 countries more deserve to be peopled. It abounds 

 in rich arable land and green valleys, and here are 

 found in great numbers every variety of the elk and 

 deer. These separate during the winter, in the 

 woods and thickets which skirt the rivers and 

 streams, as well as over the moors and mountains. 

 There the elks browse upon the young shoots and 

 bark of the aspen and poplar, which grow in great 

 luxuriance : they here also find excellent shelter in 

 simimer, and abundant nourishment upon the moun- 

 tains and heaths. The roe-buck thrives equally well, 

 as the wind sweeps the snow from the heights, and 

 they feed on the herbs thus exposed. The Cossacks 

 every year kill a great number of these animals. 

 They pursue them chiefly in March : at this period 

 the power of the sun melts the surface of the snow, 

 and the evening cold produces a layer of ice, which 

 enables them to move over it with wooden shoes, 

 whilst the poor animal sinks deep with its hard and 

 sharp hoofs. They track their footsteps into the 

 valleys where the snow is deep, and fire as soon as 

 within gunshot ; and the dogs, which can run won- 

 derfully on the snowy crust, so arrest their flight, 

 that the hunters approach and despatch them with 

 their lances. The skins are greatly esteemed, and 

 sell at a high price ; they are beautiful, very light, 

 and almost water-proof."— T. i. 304—305. 



We mentioned in a former page that Pallas 

 prepared the instructions for the guidance of the 

 zoologists, and they were fully as ample as the.«3 



