62 ASIA 



climate and fine soils, all over the world, results in a 

 similar absence of trees and bushes, and the develop- 

 ment of the dry grass-land known as steppe or prairie, 

 of which an abundance of bulbs and tubers is a feature.) 

 Saline wastes grow more numerous southwards. They 

 soon spread over vast areas towards the Aral region, 

 and are accompanied by the usual thin covering of salt 

 bushes and tamarisks. In the middle of the steppe, 

 the hilly district of Akmolinsk produces a recurrence 

 of fertility which has gained for it the name of ' little 

 Switzerland \ 



The limited grazing capacity of any given area 

 induces the natives, who depend for their living almost 

 exclusively on their cattle, ponies, and sheep, to migrate 

 frequently as their pasture-grounds become exhausted, 

 and thus to lead a wandering existence : in summer, 

 when the steppe is dried up, those who are not far from 

 the mountains, journey thither. 



The remarkable fertility of the black earth and loess, 

 however, now fully recognized, has lead to the opening of 

 the steppe for agricultural purposes, wherever water is 

 available and irrigation possible. A large portion of 

 this region may become, in course of time, a wheat 

 district as rich as that of Nebraska, California, and the 

 Red River, the Plate, or Australia, or, nearer at hand, 

 the Russian steppe. 



On the south-east, the Kirghiz steppe is continued into 

 that of northern Sungaria and northern Mongolia. This 

 long grass belt, stretching between the desert on one 

 hand and the mountains and forests on the other, was 

 one of the natural highways whereby the nomadic 

 populations of wild shepherds from further Asia slowly 

 reached Europe, driving their herds before them. 



Siberian Highlands. A broad and complex system of 



