slock I'oi llic ruluic. was wantinj^'. Ilu- fuel lluil soiiie ol' llic trees oee.urring^Brc still 

 soiiiui. and the absence of coal and charred hunks in the ground bear a clear evidence 

 that no coiillagiation was the cause of the decay of the forest hero. The exsiccating 

 forest might here actually be followed in all its phases. It is a pervading trait, which 1 

 noticed everywhere, especially near the limits of the forest area, that the forest is falling 

 into decay and disappearing over stretches where it was formerly ])revalent. and this 

 fact shows us more plainly liian anything else that also at this day climatic changes are 

 proceeding and that the forest here is doomed. It is the last desjjerale fight of the forest 

 against an enemy of superior strength, the deadly drought, of which we are witnesses 

 here. Soon its last remains vanish here, and the open, dry steppe .scenery begins to 

 jirevail. Thus, there is now no stable relation in the floral conditions of tliese places. 



These facts, wiiicii are obvious in so many j)laccs and in so many different condi- 

 tions, carry evidence, in my opinion, that at present, in the interior of Asia, a climatic 

 change towards a drier (and possibly also hotter?) time is proceeding, and hereby an 

 acceptable explanation may also be found why the forest — especially in the lower 

 and accordingly drier regions — has so much difficulty in invading areas again from 



Fig. 30. Drying up forest near tlic river Tsliernoretska, about 900, m. above .sea level. In tlie 

 foreground natives — Soyotes — riding on tlieir reindeer. 



