86 FROM NORTH POLE TO EQUATOR. 



become a pale but brilliant lake-red on the upper surface, a bright 

 yellow beneath; all the other bushes and shrubs undergo a similar 

 transformation: and the gloomy brown-green of the tundra becomes 

 such a vivid brown-red that even the yellow-green of the rein- 

 deer-moss is no longer conspicuous. The winged summer guests 

 fly southwards or towards the sea, the fishes of the tundra swim 

 down the rivers. From the hills the reindeer, followed by the 

 wolf, comes down to the low grounds; the ptarmigan, now con- 

 gregated in flocks of thousands, fly up to the heights to remain 

 until winter again drives them down to the low tundra. 



After a few days this winter, as much dreaded by us as by 

 the migratory birds, yet longed for by the human inhabitants 

 of the tundra, sets in on the inhospitable land, to maintain its 

 supremacy longer, much longer than spring, summer, and autumn 

 together. For days and weeks in succession snow falls, sometimes 

 coming down lightly in sharp-cornered crystals, or sometimes in 

 large flakes, driven by a raging storm. Hills and valleys, rivers 

 and lakes are gradually shrouded in the same winter dress. A brief 

 ray of sunshine still gleams occasionally at mid-day over the snowy 

 expanse; but soon only a pale brightness in the south proclaims 

 that there the sunny day is half-gone. The long night of winter 

 has begun. For months only the faint reflection of the stars 

 twinkles in the snow, only the moon gives tidings of the vitalizing 

 centre of our system. But when the sun has quite disappeared 

 from the tundra another light rises radiant: far up in the north 

 there flickers and flashes " Soweidud ", the fire of God, the flaming 

 Northern Light. 



THE ASIATIC STEPPES AND THEIR FAUNA. 



There is perhaps monotony, but there is also the interest of a 

 well-marked individuality in that immense tract of country which 

 includes the whole of Central Asia, and extends into Southern 

 Europe, and which forms the region of the steppes. To the 



