214 LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 



centre north of the Caspian Sea. When we were out 

 at sea, an intense north wind began to blow the waves 

 away from the Kirghiz bank, and soon the depth 

 lessened to such an extent that we could make no 

 progress. The sailors were perpetually making sound- 

 ings, and their repeated cries of " Two and a half feet ! " 

 became a regular nightmare. The situation seemed 

 critical, and returning to Astrakhan was suggested ; 

 an idea which infuriated Metchnikofi ; he would not 

 hear of it. At last, after several incidents we reached 

 the Kirghiz bank, the crossing having lasted three 

 days instead of the usual twenty-three hours. 



As we arrived, we could see from afar a sort of 

 Valkyries' ride of natives clad in brilliant colours and 

 riding up at full gallop with wild cries and exclama- 

 tions. Before us spread a barren and sandy steppe, 

 producing the sad impression of a land forsaken by 

 God and man. How could life be possible there ? 

 But gradually, as we became captivated by the charm 

 of the boundless space, the purity of the air, the 

 harmonious colouring and the scent of wild heliotrope 

 and wormwood which alone can grow in those sands, 

 we began to understand that it was not only possible 

 to live in those steppes, but also to love them. 



The plague centre stood among sandy hiUs with 

 low-growing grass ; the summit of one of them was 

 black with charred remains of burnt objects ; the 

 corpses were buried in the same place. Only a few 

 wretched forsaken hovels remained. In order to 

 throw light upon endemic plague in the steppes, it 

 was first of aU necessary to ascertain whether the 

 plague microbes remained alive for some time in 

 places where the scourge had raged ; if they were 

 preserved in dead bodies which had been singed 



