34 
In the days of Pallas, Herr Glitsch tells us, the Saiga had a wide distri- 
bution in Europe, extending from the borders of Poland, all across the Dnieper 
and the great flat southern portion of Russia to the Caucasus and the Caspian. 
The European herds of this animal were also often reinforced by large 
accessions from the steppes of Western Asia, which, driven by stress of 
famine from their native haunts, crossed the Ural and the Volga by the ice in 
winter. A hundred years later we find a great change in the range of the 
Saiga, caused by the increase of cultivation and population in the European 
portion of its range, which has driven this animal back into the East. On 
the Dnieper, Herr Glitsch tells us, the Saiga has altogether disappeared, 
in the Ukraine it is no longer to be found, and even on the Don, where it 
was formerly so plentiful, it is quite a scarce animal. Nowadays, in fact, in 
Europe the Saiga is confined to the Kalmuk Steppes between the Don and 
the Volga, and is found only within the triangle lying between these two 
rivers, of which Tzaritzyn on the Volga forms the northern point. 
On the flat and treeless plains which lie within these limits the Saiga still 
exists in tolerable abundance, though diminishing in numbers yearly as 
population increases. In the summer months it is distributed over the whole 
of this area ; in winter, beginning from November, it is driven by the snow 
and cold from its northern resorts towards the south, where it finds shelter 
in the rich grassy valleys of the Sal and the Manitsch. Here the Saiga 
passes the winter on ground generally free from snow. Here it breeds in 
the spring, and as soon as the snow is melted in the more northern plains 
it begins its migration to the North. At this season the Saigas go northwards 
in considerable herds, the bucks first, followed by the does, and by the end 
of May they have all reached the most northern boundaries of their range. 
But there are many circumstances which interfere with the regularity of this 
migration, and at Sarepta, near the north end of their area, there are 
remarkable variations in their numbers. In some summers only a few 
scattered individuals are to be met with, in other years large herds are to 
be found in this district throughout the summer. But in very severe winters, 
when even the most southern districts inhabited by this Antelope are invaded 
by excessive cold and deep snow, the hungry beasts are driven all over the 
country in search of food, and stray even as far north as the vicinity of Sarepta. 
On these occasions whole herds are often entombed in the snow-drifts and 
fall an easy prey to the natives, who follow them on horseback and slaughter 
