Provincial Russia . eep. Thentoo wonderful is the Dnieppr, and there is no suchriver in the world. IX THE STEPPE In the south of Little Russia commence the grassy-treeless plains that stretch to the Black Sea and theCaspian, and that from the dawn of history haveformed a pasture-ground for the flocks of nomadpeoples. Over their unbroken expanses havewandered in succession Scythians, Sarmatians,Goths, Hunns, Khasars, and at last, about thesixth century of our era, came settlers, certainSlav^onic tribes that moved down the Westernrivers, some of whom burnt while others buriedtheir dead. But almo
Provincial Russia . eep. Thentoo wonderful is the Dnieppr, and there is no suchriver in the world. IX THE STEPPE In the south of Little Russia commence the grassy-treeless plains that stretch to the Black Sea and theCaspian, and that from the dawn of history haveformed a pasture-ground for the flocks of nomadpeoples. Over their unbroken expanses havewandered in succession Scythians, Sarmatians,Goths, Hunns, Khasars, and at last, about thesixth century of our era, came settlers, certainSlav^onic tribes that moved down the Westernrivers, some of whom burnt while others buriedtheir dead. But almost from the beginning thesewere exposed to the constant raids of light-mountedTurkish nomads, and later on a more formidablerace named Polovtsi. The old chronicles reflectwith a certain bald grimness the dangers anddifficulties that surrounded the colonists life. Inspring the peasant will ride out to plough, and thePolovtchin will come, strike the peasant with anarrow, take his horse, then ride into the village, 136. A CIRCASSIAN THE STEPPE 137 seize his wife and children and his goods, and setfire to barn and all. Under this endless and hope-less struggle the steppes became gradually depopu-lated. The settlers fled to the north behindbarriers of natural and artificial fortifications, andonly a few oases were left along the rivers of theDonets basin. The desolation was completed bythe Tartars. What remained of the populationsought refuge in Muscovite Russia and the banksof the Vistula. The country became once moreempty save for JNlongolian watch-fires. The recolonization of the western steppes wasthe immediate result of the social and religiousoppression inflicted on their Russian subjects byLithuania, and especially Poland. To escape fromserfdom, the peasants fled in masses toward theuninhabited prairie, and in that rich but disturbedcountry the peculiar conditions of life bred arace of soldier-settlers. To these was given theTartar name of Cossack, which means, strictly,mount
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Keywords: ., bookauthorstewarth, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1913
