Russia | Page 6

especially its coniferous portion, though it has
lost some of its representatives within historic times, is still rich. The
reindeer, rapidly disappearing, is now met with only in Olonetz and
Vologda; the Cervus pygargus is found everywhere, and reaches
Novgorod. The weasel, the fox and the hare are exceedingly common,
as also the wolf and the bear in the north; but the glutton, the lynx, and
even the elk are rapidly disappearing. The wild boar is confined to the
basin of the Dwina, and the Bison eropea to the Bielovyezha forests.
The sable has quite disappeared, being found only on the Urals; the
beaver is found at a few places in Minsk, and the otter is very rare. On
the other hand, the hare and also the grey partridge, the hedgehog, the
quail, the lark, the rook, and the stork find their way into the coniferous
region as the forests are cleared. The avifauna is very rich; it includes
all the forest and garden birds which are known in western Europe, as
well as a very great variety of aquatic birds. Hunting and shooting give
occupation to a great number of persons. The reptiles are few. As for

fishes, all those of western Europe, except the carp, are met with in the
lakes and rivers in immense quantities, the characteristic feature of the
region being its wealth in Coregoni and in Salmonidœ generally.
In the Ante-Steppe the forest species proper, such as Pteromys volans
and Tamias striatus, disappear, but the common squirrel, the weasel,
and the bear are still met with in the forests. The hare is increasing
rapidly, as well as the fox. The avifauna, of course, becomes poorer;
nevertheless the woods of the Steppe, and still more the forests of the
Ante-Steppe, give refuge to many birds, even to the hazel-hen, the
woodcock and the black-grouse. The fauna of the thickets at the bottom
of the river-valleys is decidedly, rich and includes aquatic birds. The
destruction of the forests and the advance of wheat into the prairies are
rapidly impoverishing the Steppe fauna. The various species of
rapacious animals are disappearing, together with the colonies of
marmots; the insectivores are also becoming scarce in consequence of
the destruction of insects, while vermin, such as the suslik
(Spermophilus), become a real plague, as also the destructive insects
which have been a scourge to agriculture during recent years. The
absence of Coregoni is a characteristic feature of the fish-fauna of the
Steppes; the carp, on the contrary, reappears, and the rivers are rich in
sturgeons. On the Volga below Nijni Novgorod the sturgeon, and
others of the same family, as also a very great variety of ganoids and
Teleostei, appear in such quantities that they give occupation to nearly
100,000 people. The mouths of the Caspian rivers are especially
celebrated for their wealth of fish.

SIBERIA
JEAN JACQUES ÉLISÉE RECLUS
Siberia is emphatically the "Land of the North." Its name has by some
etymologists been identified with "Severia," a term formerly applied to
various northern regions of European Russia. The city of Sibir, which
has given its name to the whole of North Asia, was so called only by
the Russians, its native name being Isker. The Cossacks, coming from

the south and centre of Russia, may have naturally regarded as
pre-eminently the "Northern Land" those cold regions of the Ob basin
lying beyond the snowy mountains which form the "girdle of the
world."
Long before the conquest of Sibir by the Cossacks, this region was
known to the Arab traders and missionaries. The Tatars of Sibir were
Mahommedans and this town was the centre of the great fur trade. The
Russians themselves had constant relations with the inhabitants of the
Asiatic slopes of the Urals, and the Novgorodians were acquainted with
the regions stretching "beyond the portages." Early in the Sixteenth
Century the Moscow Tsars, heirs of the Novgorod power, called
themselves lords of Obdoria and Kondina; that is of all the Lower Ob
basin between the Konda and the Irtish confluence, and the station of
Obdorsk, under the Arctic Circle. Their possessions--that is, the
hunting grounds visited by the Russian agents of the Strogonov
family--consequently skirted the great river for a distance of 600 miles.
But the Slav power was destined soon to be consolidated by conquest,
and such is the respect inspired by force that the successful expedition
of a Cossack brigand, on whose head a price had been set, was
supposed to have led to the discovery of Siberia, although really
preceded by many visits of a peaceful character. Even still the
conquering Yermak is often regarded as a sort of explorer of the lands
beyond the Urals. But he merely establishes himself as a master where
the Strogonov traders had been received as guests. Maps of