The Story of Russia | Page 4

extended to Novgorod, Moscow, and
Jaroslaf. The increase in population together with the growing demand
for lumber, have caused extensive clearings; but the area covered by
the forests is so large, that the supply is well-nigh inexhaustible.
South of this zone are the black earth lands, extending down to the
Caucasus and across the Urals, and covering in Europe an area of one
hundred and fifty million acres,--equal to that of Texas. This zone
derives its name from an apparently inexhaustible bed of black (p. 021)
mold, so rich that no manure is required to produce abundant crops.
Until late in the last century, and before the United States began to
export its surplus harvests, this region was considered the granary of
Europe. It was known in very old times since we read of it in the
Heroic Age of Ancient Greece, when Jason sailed in the Argo to bring

home the Golden Fleece.
Almost equal in extent is the zone of arable steppes, or prairies, once
the home of the Cossack, the nomad who led here the life of a shepherd
king, moving about as the condition of pasture and flock required. Most
of this land is now under cultivation, and with careful farming produces
good crops. These arable steppes cover an area equal to that of Iowa,
Kansas, and Nebraska.
The fourth and last zone is that of the barren steppes. There is ample
evidence that at some remote time these plains were covered with salt
water. The Caspian Sea has a level eighty feet below that of the Black
Sea, and it is therefore probable that here was a large inland sea of
which the Caspian and Aral Seas are the remains. These steppes are
unfit for farming. Here dwell the Kalmucks and Kirghizes, descendants
of the Tartars whose yoke once pressed heavily upon Russia.
[Illustration: Russian Peasants] (p. 022)

II--EARLY RECORDS OF RUSSIA. (p. 023)
At an early period in the history of Greece, we hear of colonies
established on the northern shore of the Pontus Euxinus or Hospitable
Sea, as they named the Black Sea. We may even now recognize some
of the names of those colonies, such as Odessos, at the mouth of the
Bug, Tyras, at that of the Dniester, and Pityas where Colchis, the object
of the search of Jason and his fellow Argonauts, is supposed to have
been. In the fourth century before our era, some of these colonies
united under a hereditary archon or governor, probably for the purpose
of securing better protection against the barbarians who dwelt further
inland.
The Greeks mention these barbarians as the Scythians, and divided
them into three classes. The agricultural Scythians dwelt in the black
earth belt, near the Dnieper; the nomad Scythians lived at some
distance to the east of them, and the royal Scythians occupied the land

around the Sea of Azof.
Learned men of Russia have made many excavations on the spots
where the Greek settlements once stood, during the past century. They
have been rewarded by finding many works of art, illustrating the mode
of living of the Scythians. They have been placed, and may be seen
(p. 024) in the Hermitage museum of St. Petersburg. Among these
relics of the past are two beautifully engraved vases, one of gold, the
other of silver. The Scythians on the silver vase wear long hair and
beards, and are dressed in gowns or tunics, and bear a close
resemblance to the Russians of our time. These vases and other ancient
objects confirm what is said about these people by Herodotus, a Greek
historian who lived in the fourth century before Christ.
We learn from him that the Scythians worshiped a sword stuck into the
ground, representing the god of war, and that they made human
sacrifices. They drank the blood of the first enemy killed in battle,
scalped their prisoners, and used their skulls as drinking cups. In the
course of time the Greek civilization exerted its influence, and
penetrated to tribes dwelling much further in the north, as is shown by
the antiquities found in the government of Ekaterinoslaf.
The orbis terrarum or world so far as it was known to the Greeks, was
centered about the Mediterranean; hence the name of that sea, meaning
Middle of the Land or Middle of the Earth. Beyond that there was an
unknown region, supposed to be inhabited by people of whom many
wonderful stories were told. Thus they believed in the existence of the
Arimaspians, a race of one-eyed people; there are legends, too, of the
Agrippei who were described as bald and snub-nosed. The Greeks also
mention the Gryphons, who, they said, were guardians of immense
quantities of gold. The most wonderful people to the Greeks were the
Hyperboreans, or dwellers beyond the