The journey was difficult and fatiguing. Metchnikoff did not know the Kalmuk language and had to depend on interpreters. From the very first he was painfully impressed by the brutality of the Russian officials towards the natives. At every halt the Kalmuks declared that they had no horses; the Cossack who convoyed Metchnikoff would then begin to swear and to play with his "nagaika" or leather-thonged whip, and the required horses appeared as by magic. After a while Metchnikoff became used to such scenes and looked upon them as a custom of the country. He found it more difficult to put up with the indescribable dirt, the smell of mutton fat which impregnated the food, and the continual barking of dogs during the night, details which destroyed the charm and poetry of primitive life. In spite of these unfavourable conditions, Metchnikoff worked indefatigably. The physical measurements of the Kalmuks led him to conclude that the development of the Mongol race was arrested in comparison with that of the Caucasian race; he found that all the relative proportions of the diverse parts of the Kalmuk skeleton corresponded with that of youth in the Caucasian race: a large head, a long torso, short legs, absolutely the relative dimensions of our children. This conclusion was further confirmed by the structure of the eyelid in the Kalmuks, of which the fold (epicanthus) in the adult corresponds with that of the fold of the eyelid in our children. These interesting results somewhat raised Metchnikoff's _moral_, the more so that his eyesight began to improve; he returned to Odessa but found that he was still unable to use a microscope. He therefore decided to go back to the steppes in order to proceed with his researches, and, this time, began his journey by the Stavropol province. The steppes there are very fine, with tall, luxuriant grasses and a profusion of flowers filling the pure atmosphere with perfume; the infinite space and absolute calm offer a peculiar and powerful charm. But the population is depressed and apathetic, as is the case with that of the Astrakhan steppes. The reason must be that the Kalmuks consume milk which has undergone alcoholic fermentation, and that provokes a slight but chronic intoxication. Yet a few among them are extremely intelligent and of fairly high culture. Thus, in the course of his ethnographical researches Metchnikoff came across a priest (bakshâ) who imparted to him such instructive facts on the principles of the Buddhist religion and on the organisation of its clergy that he even planned to go with him to Thibet, where no stranger can penetrate without the help of an adept. This plan, however, was never executed.