Such is the region over which the semi-nomad tribes of Tartar shepherds, who constitute a fraction of the vast population of the Russian Empire, pasture their herds. It is only here, within the limits of Europe, that the camel is successfully reared. Odessa, the great outport of southern Russia, stands almost on the edge of the steppe, and the whirlwinds of dust that pass through its streets, and constitute, during a portion of the year, one of its chief drawbacks as a place of residence, furnish obvious evidence of this proximity. The steppe includes two-thirds of the Crimean peninsula, the extreme south of which, however, is traversed by a hill-range of considerable elevation, and exhibits widely different features. Beyond the Dnieper, the Don, and even the Volga, the same region of alternate grassy plain and sandy waste stretches far into the Asiatic continent. To the east and north of the Caspian and the Aral are the steppes over which roam the hordes of the Khirghiz. The names of Kara-kum and Kizil-kum, given respectively to the sandy wastes which extend upon either side of the river Syr, or Jaxartes, are strikingly indicative of the general character of the tracts to which they are applied. Mr. T. W. Atkinson, in his _Travels in Regions on the Upper and Lower Amour_, thus describes the journey through these wild regions: “For many miles the sand was hard, like a floor, over which we pushed on at a rapid pace. After this we found it soft in places, and raised into thousands of little mounds by the wind. Our horses were now changed, and in an hour these mounds were passed, when we were again on a good surface, riding hard.... Hour after hour went by, and our steeds had been changed a second time.... In our route there was no change visible--it was still the same plain; there was not so much as a cloud floating in the air, that, by casting a shadow over the steppe, could give a slight variation to the scene.... The whole horizon was swept with my glass, but neither man, animal, nor bird could be seen.... We rode on for several hours, but there was no change of scene. One spot was so like another that we seemed to make no progress.... No landmark was visible, no rock protruded through the sterile soil; neither thorny shrub nor flowering plant appeared, to indicate the approach to a habitable region; all around was ‘kizil-kum’ (_red sand_).”