The Dnieper Plain, in its northern part, reveals quite a Polissian character. But in the north we note the first differences too—the highly developed home industry and agriculture much more highly developed than in the Polissye region. On the left Desna bank, lumbering declines gradually, and the villages of the Polissian type give way to the typical Ukrainian villages, consisting of neatly whitewashed, straw-covered huts, which lie picturesquely among fruit-gardens. The towns and suburbs here, as in fact everywhere in the left half of the Ukraine, have an entirely rural appearance. The cities have very wide streets and squares. There are very few connected rows [327]of houses, and the single houses are surrounded by gardens and large yards. The Dnieper Plain embraces the greatest part of the Governments of Chernihiv and Poltava, and the northern edge of Katerinoslav. The chief city of the northern half of the section is Chernihiv (33,000 pop.), an old city, perhaps as ancient as Kiev. It lies at the crossing of the main road leading to Muscovy, across the navigable Desna. In the city and its vicinity we find many historical monuments, churches, walls and barrows; but the present commercial importance of the city is very slight. Konotop (20,000 pop.), surrounded by swamps, and at one time a strong fortress, famous for the victory of the Cossack hetman, Vihovsky, over the Russians (1659), now carries on a considerable commerce, thanks to its railroad junction, and has large peat deposits. Bakhmatch, which lies nearby, is an important railroad junction. On the Sem lies the commercial town of Baturin, the former hetman residence, whose population was completely slaughtered by Menshikov in 1709. Sosnitza, Borsna (12,000 pop.) and Berezna (10,000 pop.) carry on an insignificant grain and cattle trade. On the navigable Oster lies Nizin (52,000 pop.), an old city of the time of the Ukrainian princes, in the 17th Century a Greek colony carrying on a lively trade, later famous for its great annual fairs. Just now the tobacco and grain trade of the city is increasing considerably. There is also a philological academy here. Further downstream, on the Oster, we find two old towns, Koseletz and Oster, with a river harbor and a considerable net industry. On the Trubaylo and on the Alta lies the ancient city of Pereyaslav (15,000 pop.), founded by Volodimir the Great, noteworthy for the victory of the Cossack hetman, Taras Triasilo, over the Poles (1630). Here the unfortunate treaty of 1654 was enacted, joining the Ukraine, which had just been freed from Polish rule, to Russia, as an autonomous vassal state. The once navigable [328]Trubaylo has become shallow, the railroad line has left the city lying to one side and Pereyaslav has lost all significance. Equally insignificant is the adjacent town of Zolotonosha.