s and murderous: and already
the great shadows of the Chinese Wall were dimly descried,
when the frenzy and _acharnement_ of the pursuers and the 20
bloody desperation of the miserable fugitives had reached
its uttermost extremity. Let us briefly rehearse the main
stages of the misery and trace the ascending steps of the
tragedy, according to the great divisions of the route
marked out by the central rivers of Asia. 25

The first stage, we have already said, was from the
Wolga to the Jaik; the distance about 300 miles; the time
allowed seven days. For the first week, therefore, the
rate of marching averaged about 43 English miles a day.
The weather was cold, but bracing; and, at a more 30
moderate pace, this part of the journey might have been
accomplished without much distress by a people as hardy
as the Kalmucks: as it was, the cattle suffered greatly
from overdriving; milk began to fail even for the children;
the sheep perished by wholesale; and the children themselves
were saved only by the innumerable camels.

The Cossacks who dwelt upon the banks of the Jaik
were the first among the subjects of Russia to come into
collision with the Kalmucks. Great was their surprise at 5
the suddenness of the irruption, and great also their consternation;
for, according to their settled custom, by far
the greater part of their number was absent during the
winter months at the fisheries upon the Caspian. Some
who were liable to surprise at the most exposed points 10
fled in crowds to the fortress of Koulagina, which was
immediately invested and summoned by Oubacha. He
had, however, in his train only a few light pieces of
artillery; and the Russian commandant at Koulagina,
being aware of the hurried circumstances in which the 15
Khan was placed, and that he stood upon the very edge,
as it were, of a renewed flight, felt encouraged by these
considerations to a more obstinate resistance than might
else have been advisable with an enemy so little disposed
to observe the usages of civilized warfare. The period of 20
his anxiety was not long. On the fifth day of the siege
he descried from the walls a succession of Tartar
couriers, mounted upon fleet Bactrian camels, crossing
the vast plains around the fortress at a furious pace and
riding into the Kalmuck encampment at various points. 25
Great agitation appeared i