RUSSIA'S FEVER TERRITORY.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XL, Issue 12688, 5 November 1915, Page 3

RUSSIA'S FEVER TERRITORY.

Volhynia, into which German outposts "near Vladimir Volhynsk penetrated, forms the subject of a. sketch issued by the National Geographic Sociefcy. ■ 4 'lnterposed between the fat lands of the Little Russians in the south and, the- flourishing metropolis of Kief is a stretch of .comparatively poor aild-un-developed country included in the Russian government'of Volhynia. There _ is a poverty and dreary needinees to be found in. this country, a_ lack of development and of primitive organisation,' such as. the traveller finds.dupli- . cated when off the beaten tracks'in the Caucasus. There is thin, soil, and mareh, muddy lakes; and 'forests everywhere. Especially:./-diffi-cult from a- military point of view is tho northern part of the government, where the water-soggy earth and tangled forests slope into the impassable sloughs of the Pripet swamps. Both Germans and Russians may ' endeavor to make the same' use - of - this region that , von Hindenburg made of the Masuren lakes. 1 ; ,3 "Volhynia has 2-7,7000 square miles of area. Its north-eastern part is: included in the region of Poliessie, spongy land, floating land, and swamp. The southern division of the government, from the Galician borders west of Kief, is roughly hilly and cut by deep river valleys. A broad highland from the Carpathians stretches over this part of the province to Kief and the Dniepor river. , The highest -points in this hill country reach a height of 1200-feet,

while in the west, retelling almost to Kovel, ranges of hils are scattered, reaching heights between 700 and EOO feet.

'The climate in tlie north is unheaithful, abounding in swamp fevers and mosquitoes. Throughout all the northern parts there are do cities of consequence, no important foundiatiohs, and merely a primitive agriculjtujkle. The principal cities for tlie whole government are Zhitomir, the capital, Dubno, Kovel, Vladimir Volynsk, Kre-monet-s, Lutsk, Ostrog, Rov.no, Zaslavl, Ovinol), not one of which overreaches tiiv importance of a village. More than half the country of the north, just to the south, and the east of Brest-Litovsk, is a bewildering maze of dense forest growth, and much of the remaining area i-s fever 6wamp and stagnant, sedge filled lake. The soils in the south are good, but agriculture has been but slightly developed. Some 25 per cent, of tlie land of the 60Uth .is. under tillage. 'ln this backward, loan, and ill-fa-vored country, manufacturing indus--tries have hardly oi.-tained a modest foothold. Some sugar, and tobacco is manufactured here. There are also a few factories for the output of agricultural machinery, woollen textiles, glass and leather goods. Considerable home industry is carried on in lhe villages, the fabrication of goods trrough the time of winter imprisonment,- when, the only other means for earning a. living is the felling and preparing o£ fuel wood in the dense forests. This homo

industry produces- wood carvings, parquentry, amber earviiiiis, and the making of coarse lace. Many kegsof" frozen mushrooms from this region reach the great lenten markets of Russia every year. Amber is found, and some coal and lignite mined. The expert of timber and firewood frrms one of the most profitable industries, and. one which occuoies the peasant during thp long _ inaction -would be enforced." ■

'•'Little and White Russians form the aneatest part of the uopulation of tlie government, and, in the southern part; there was a large sorinkling of German peasant colonists. The lands_ of this government have been inhabited: bv Slavs from remote an.tiqu.itv. Some of the smalf towns still battling for existence 011 their ancient sites were founded in the ninth century. • TK« government is a. poor and difficult field for the modern army."