The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

DUBOVEA—SAREPTA—-TZAROV. 419theatre of hills, it is one of the least picturesque places on the Volga, with thevulgar air of most trading and industrial towns. The tonnage' of its rivertraffic, about 144,000 tons in1865, has greatly increasedsince it has been brought intodirectrailway communicationwith Moscow and St. Petersburg.It is a great martfor the surrounding Germancolonies, and has workshops ofall sorts, without being distinguishedby any specialmanufacture.The project ofmaking it a University townhas long been discussed.Farther down are Kamhhin,Duborka, and Tzaritzin, all onthe right bank.Dubovka formerlyenj oyed great commercialprosperity, owing to its vicinityto the Don, which here comeswithin 36 miles of the Volga.But its river traffic, amountingin 1860 to about 100,000tons, and valued at £400,000,has almost entirely ceased sincethe Volga and Don railwayhas had its terminus removedto Tzaritzin.Near this placewas founded, in 1765, the Germancolony of Sarepta, consistingof Moravian Brethren, towhom exceptional privilegeswere granted.Surrounded bygardens, orchards, and wellwateredfields, Sarepta is a realoasis in the wilderness. ItsFig. 217.—Old Course op the Volga below Tzaritzin.Scale 1 : 2,140.000.chief industries are the prepa-20 Milesrationof mustard and tobacco.To the east of Tzaritzin, on a lateral branch of the Volga known as Akhtuba,rises the modern town of Tzarov, probably on the site of the famous Mongol capitalof Sarai, ravaged by Tamerlane, and finally destroyed in 1480 by a voivod ofMuscovy. Tzarov and Vladimirovka export the salt of the steppes ;and the latterwas the farthest point reached by the plague in 1878.