Kamysh-Samara

An 18th Century Journey from the Lower Volga to Kamysh-Samara

In January 1834, Dr F. Gœbel ventured with his colleagues, Dr C. Claus and Mr A. Bergmann, from Tartu, Estonia to examine the Lower Volga and western Kazakhstan’s salt lakes and salt-tolerant plants. At the time, plants growing in highly saline environments were the primary source of soda ash. The inorganic compound (aka sodium carbonate) was used for manufacturing dry soap powders and glass, water softening, and cooking. Their aim was to record plant distribution and analyse lake water chemical composition.

After a two-month wait in Saratov, Russia, for the arrival of spring, they ventured south through the Pontic-Caspian Steppe to Kamyshin, on the Volga’s right bank. From here, Gœbel and his colleagues caught a ferry across the river to Nikolayevsk, which sits at the edge of the Caspian Lowland. Ukrainian settlers established the town in the 18th century for transporting salt from Lake Elton, 120km to the south-east and Gœbel’s next waypoint.

Gœbel’s journey to Elton took him through flat, sandy, and willow-covered lands, outposts where he met Tatars from Kazan trading with local Kazakhs, and to the salty Lake Bulukhta. Before leaving Elton for Kamysh-Samara – less than 100km east – he stopped in Khan Ordasy village to stay a few nights at Zhangir-Kerey Khan’s wooden palace, who at the time was the Bukey Horde’s leader.

The final stretch to Kamysh-Samara was off the beaten track. They navigated their way by compass and watch through winding valleys and over sandy hills, and rolling an odometer as they went. Once there, Gœbel observed natural canals connecting a dozen lake-filled basins with swampy, reed-covered shores, and small salt lakes “looking like cold glittering plains of ice amidst the green and blooming soil.”

He spent the remainder of his trip in western Kazakhstan roaming around the countryside for a few months collecting samples in places such as Inder Lake, Atyrau, Saraishyk, the Ural River, and a few islands in the Caspian Sea. His report in the Royal Geographical Society’s journal, Journey through the Steppes of Southern Russia, covers the trip in detail and offers intriguing observations of the landscapes, ecology and people encountered.