The entire plateau zone along the right Dnieper bank is full of old monuments of Ukrainian history, of walls, ancient fortifications, ruins and barrows. Along the Dnieper lie in succession: Trekhtimiriv, Kaniv, Cherkassi, once the most important center of the Ukrainian Cossack organization. Near Kaniv, elevated on the lofty right bank of the Dnieper, is the mound of Shevchenko, visited every year by numerous companies of pilgrims of all classes of the Ukrainian nation. Kaniv is now a little town with an insignificant river harbor. Cherkassi (40,000 pop.), on the other hand, thanks to its large river harbor and the railroad which crosses the Dnieper here, has developed into a lively commercial city (wood, iron, sugar and salt trade, lumber and sugar industry). By the example of Cherkassi or Kreminchuk, we are shown how the poor villages and towns on the Dnieper could be developed if cultural conditions were favorable. A fine example of such a neglected town is Chihirin (10,000 pop.), on the Tiasmin, the former residence city of the Ukrainian hetmans. Situated, as tho
326 i by a wonderful coincidence, in the center of the present Ukrainian territory, Chihirin is hardly more than a large village, with crooked, muddy streets, a slight lumber and grain trade, remains of the Chumak organization, and an insignificant stonecutters' trade. In Subotiv, nearby, Khmelnitsky was buried, but his grave was destroyed by the Poles a short time after. At the Tiasmin outlet lies the river port of Kriliv (12,000 pop.), with lumber and cattle trade; further downstream, Verkhnodniprovsk, with an iron industry. At the source of the Inhuletz is Olexandria (14,000 pop.), noteworthy for some milling industry.
On the southwestern and southern border of the Dnieper Plateau, which is really part of the country drained by the Boh, there lie several smaller towns, e. g., Lipovetz, Haisin, Novomirhorod, with some grain and cattle trade. In this respect, Zvenihorodka (17,000 pop.) is of greater importance. Nearby lies Katerinopol, with its lignite mines. Uman (42,000 pop.) is known because of its associations with the Haydamak times, its great park, and its considerable grain trade. The largest city of this strip of borderland, Yelisavet (76,000 pop.), at the source of the Inhul, carries on a considerable trade in grain and wool, and possesses an important factory industry.
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 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.