Orsk

And so the visionary danger passed away.

The old southern boundary of Russia in Central Asia extended from the north of the Caspian by Orenburg and Orsk across to the old Mongolian city of Semipalatinsk, and was guarded by a cordon of forts and Cossack outposts.

It was about two thousand miles in length, and, quote, abutted on the great Kyrgyz steppe, and to a certain extent controlled the tribes pasturing in the vicinity, but by no means established the hold of Russia on that pathless and for the most part lifeless waste, unquote.

Quarterly Review, October 1865.