CRONSTADT. 07 



with the Risbank between it and the opposite shore ; and 

 then with a respect increasing with the forts and their 

 number of guns, we sailed past Fort Constantino backing 

 Alexander, and Fort Menschikoff in the rear of all. 



It is quite evident that no fleet, unless cased in iron, 

 could run the gauntlet, first between Alexander and Peter 

 Vahki, and then past Constantine and Menschikoff, with 

 hundreds of guns on the shore supporting them. But no 

 one doubts the certainty of their destruction during the 

 war, had Sir Charles Napier attacked the island of 

 Cronstadt from the rear. But the water was too shallow 

 for anything but gun and mortar boats, and of course 

 there were none provided, until the Czar had time to 

 make any attempt in the rear impracticable. 



It is not difficult to understand the relative positions of 

 Cronstadt and St. Petersburg. The Neva empties its 

 waters into a shallow firth about twenty miles long and, 

 as far as I remember, two or three miles broad. The 

 entrance of the firth is guarded by the island and docks 

 of Cronstadt, which is connected with the opposite shore to 

 our right in going to the capital by two small fortified 

 islands. The water is too shallow to admit of any vessels, 

 but those of a light draught, reaching the anchorage at 

 Cronstadt (except by one passage close to the forts), or 

 of going beyond that point to St Petersburg, which ifl 

 twenty miles up the firth. 



The port of Cronstadt is therefore a busy place, with 

 all sorts and sizes of shipping in its docks, and a goodly 

 array of ships of war lying side by side, with their rig 



