RESOURCES &C. OF RUSSIA. 461 



during six months of the year the thickness of the ice renders it un- 

 navigable. Moreover, the greater part of Russian commerce is car- 

 ried on by foreign vessels and foreign seamen ; and this is certain to 

 continue to be the case so long as the present restrictions are en- 

 forced. None of the peasantry, who in every country are the prin- 

 cipal element in a navy, can leave the country without a special pass- 

 port ; while every merchant who fits out a vessel must obtain before 

 her sailing, a license to take on board a specified number of Russian 

 subjects, whose return he must insure at the rate of 140 rubles each. 



Russia manufactures a number of commodities to a very consider- 

 able extent. The staple article is leather. Her tanned leather is be- 

 yond comparison the finest in Europe. The Russians are so desirous 

 of preserving their distinction in the manufacture of this article that 

 no foreigner has hitherto been able to learn the process they adopt. 

 Isinglass and caviar are among the leading articles of their manufac- 

 ture. Soap, both white and black, is manufactured to such an ex- 

 tent that they are able, after supplying their own wants, to export 

 considerable quantities. Brewing is carried on on a large scale. The 

 beer of Riga is esteemed the best. Brandy is distilled to a very 

 great extent. The Emperor claims a monopoly of the right to dis- 

 til this spirit, which proves a very lucrative one. The annual con- 

 sumption of grain in the distillation of brandy is 360,000,0001bs. 

 avoirdupois, from which are extracted 60,000,000 bottles. Potash 

 and saltpetre are commodities manufactured to a great extent. Of 

 the latter 800,000lbs. are exported every year from St. Petersburg 

 alone. Sail-cloth and cordage are manufactured on a large scale, 

 and are exported in great quantities. Linen, silk, cotton, and woollen 

 cloth manufactories are numerous and extensive. In 1824 the quan- 

 tity of linen manufactured was 10,680,504 Russian ells, of twenty- 

 eight inches each ; of silks, 16,1.54,791 ells; cottons, 37,033,354 ells; 

 and of woollen cloths, various kinds, 59,748,085 ells. At the silk ma- 

 nufactories are made velvets, taffeties, atlasses, gold and silver tissues, 

 Peruvians, brocades, &c. &c. Porcelain and earthenware manufac- 

 .tories are to be met with in several parts of the empire. The pro- 

 cess of refining sugar is carried on to a great extent at St. Peters- 

 burg and Riga. Neither clayed nor refined sugars are allowed to 

 be imported, and the duties on raw sugars are so high as to amount 

 to a virtual prohibition. The importation of all spirits, in order that 

 the Emperor's monopoly may not be invaded, is also prohibited. 



The commerce of Russia has, of late years, increased very rapidly. 

 The exports and imports together did not, in 1800, exceed twenty 

 millions sterling ; now they are about seventy. An official journal, 

 published at St. Petersburg, gives the number of vessels that arrived 

 at her sea-ports in 1827, from the opening of the navigation till the 

 1st of September, at 2,957, of which number there were 1,882 in 

 ballast. The value of foreign goods imported and cleared at the 

 Custom House was 83,957,820 rubles. The exports of Russian goods 

 were of the value of 107,427,640 rubles. Among the principal arti- 

 cles constituting these exports were 10,461,218 pounds of flax ; 47,143 

 ditto of iron; 1,370,99J ditto of tallow ; 188,283 ditto of potashes; 

 101,610 ditto of raw and dressed hides; of corn to the value of 

 17,651,181 rubles; and of timber to the value of 1,283, 640 rubles. 



