Baron de Brinckeii's Memoir on the 



long, 27 broad, and 112 in circuit, situate from Lat. 52° 29' 

 to 52° 51' N., Long. 41° 10' to 42° W. By the most correct 

 measurements, its superficial extent amounts to 102.01 square 

 miles, or 489,103,187 Prussian acres ; the portion which is pri- 

 vate property amounts to 33.75 square miles ; so that the whole 

 forest may in round numbers be estimated at 135 square (Eng.) 

 miles — an uninterrupted expanse, except by a few cultivated 

 spots. The cold and dry east and north winds, in conjunction 

 with the great extent of the forest, give to the climate much 

 greater severity than under the same parallels in Germany and 

 England. The mean temperature of Lithuania does not ex- 

 ceed 5° 4' R., although it has been much ameliorated by the 

 progress of culture ; the mean temperature of the forest of Bia- 

 lowieza may be 5°. The three regions into which Count Pla- 

 ter divides the kingdom of Poland have respectively a tempera- 

 ture of 5° 5', 6°, and 6° 5' R. Compared with the north of Ger- 

 many, their spring is late and short ; summer is rather early, of- 

 ten cloudy and stormy, at one time cold, at another of intoler- 

 able heat. Autumn partly supplies the want of summer, for it 

 is serene, dry, warm during the day, cold only at night. Most 

 of the grains and fruits of northern Germany, however, thrive 

 very well when properly cultivated ; they only ripen slower, and 

 the later varieties often do not ripen at all. In the immediate 

 proximity of the forest the temperature is lower, and harvest 

 from eight to fourteen days later. Innumerable streams take 

 their rise in its interior ; the river Narew has its source there, 

 and the Narewska flows through it : both are navigable for 

 boats in the forest, the former nearly to its origin. The soil is 

 level without any elevations, and consists principally of sand, 

 and was evidently, from the lakes and other geognostic charac- 

 ters, at some former period either the bottom of the sea, or con- 

 stantly exposed to frequent and extensive inundations. In the 

 forest the sand is more or less mixed with clay ; in the lower 

 parts, and particularly by the sides of the streams, there is 

 found a black friable soil, but which is not true peat ; the only 

 true peat-bog is that from which the Narew takes its rise, and 

 which extends for several miles exterior to the forest. The 

 more elevated portions of ground are covered with a thick layer 

 of vegetable earth, and may be compared to very fruitful oases. 



