8 THE FOREST LANDS OF FINLAND. 



of altitude between this and that of the Gulf of Finland 

 is 256 feet, and there is a valley in which is a chain of 

 connected lakelets, which, though not the outlet by which 

 its waters find their way to the ocean, has been utilised as 

 a channel of communication with the sea by means of 

 twenty-eight locks built of granite, which there abounds. 

 The canal was constructed for the Government by Erichson, 

 a Swedish engineer, at a cost of about 400,000 It was 

 opened in 1856 ; and honour has been done to all men of 

 distinction connected with the accomplishment of the 

 undertaking, engineer and emperors for it was begun in 

 the reign of Nicholas, and completed in that of Alexander 

 II. statesmen and patriots, by inscriptions in brass on 

 monuments of granite, giving their name, their rank, and 

 a brief statement of their achievements. These monu- 

 ments vary in shape, and one or more are placed at every 

 lock along the line, each commemorative of some one hero 

 who had contributed to the execution of the work. 



In proceeding by the canal from Wyborg to Wilman- 

 strand, we pass from lake to lake in a continuous chain, 

 like that of the lakes of North America ; sometimes 

 advancing towards the richly-wooded head of a lake, where 

 further progress may be thought to be impossible, but 

 before the prow of the steamer can reach the shore, a 

 small outlet in a corner is seen, and traversing this, in a 

 few minutes we find ourselves in another lake still more 

 spacious. At length we enter the lower portion of the 

 Saima See, and sail through thousands of islands, for, it 

 may be, a hundred miles, and entering the upper portion 

 of it, we find that the thousand islands have given place 

 to a thousand lakes, not in continuous line, but confined 

 im a net-work of wooded ridges, and branching off on the 

 right hand and the left, backwards and forwards, hither 

 and thither, and everywhither. 



The Saima Canal has a minimum depth of 8| feet, and 

 a minimum breadth of 81 J feet, so vessels of tolerable size, 

 drawing not more than 6J feet, can navigate it with safety. 



