490 



RUSSIA. 



Steps or 

 plains. 



Morasses. 

 Seas. 



Bays and 



gUitS. 



Kivers. 



Lakes, 



Forests. 



I -lands. 



The most celebrated mountains are Mount Kaucasus, 

 stretching between the Caspian and the Black Sea; 

 the Ural mountains, separating Europe from Asia ; the 

 mountains of Olonets, which extend to an immense 

 length, and on the north divide Russia from Sweden ; 

 the romantic mountains on the south coast of the 

 Krimea ; the Altaic chain, which has various names 

 in different places, and separates Russia from China ; 

 and the Valdai hills, half way between Petersburgh and 

 Moscow, &c. &c. 



Immense plains called steps (by the Germans steppes,) 

 some of. them barren, others very productive, especi- 

 ally of grass, occupy different parts of both Asiatic and 

 European Russia. In Asia, the principal steps are 

 those of the Irtish, of the Oby and Yenissey, of the 

 Yenissey and Lena, and of the Lena and Indighirka. 

 In Europe, are the steps of Petshora, of the Dneper, of 

 the Don, of the Volga, of the Ural, &c. "Some of the 

 steps in Siberia are covered with forests, or birch, 

 pines and firs, and interspersed with salt lakes. 



The north of Russia contains great tracts of marshy 

 ground, and much of it lies waste ; but the south 

 abounds in fertile plains. The most fertile part of 

 European Russia is that between the Don and the 

 Volga. Enormous tracts of Siberia are nearly inca- 

 pable of agriculture, and the thinness of the population 

 does not call for their improvement. 



Morasses are frequent in Russia, and are of enormous 

 extent in Siberia. 



The seas connected with Russia are the Arctic ocean, 

 the Eastern ocean or Archipelago, the Inland Seas, 

 the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Sea of Azoph, the 

 Caspian Sea, the Sea of Aral, and the Sea of Ochotsk. 



The bays and gulfs of Russia are chiefly the gulf of 

 Finland, the gulf of Archangel, the bays of the Oby 

 and of the Yenissey, the bay of Anadhir in the eastern 

 Archipelago; the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul, in 

 the southern extremity of Kamstchatka. 



The Russian empire is watered by numerous and 

 highly important rivers, some of them of small size, 

 and others of great magnitude, and running a course 

 of thousands of miles. Among them are to be enu- 

 merated the northern Dvina, (generally though falsely 

 called the Duna,) the western Dvina, the Neva, the 

 Volga, the Oka, the Terek, the Don, the Kuban, the 

 Dneper, the Dnester, the Boog, the Ob or Oby, the 

 Irtish, the Tobol, the Yenissey, the Lena, the Yana, 

 the Indighirka, the Kolyma, the Anadhir, the Kamst- 

 chatka, &c. &c. 



Russia is not abundant in lakes considering its size. 

 In Europe, are the Yenadia, in Russian Lapland, the 

 Ladoga, the Onega, and the Peipus, in the neighbour, 

 hood of St. Petersburgh, and the Ilmen, and theBelo- 

 Qzero, in the government of Novgorod. In Asia, the 

 chief lakes are, the Lake or Sea of Baikal, the Lake of 

 Altyn-Noor, or the Golden Lake, and the Lake of 

 Altyn or Telitskp. 



European Russia, for the most part, abounds in 

 wood. Extensive and even boundless forests are seen 

 between Petersburgh and Moscow, Moscow and Via- 

 dimir, and in some of the north-eastern governments. 

 Towards the south, woods are less abundant ; and the 

 vicinity of the Black Sea, of the Caspian Sea, and the 

 Kuban, are almost naked. In some parts of Siberia 

 are also seen interminable forests ; but its northern 

 and eastern parts are destitute of wood. 



In the eastern ocean, are the Aleutian and Kurilian 

 islands. In the Gulf of Finland, Hoglan and some 

 small islands, besides Retusari, the island in which 



3 



Cronstadt is situated ; and at its mouth are the islands Russia. 

 of Dogs, Ort, and Oesel. Nova Zembla also belongs W-y-W 

 to Russia. 



Nothing can be more false than the almost general Climate and 

 association of extreme cold with the name of Russia; seasons. 

 for, in the first place, the summer of its northern go- 

 vernments, though short, is very warm, and even hot ; 

 while the inhabitants of the southern provinces enjoy 

 a mild, a warm, or even an Indian climate. In fact, 

 from the immense magnitude of this empire, is to be 

 found the contrast of extremely warm and extremely 

 cold regions. Authors, therefore, with great propriety, 

 in treating of the climate of Russia, have divided the 

 empire into regions, some choosing to form but three, 

 others four regions. Herrmann adopts the following 

 division. 



1st, The very cold region, extending from 78 to 

 60 of north latitude ; 2d, The cold region, extending 

 from 60 to 55 of north latitude ; 3d, The moderate 

 region, extending from 55 to .50 of north latitude; 

 4th, The hot region, extending from 6'0 to the southern- 

 most parts of the empire. In a great extent of the 

 first region there is scarcely any summer, for the few 

 months it does not snow or rain scarcely deserve that 

 name. The eastern districts of this region are much 

 colder and more barren than the western. At Peters- 

 burgh, the climate is rude and severe, and sometimes 

 excessively cold. There Fahrenheit's thermometer has 

 stood as low as 39 below 0. When the weather is 

 moderate, the air pure,, and the sun shining, and with- 

 out any wind, a well- clothed healthy person enjoys 

 even this frigid season. But when a severe east wind 

 arises during frost, all animated nature feels its power- 

 ful influence. When it snows, with a gentle wind in 

 the depth of winter, nothing can present a more gloomy, 

 lurid, desponding spectacle, than the splendid capital 

 of the north. The spring here, if it deserve the name, 

 has frequently a great deal of frost, snow, and rain, 

 and is peculiarly disagreeable at the breaking up of the 

 ice, when the streets are next to impassable. But 

 " winter gone and summer is:" the transition from one 

 season to the other is almost instantaneous. The short 

 summer of four months is, for the most part, fine, and 

 often delightful. It is occasionally oppressively sultry ; 

 so that the cool and beautiful mornings and evenings 

 are highly enjoyed. When the days are at the longest, 

 f. <?. about 18^ hours, the twilights are charming be- 

 yond conception, and sometimes so luminous, that a 

 person can read in the open air at midnight. The 

 autumn has sometimes bright days, but is more ge- 

 nerally cloudy, wet, and boisterous. The winter is 

 always severe, but varies considerably both as to the 

 degree of severity, and as to the period of the greatest 

 cold. Most frequently, however, the severest frosts 

 occur in January. During the winter months, the 

 atmosphere is generally dry, and the mortality is less 

 than at other seasons of the year. The length of the 

 shortest day is only five and a half hours ; and when 

 they happen to be cold and gloomy, there is little 

 earthly enjoyment out of doors, thoogh the body be 

 well enveloped in a fur shoob, fur cap, and fur boots, 

 so as to defy the effects of cold, and the mind be ever 

 so disposed to gaiety, except the natural amusement 

 of descending the ice-hills, and at trotting matches on 

 the river. But while winter rages without, the inha- 

 bitants at home feel not its effects in their well-warmed 

 houses. During this season of the year the Neva is 

 covered with ice nearly a yard in thickness. On an 

 average, there are annually from 10 to 1 90 days of 



