RUSSIA. 



RUSSIA. 



S83 



ad climate, uid only differing from it in the form of iU surface, which 

 hilly. Towards iU eastern extremity, near 40 K long-! 



the town of VorontE and the Mauytch Hiver, the width of 

 this region is near 300 mile* ; but towards the west it grows narrower, 

 and from S3* E. long, westward it does not exceed 150 miles. Its 

 length from east to west is 900 miles, and the area is about 180,000 

 square wilts. Want of wood and of water are its characteristic 

 feature*. It is considerably more elevated than the low steppes 

 near the Caspian Sea, and not impregnated with salt except between 

 the mouths of the Dniester and the Danube, where a low marshy tract 

 extends some distance from the sea. Towards the south aud east the 

 surface is mostly a dead level, with the exception of narrow tracts 

 along the water-courses, which are inclosed by steep acclivities. These 

 bottom* hare a fertile soil consisting of black mould, and yield good 

 crops. The higher and level grounds have au extremely bard clayey 

 soil unfit for cultivation. In spring they are covered with a fine turf, 

 and supply good pasture for cattle aud horses. Much grass is also 

 cut for fodder. A weed called ' burin,' aud dried dung, are used for 

 fuel. Within the granitic tract the surface is more broken, and con- 

 tains many tracts fit for agricultural purposes. The summer is dry 

 and hot; rain is rare; the thermometer rises from 90 to 100. In 

 autimin aud winter whirlwinds are frequent; a considerable quantity 

 of snow falls, but it is swept by the winds from the plains, so that the 

 country derives very little advantage from it From December to 

 February the thermometer frequently sinks to 25 and 30 below zero. 

 The spring and autumn are of short duration. 



The country north of this extensive steppe may be divided iuto 

 two regions. The wesU-rn lies on both sides of the middle course of 

 the Dnieper. On the west of the river it extends from the northern 

 border of the steppe (between 48 and 49 N. lat) to the great 

 swamps of Pinsk aud Katnor (near 52 N. lat.), and comprehends the 

 governments of Podolia, Volhynia, and Kicw. On the east of the 

 J 'nipper it comprehends the government of Pultava, the greater part 

 of that of Tchernigow, and the western parts of Charkow and Kursk. 

 It is designated by the general name of the Ukraine. The surface of 

 this region is chiefly undulating, but in many places it extends iu level 

 plains. The soil mostly consists of a black mould, here and there 

 interspersed with sandy tract*. The fertility in general is considerable, 

 and in tome parts, where loom is mixed with the mould, it is very 

 great Here the forests principally consist of oak. The eastern portion 

 of the region lies within the basin of the Don, between its upper 

 affluents, and comprehends the eastern portions of Charkow, Kursk, 

 and Orel, the whole of Voronez, and portions of Taiubow and Saratov. 

 It appears to be more elevated than the western region ; wood~and 

 water iu many parts are scarce. The soil consists of a mixture of clay 

 and sand, and is not without a certain degree of fertility, though on 

 the higher parts there are considerable tracts of sterile land. On the 

 lower ground however cultivation is general, and the wheat which is 

 grown here is of excellent quality. Though the difference of tempe- 

 rature in summer and winter is considerable, it is much less than in 

 the steppe farther south. Here also the rains ore much more abundant 

 in the western region. The scarcity of rain in summer in the eastern 

 region is one of the causes to which its smaller degree of fertility is 

 .t r.'- idi 



Kitert and Lota. The principal rivers are noticed in the articles 

 DWIXA, VOLGA, DUNA-, KIEMEN, DHIKFKR, DNIESTER, DANUBE, DON, 

 VISTULA, and UHAL. As Russia is a level country, the rivers present a 

 greater line of inland navigation than those of most other countries. 

 But all the rivers are not equally fit for navigation. Those which fall 

 into the Gulf of Finland, or into the lakes of Ladoga and Onega, from 

 the north, though they bring down a great volume of water, are unfit 

 for navigation, owing to the numerous rapids and cataracts. The rivers 

 which join the gulf aud the lakes from the south generally present 

 some impediments to navigation in their upper course ; this is also 

 the case with the Dims, which falls iuto the Baltic, while the Niemeu 

 is navigable in all its extent, nearly to its source. In the Dwina there 

 is no impediment to navigation ; and the principal river aud all its 

 branches may be ascended to a short distance from the places where 

 they originate. The Volga has the longest line of navigation, as it 

 flows more than 2000 miles, and in this course has no cataracts, rapids, 

 nor whirlpools. It becomes navigable about 20 miles from its source 

 in Lake Seligher. Its northern affluents are navigable to an equal 

 extent, but the southern much less so, on account of the small quantity 

 of water which they bring down. The rivers which fall into the Black 

 Sea are much less adapted for the transport of merchandise. Besides 

 their comparatively small volume of water, owing to the scarcity of 

 rain and snow, and the shallowness of their beds, their course is 

 interrupted by rapids and cataracts, where they break through the 

 granitic tract which traverses Southern Russia. The Volga aud its 

 feeders, the Danube and the Caspian, are navigated by Russian 

 teamen. Steamers ply on the Volga between Twer and the Caspian. 



Lakes are very numerous in certain parts of the empire, especially 

 in the north-west and south-east. Almost all the lakes which occur 

 in the salt steppes that surround the Caspiau on the north, as well as 

 in those of the Crimea and the Nogay steppe, which lies north of the 

 peninsula, are salt lakes, and salt might be obtained from all of them. 

 There ore very few lakes in the interior of Russia, and they are all 

 but those of the countries surrounding the Gulf of Finland 



are very numerous. [FINLAND.] To the south of that gulf a very 

 great number of lakes ia dispersed over the country. The largest is 

 the lake of Peipus, or Pskow [LIVONIA] ; its outlet, the river Norowa, 

 though deep, has a very rapid course, and forms, a short distance above 

 the town of Narva, a cataract 18 feet high, by which the navigation is 

 entirely interrupted. 



The country which extends between the innermost recess of the 

 Gulf of Finland, and that bay of the White Sea which is called the 

 Gulf of Onega, contains the largest lakes in Russia and iu all Europe, 

 the Ladoga and the Onega : the Lake of Ladoga is the largest. Iu 

 length from north-west to south-east it is nearly 120 miles, and its 

 greatest width is 70 miles. It covers an area of more than G500 

 square miles. A few rocky islands occur along its north-western 

 shores, but none in the main body of the lake. The depth varies 

 greatly. In some places it is stated to amount to nearly 150 fathoms, 

 which considerably exceeds the greatest depth of the Baltic, but iu 

 others it is shallow, and not deep enough for large vessels. The 

 waters of a very extensive country unite in this lake. The Lake of 

 Onega, which is nearly at an equal distance from the Lake of Ladoga 

 and the Gulf of Onega, ia more than 120 miles long, with an average 

 width of nearly 40 miles. The area is about 4895 square miles, 

 including the island of Klimez Koj, which contains an area of 42 

 square miles. Its depth is generally 80 to 100 fathoms. Along the 

 shores there are numerous rocky islands, but the main body of the lake 

 is free from them. The waters of this lake are discharged into that 

 of Ladoga by the Swir River, which is about 120 miles long, and flows 

 through a low and swampy country overgrown with thick forests. 

 This river is navigated by large river boats. The surplus of the 

 waters collected in the Lake of Ladoga is carried to the Gulf of 

 Finland by the Neva, which flows more than 40 miles measured along 

 the windings of the river, and after dividing near and in St. Petersburg 

 into four arms, reaches the Bay of Croustadt. Its width v.-n-i ., 

 between 100 and 200 fathoms, and its depth is commonly 3 fathoms 

 or more, so that large river-vessels and steamers can navigate it. A 

 shoal about the middle of its course uear Pella is avoided by a short 

 canal. The river is covered with ice from the end of October to the 

 end of April. The lakes Bjelo-Osero, and Ilmen, which lie iu the 

 some depression, are noticed under NOVGOROD. 



Canals. The navigability of nearly all the Hussion rivers to a very 

 short distance from their sources, and the very moderate height of 

 the elevated tracts, which divide the river systems from one another, 

 above the level .of the rivers that originate iu them, facilitate more 

 than iu any other country the making of canals and the establishment 

 of a continuous water-communication iu the interior of the empire. 

 Peter the Great perceived the advantages of such a water-communica- 

 tion, and he planned nearly all the canals which have been executed 

 since his time, and some of them were even finished iu his reign. 



It has been already observed that those rivers which originate south 

 of 55 N. lat,, are much less adapted for navigation iu their upper 

 courses than those which have their sources farther north, owing to 

 the dryness of the climate. When attempts were formerly made to 

 unite the southern rivers (the Don, the Volga, the Dnieper, &c.) by 

 canals, this circumstance does not appear to have been known, or at 

 least not to have been cousidered as an obstacle to the enterprise. All 

 the canals which were undertaken in these districts however have 

 failed because there is no water to feed them. 



On the contrary, all the canals which have been made in the 

 northern provinces have succeeded completely. The three most 

 important constitute a water communication between the Volga anil 

 the lakes of Onega and Ladoga, and consequently with the Neva and 

 St. Petersburg. The most famous and most frequented of them ia 

 the canal of Vislmei Volotshok, near 57 40' N. lat, 34 30' E. long., 

 by which a direct water communication is opened between St. Peters- 

 burg and Astrakhan, a distance of 3200 miles ; yet the canal does not 

 exceed 3 miles in length. It unites the Twerza, a feeder of the Volga, 

 with the Lake of Mstino, which is about 8 miles long, but hardly a 

 mile wide, and from which the river Msta flows iuto the Lake of 

 Ilmen. To obviate the danger incurred by vessels exposed to the 

 storms so prevalent on Lake Ilmen, a canal has been made from a 

 point about a mile above the embouchure of the Msta to the Volchow, 

 along the northern shore of the lake. This canal, which is nearly 

 6 miles long and from 12 to 14 fathoms wide at its upper level, is 

 called the Canal of Novgorod, as it terminates iu the vicinity of that 

 town in the Volchow. Though the actual extent of the canals ou this 

 line of water communication amounts only to 9 miles, the works 

 executed in rendering the connecting rivers navigable are very exten- 

 sive, and have cost large sums. With the exception of the canals in 

 the interior of China, there is probably no canal iu the world which is 

 more navigated than that of Vishnei Volotshok. The produce of the 

 mines of Perm and Ekatarinburg, of the rich country and the oak- 

 forests between Nishnei-Novgorod aud Simbirsk, and of the whole 

 basin of the Oka, reaches St. Petersburg and the Baltic by the Vol:;a 

 and this line of navigation. The canals and rivers on this line are 

 free from ice from the middle of April to the end of October. 



The second line of water communication is formed by the Tikhwina 

 Canal, near 59 25' N. lat, 34 20' E. long. This line of navi- 

 gation begins iu the Volga at the mouth of the Maloga, north of 58" 

 N. lat, and near 38 30' E. long. It ascends the l;tst-meutioned river 



