12 THE FOREST LANDS OF NORTHERN RUSSIA. 



The name Novaia Ladoga, or New Ladoga, was given to 

 the town mentioned, a town of 3,000 inhabitants, in con- 

 tradistinction to Staraia Ladoga, or Old Ladoga, formerly a 

 large place, noted in Russian annals as the earliest resi- 

 dence of Ruric, first sovereign of Russia. The ruins of its 

 ancient walls are still seen ; but since the erection of 

 Novaia Ladoga, it has become almost depopulated, and the 

 number of its houses does not exceed fifty. Steamers ply 

 daily during summer between St. Petersburg and Novaia 

 Ladoga, leaving Schlusselburg at 2.30 P.M., and arriving at 

 Novaia Ladoga at 1 A.M., and thence there is water con- 

 nection with the Volga and the network of inland naviga- 

 tion. 



The creation of this canal, skirting the southern extremity 

 of Lake Ladoga, was one of the last enterprises of Peter the 

 Great. In 1718 he formed the plan of the canal and its 

 sluices. He relied much on canals as a means of extend- 

 ing the inland navigation of his country ; and when canals 

 were to be dug with this view, sometimes on marshy and 

 almost impassable grounds, he was frequently seen at the 

 head of his workmen, digging the earth, and carrying it 

 away himself. 



The purpose he had in view in the formation of this 

 canal was to establish a communication between the Neva 

 and another navigable river for the more easy conveyance 

 of merchandise to Petersburg, without making the circuit 

 of the coast of the lake, which, from the storms which 

 prevailed on the coast, was frequently impassable for barks 

 or small vessels, and still is, even for steamers, as I have 

 experienced in crossing it. The Emperor levelled the 

 ground himself, and the tools and implements used by 

 him in digging up and carrying off the earth have been 

 carefully preserved. His courtiers followed his example, 

 and persistently prosecuted the work, which at the same 

 time they looked upon as part of an impracticable under- 

 taking. It was not finished till after his death ; but at 

 length it was completed. 



