THE SVIR. 19 



The flow of the Svir is W.S. W. Its course is about 150 

 miles. Its principal affluents are the Ivina and Vagena, 

 flowing into it on the right bank, and the Oiat and Pacha 

 on the left. 



The Ivina rises some 25 miles S.S.W. of Petrozavodsk, 

 the capital of the Government of Olonetz. and has a course 

 of about 60 miles. The Oiat rises in the same Govern- 

 ment, and flowing westward enters the Svir after a course 

 of 92 miles. The Pacha rises near Ledia, in the Govern- 

 ment of Novogorod, and flowing first west, and then north, 

 joins the Svir after a course of 150 miles. Its principal 

 affluent is the Kapcha. 



The Canal of Siasko connects the Svir with the Polkhov, 

 and thus forms a means of communication between St. 

 Petersburg and the surrounding provinces. 



Russians express their delight in heat in a proverbial 

 saying that ' Heat breaks no bones !' and in sweltering 

 weather officers and others in like position are to be seen 

 on the streets of St. Petersburg in wadded cloaks and 

 overcoats, and peasants in sheepskin shoubs; but it is not 

 without cause, for changes in temperature are great and 

 sudden. Spaniards have a proverbial saying that 'The 

 zephyr which will not extinguish a candle may blow out 

 a man's life,' and another to the effect, ' Sit in a draught 

 and send at once for a lawyer and a priest, to make your 

 will and receive your dying confession.' A similar opinion 

 seems to prevail in Russia, and of this I had an illustration 

 in the course of my voyage. I was on the upper or steer- 

 ing deck ; the steerage passengers covered their deck, sleep- 

 ing in all attitudes and places, and the cabin passengers 

 were seated or walking about on theirs, when all at once, 

 like a picture of the resurrection from the dead, the steer- 

 age passengers started to their feet, and men and women 

 alike were in movement, like the sea in a storm, putting 

 on their shoubs, and the cabin passengers in continuous 

 lines were making for the cabin doors as if at the sum- 

 mons of a church bell. I was about to ask the occasion, 



