EXPORT TIMBER TRADE. 113 



counted by a simple process of sending a quantity into a 

 space which will just contain one or two thousand. The 

 ingress is then closed, the trees are bound together in 

 gonki, floats, of from 300 to 1000, by means of branches 

 and ropes, and these prams are then carefully floated down 

 to Anda, the highest water-mills belonging to the Com- 

 pany, or straight down to Ponga, opposite the town of 

 Onega, where the steam saw-mills of the Company are 

 situated. I hear that Anda has now also a steam saw-mill, 

 so that the Onega Wood Company has three steam saw- 

 mills at work. 



' Porog is the Russian for rapid, Podporoq signifies below 

 the rapids ; up to this village the river is not influenced by 

 the tide ; lower down, or below the rapids, it is. 



' The trees are then hauled out of the water. This 

 process is done by the engine itself, or, when the trees are 

 to be stacked, by a couple of horses. The ends of a long 

 rope are attached to the stack, to the centre of this rope a 

 rope is fastened, this loop is then passed round the tree, 

 being slipped on over the trees when they are in the water 

 by the Vikatchick ; the horses are then driven forward, and 

 the tree rolls up the incline, held at its two ends by the rope. 



f The sawing is a process of some nicety, and requires 

 great judgment. In an accompanying diagram I have 

 drawn the various dimensions of trees at the thin end, seven 

 to ten vershocks. The seven vershock trees produce only 

 French boards these are only exported to France ; few in 

 comparison go to England. The 11-inch boards are more in 

 demand in England. I said it is a matter of some nicety 

 to saw a tree up well. The heart-shake must lie in one 

 of the boards. If the mitick (heart-shake) runs parallel 

 through the tree well and good ; if, however, it has a twist 

 and is at the other end at right angles, that log is of no 

 use as timber, and can only be used for building. If a 

 board were sawn out of it it would fall to pieces. The 

 sawyer takes pains to choose his trees much of a size, and 

 so to arrange them as to get as many saws through the log 

 as he can. 



