144 THE FOREST LANDS OF NORTHERN RUSSIA. 



In the northern parts of the Government the trees 

 lose their leaves in August, and the rivers are frozen over 

 from the end of October to the middle of April. In the 

 south there are large tracts occupied by forests, lakes, and 

 morasses. Agriculture is followed to a certain extent, but 

 the severity and changeable state of the weather render it 

 precarious, though a considerable quantity of wheat and 

 barley are grown. The produce of the pasture grounds, of 

 the chase, and of fishing, tend to compensate for this, and 

 the woods supply potash, tar, and other materials for 

 export as well as domestic use. 



Of the general appearance of lands in the extreme north, 

 some idea may be formed from the details given by M. 

 Guillemard, and Mr Hepworth Dixon, cited in a preceding 

 chapter. To the north of the Government of Olonetz is 

 the Government of Archangel, stretching from Finland on 

 the west to the Ural Mountains and the Government of 

 Tobolsk in Siberia on the east, comprising thus the whole 

 northern part of Russia in Europe, and including the 

 island of Nova Zembla. Its northern continental shores 

 are washed by the Arctic Ocean and the White Sea ; and 

 for a considerable distance from the coast they present a 

 desolate and sterile appearance, with few signs of vegetation. 

 The surface of the remainder is in general a continuous 

 flat, covered either with sandy and mossy wastes, or pine 

 and alder forests. The area, inclusive of that of the 

 islands, which has been spoken of as about a fourth of the 

 whole, has been estimated by Moller at 15,215 German^pr 

 342,337 English square miles; by Kceppen it has been 

 estimated at 15,519 German square miles. 



The river Onega is a large river rising in Lake Latcha, 

 to the east of Lake Onega, and flowing thence north- 

 west it falls into a gulf, in the White Sea, to which it gives 

 its name, as it does also to the town at its mouth, about 

 80 miles S.S.W. of Archangel. Its principal affluents are 

 the Voloshka and Mokha on the right bank, and the Kena 

 on the left. 



