156 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



town of Murmansk is new, the little towns nearby are 

 old. Kola, which is some six miles south of Murmansk, 

 is mentioned in Russian history as far back as 1264, and 

 it is not known at what time this region came under the 

 rule of the Slavs of Novgorod. Kandalaksha and other 

 small settlements along Kola Inlet were founded during 

 the fifteenth century. The natives adopted Christianity 



RUSSIAN LOG HOUSE AT MURMANSK 



The author and another American officer having their photographs taken. 

 background a flag is flying in front of the Italian Consulate. 



about 1533 and a monastery was started at Pachenga. 

 Russian merchants from Novgorod were the firsc to 

 come in and soon trade became important. The general 

 character of the country is what one might expect from 

 such a latitude, but the presence of pine and spruce trees, 

 even if rather scrubby, was most unexpected. On west 

 slopes of the hills and ridges about Murmansk 

 and Kola there were fair stands of Scotch pine 

 and some spruce, and birch and willow were 

 abundant. On the western part of the Kola 

 Peninsula, owing to effects of the Gulf Stream, 

 pine and spruce are found within twenty to 

 twenty-five miles of the Arctic Ocean, while in 

 the eastern part of the Peninsula, timber is not 

 found until you are from sixty to seventy miles 

 from the coast. Throughout all this country, 

 however, birch and willow are most abundant 

 along stream and lake shores while the berries 

 found in extreme northern latitudes are present. 

 Kola Peninsula is on the whole a vast wilderness 

 almost entirely devoid of roads and settlements. 

 It is rather broken, and yet swamps and peat 

 bogs are everywhere, even on side hills and on 

 the tops of ridges. The soil is for the most part 

 stony near the coast while inland it is composed more of 

 turf or decayed tundra. Glacial boulders are abundant. 

 Everywhere are lakes and swamps, linked together, with 

 the drainage northerly into the Arctic Ocean. Near the 

 central part of Kola Peninsula the country rises into a 

 sort of highland, reaching an elevation of some 4,000 



vegetation are characteristic, except on west slopes where 

 there is some tree growth. Further south, along the 

 Murman Railroad there are better stands of pine and 

 about forty miles south of Murmansk the timber is 

 fairly heavy, while ninety miles south, at Imandra, is 

 located a sawmill, others being located still further south 

 along the railroad. The fauna of the Peninsula is simi- 

 lar to that of far northern latitudes. Fox, otter, 

 marten, bear, deer and hare are said to abound, 

 and while the writer saw none of these animals 

 alive the skins of most of these were seen fre- 

 quently in Murmansk, at the market or being 

 worn by the natives. Bird life includes part- 

 ridges, willow grouse, capercailzie, black cock, 

 geese, loons, eiders, and such smaller birds as 

 larks and snow bunting. At the Chinese market 

 in Murmansk beautiful black cock and caper- 

 cailzie were seen (frozen solid, and unplucked) 

 on sale, as well as hare. Along the coast num- 

 erous aquatic birds visit in hundreds of thou- 

 sands for breeding. 



Reindeer were abundant as the only beast of 

 burden, carrying passengers and supplies between 

 the little settlements, being driven tandem and 

 with no reins at all so far as seen. There are 

 said to have been only two horses in the town of 

 Kola before the railroad came in 1916. Fish of many 

 kinds are found in the many lakes and along the inlets 

 and the coast. Salmon seemed to be the most often on 

 sale although there were herring and cod. Fish con- 

 stitutes a large part of the food supply of the people. In 

 the Murman region alone some 4,500 men are engaged in 



In the 



<4a ^b 



BLEAK AND BARE AND COLD 



The ice-covered Kola River, with scattered forest growth on shore. Ice was con- 

 stantly floating down during our stay. 



the fishing industry. As is to be expected, agriculture 

 plays a very small part in the industrial life of most of 

 the Kola Peninsula. A small quantity of potatoes is 

 grown by the Lapps just south of Murmansk, and some 

 hay is raised, the total crop for this entire region in 1914 

 is said to have been only 2,700 tons. Further south 

 feet, and these highlands are known as the Chibinsky along the west coast of the White Sea crops of rve 

 Mountams, and here the Lapps take their reindeer during barley, potatoes and oats are grown. Fish and Lber 

 the summer months for pasture. Bare rock and sparse are ^principal products of * he Kola PennTsul Ts a 



