49 



resolutely advanced. I took refuge in the cabin from the intolerable 

 cold, but after a few minutes I hastened on deck in consequence of 

 the steamer being "stopped. There was ice in immense shoals ahead 

 of us, so that to go on in the course we were following would have risked 

 damage to our paddle-wheels, whereby we should have been placed in 

 an awkward condition amongst the ice floes of the Ladoga. At length 

 the order was given to cast the anchor and wait for the day. In a few 

 minutes we were fast, and a strangely contrasting stillness and 

 silence pervaded the vessel, while a magnificent scene was stretching 

 around us in all directions. Far as the eye could see were open spaces 

 of water and sheets of ice commingled, and whole schools of black 

 seals moving backward and forward on the floating masses, while with 

 the cold wind were combined black clouds and a murky sky, although 

 it was now the 31st of May (0. S.), the 12th day of June in lands 

 where the New Style has been introduced. 



" Next day, the steamer by some way or another got through Lake 

 Ladoga, and entered the river Svir. Steaming along we found every- 

 where on the banks on both sides, woods, woods, woods. From the 

 deck of the vessels could only be noticed firs and pines and birches, 

 although in some parts of the government of Olonetz there still grew 

 the Norway maple, the lime, the elm, and other kinds of trees. 



" Now we passed on the left bank of the river the town of Lodenoi- 

 Pole, founded by Peter the Great, and formerly a naval dockyard. 

 A few hours more and we reached Vosnecenya, one of the principal 

 centres of inland navigation by a system of canals, of which there 

 are two or three connecting the Volga with the Baltic. 



" The village of Vosnecenya is situated on the Svir as it issues from 

 the Lake Onega, and it is called by the inhabitants the Petersburg Gate. 



" It was impracticable to go further by the steamer, as the ice in 

 this lake had not yet broken up ; consequently I had to travel to Petro- 

 zavodsk by horse, which I did by a very picturesque route by the 

 western shore. From Vosnecenya to Petrozavodsk by the so-called 

 Vilegarskoi road is 130 versts, or 86 miles. 



" The first thing which interested me was the Forest-Product Manu- 

 factory of Mr. Baelaeff, well known in all these northern parts,, It is 

 situated about seven versts from Vosnecenya. 



" The lovely view presented by the Fabrique and the buildings around 

 leads me to conclude that it must be a profitable property, yielding 

 a considerable revenue. It is built in a situation very convenient for 

 the sale of the products ; near to Vosnecenya, where there is a great 

 consumption of tar in caulking vessels. Hitherto there could only 

 be obtained black burnt tar, which is not quite suitable for the 

 purpose, and the demand for it was riot great; but now they are 



D 



