10 THE FOREST LANDS OF NORTHERN RUSSIA. 



The population of Schlusselburg numbers about 3,500. 

 The island on which the fort is built is between 300 and 

 400 yards long. The walls of the fort are about 50 feet 

 high, of great thickness, and fortified in the old fashion, 

 with turrets and battlements. The passage to and from 

 the mainland is by a drawbridge. So early as 1324, 

 George, Prince of Moscow and Novogorod, built a fort here 

 while on an expedition against Wyborg, which was taken 

 by the Lithuanians, who in turn were driven out by 

 Magnus, King of Sweden, A.D. 1347, but it was retaken 

 by the Novogorodians in 1352. It was ultimately, in 

 1702, occupied by Peter the Great, but till that time it 

 was a subject of frequent contention between "Russia and 

 Sweden. Since then the fortress has often served as a 

 State prison ; here one Emperor at least, John VI., met 

 his death, and here the first wife of Peter the Great was 

 confined after being divorced. 



