CHAPTER I. 



CONTOUR AND GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE 

 COUNTRY. 



FROM the account I have given of my voyage from St. 

 Petersburg to Petrozavodsk, and of my trip thence to the 

 Falls of Keewasb, and from the narratives given by Messrs 

 Judrae and Hepworth Dixon of their journeys through the 

 forests which they traversed, there may be gathered a pretty 

 correct idea of the contour and general appearance of the 

 western portion of the forest zone of Northern Russia, and 

 more especially of those of the Government of Olonetz. 



To the east of Olonetz is the Government of Vologda, 

 extending thence to the Ural Mountains, between the 

 Governments of Archangel on the north, and those of 

 Perm, Viatka, Kostroma, and Yaroslaf on the south, with 

 an area of 337,111 square versts, or 150,000 square miles. 



The surface is generally flat. Mountains are rare, but a 

 succession of hill and dale is very common ; and in many 

 places these inequalities produce scenery which is not 

 deficient in beauty. Nearly all the rivers belong to the 

 bason of the Arctic Ocean. The principal are the Dwina, 

 the Sukhona, the Louza, Vega, Vitchegda, Mezen, Pisega, 

 and Petchora. The Government takes its name from the 

 river Vologda, which, taking its rise from a marsh, flows 

 into the Sukhona on the right bank, after a course of 90 

 miles. The Louza, rising 90 miles east of Nikolsk, and 

 flowing north-east and west, passes Lalsk, and joins the 

 Joug, 18 miles south-east of Veliki-Oustioug. 



A small portion of the Government in the south is 

 drained by affluents of the Volga. 



