PLAINS OF THE ELBE, ODER, AND VISTULA. 843 



Stettin (80,972 inhabitants), the great maritime city of Pomerania, is situate 

 on the western edge of the delta of the Oder, and from the plateau which rises to 

 the west of the city we look down upon the sinuous course of the river through 

 an alluvial bottom-land for ever encroaching upon the ancient gulf of the sea, now 

 known as the Lake of Damm. Stettin is the Baltic port of Berlin, and increases 

 rapidly in population, notwithstanding the fortifications which encircle it. A 

 causeway, 5 miles in length, connects Stettin with Damm (4,750 inhabitants), to 

 the east of the delta. 



Stettin occupies a prominent place as an industrial city. It has ship-yards, 

 machine shops, cement works, potteries, soap and candle manufactories, distilleries, 

 and breweries. Vessels drawing 16 feet of water are able to reach the quays of 

 the town, but larger ones are obliged to discharge their cargo at Smnemiinde 

 (7,977 inhabitants), the outport of Stettin and a favourite watering-place. Wollin 

 (5,222 inhabitants) and Kammln (5,498 inhabitants), on the Dievenow, or eastern 

 outlet of the Great HafF, may also be looked upon as small outlying ports of the 

 great city. The former of these towns is the ancient Yineta, or City of the 

 Wends, which Adam of Bremen, in the second half of the eleventh century, 

 describes as being " in truth the largest city of Europe." The remains of ancient 

 buildings actually prove that it formerly occupied an area thirty times more 

 extensive than it does now, and Arab coins in large numbers have been found 

 there. 



A few small rivers enter the Grosse Hafï to the east of Stettin. One of them 

 irrigates the productive corn-fields of Pyvitz (7,442 inhabitants) ; another washes 

 the walls of Stargard (20,173 inhabitants) and Gollnow (7,913 inhabitants), both 

 old Hanse towns, and accessible to coasting vessels. 



Eastern Pomerania, — The maritime slope of Eastern Pomerania presents 

 none of those features which favour the growth of large cities, for the coast is 

 exposed and devoid of shelter, the climate is rigorous, and the fertile tracts of 

 land comparatively limited. Owing, however, to the development of local 

 industries, several villages have become real towns. In the valley of the Pega 

 are Schievelhein (5,638 inhabitants), Lahes (5,010 inhabitants), Regenicalde (3,363 

 inhabitants), Greifenhcrg (5,031 inhabitants), and Treptow (6,724 inhabitants). 

 Kolherg (13,537 inhabitants), at the mouth of the Persante, and Koslin (14,814 

 inhabitants), near the lagoon of Jamund, are both prosperous. R'dgemvalde 

 (3,174 inhabitants), at the mouth of the Wipper, which in its upper course 

 irrigates the district around Schlaive (5,141 inhabitants), carries on a considerable 

 coasting trade. Stolp (18,328 inhabitants), on a river of the same name, is the 

 most populous town of Eastern Pomerania, whilst Bclgard (7,181 inhabitants), 

 the Bialygrod, or White City, of the Pomorzi, has maintained its rank amongst 

 the inland towns. Dramhurg (5,626 inhabitants) and Neu-Stettin (6,937 inha- 

 bitants) rise on the watershed between the coast rivers and the Warthe, whilst 

 Laiimbnrg (7,165 inhabitants) already lies within the circle of attraction of Danzig. 

 The Basin of the Vistula. — Thorn (21,067 inhabitants), on the right bank 

 of the Vistula, wh?re that river enters the territory of Prussia, and is spanned by a 



