THE SEA OF AZOV. 



429 



the salt consumed iu tlie empire. According to the demand the Government 

 extracts from 100,000 to 400,000 tons yearly from the district.* 



The Sivash, whose contours are in other respects so irregular, is separated from 

 the Sea of Azov by a remarkably regular strip of land, named after the little port 

 of Arabat, at its southern extremity. About 70 miles long, and varying in breadth 

 from 1,800 to 5,800 yards, this singular formation is composed almost entirely of 

 sand, and, especially in the north, of argillaceous masses and calcareous rocks, which 



Fig. 225. — Strait of Yeni-Kaleh. 



Scale 1 : 500,000. 



Depth to 13 Feet. 13 to 26 Feet. 2G Feet and upwards. 



•^^.^^^__ 5 Miles. 



have served as supports for the sandy embankments disposed by the winds and 

 currents along their line from shore to shore. The only break is at the northern 

 extremity, where the " Putrid Sea " communicates at present through the Strait of 

 Genichesk with the Sea of Azov. Even this opening is widened or narrowed with 

 the direction of the winds and the quantity of sand brought with the current, either 



* Yieldof the Crimean salines:— 1873, 386,741 tons; 1874, 242,228 Ions ; 1875, 91,878 tons ; 187^, 

 198,037 tons. 



