The Hon. Mr. Strangways o)i the Geology of Russia. 21 



The same rock continuing, the country improves in riches and beauty 

 towards the town of Kostroma^ which is deservedly reckoned one of the most 

 beautiful on the Volga^ as well in architecture as in situation. It would 

 perhaps be difficult to prove that the climate of this part of Russia is at all 

 superior to that of the provinces I have been hitherto describing ; but it is 

 certain that from the neighbourhood of Kostroma oaks are frequent, and 

 continue to be so along the remaining course of the Volga as far as the woods 

 continue. The scenery on the banks of the river becomes much more 

 varied^ and is enlivened by towns and villages, among which should be par- 

 ticularly mentioned the picturesque town of Kineshma, situated on the 

 southern bank. In a ravine in the middle of the town, opposite the great 

 monastery, is a sand-pit, the sand of which is partly red, like that common 

 throughout the country, and partly white and yellow, and of that clear glassy 

 appearance which characterizes the sand of Borovichy and of the Ishora near 

 Petersburg. In the ravines between Kostroma and Kineshma the red marl 

 and sand are well seen in situ. On the south bank, between Kineshma and 

 Uryavetz Pavolskoy (or Uryavetz on the Volga), more commonly contracted 

 into Uryetz, the ravines occur at every two or three versts, and at the town of 

 Uryetz are of the depth of 150 feet, if not more. Two or three of these 

 ravines unite just at the spot where the town is built, between their opening 

 and the Volga. There is no water in them in summer : and in fact, they owe 

 their origin not to the waters of the soil, but to the melting of the snows in 

 spring. The surface of the hill is horizontal to their very edge, and tlie 

 upper part of their cliffs absolutely perpendicular to the depth of thirty or 

 forty feet, before it begins to slope towards the centre of the hollow. On the 

 side of one part of the ravine, where the rock is no longer liable to slip, is a 

 wood of firs ; but in general the sides are perfectly bare, on account of the 

 very, regular annual decay which takes place after the thawing of the snows. 

 The substance of the rock being very tender, yields readily to the impe- 

 tuosity of the annual debacle. It is the ordinary red marl, containing small 

 calcareous concretions. In the ravines are some large boulders of ancient 

 rocks. Near the head of one of the ravines is a large square tower, the 

 remains of an ancient fortress, erected when this part of Russia was exposed 

 to the incursions of the Tartars; which, together with the steep road whicii 

 descends into the town, accompanied on each side by a yawning chasm, will 

 probably be at some future period precipitated into the gulf. Some grotesque 

 chapels, which are placed on projecting knolls round the town, are in danger 

 of sharing the same fate. 



