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. 
