JOUKNEY FROM ST. PETERSBURG. 23 



NoPj may I say, did I ever before seem to realise so well 

 as now, the meaning of these inspired words, " And the 

 Lord brought Abram forth abroad, and said. Look now 

 toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to 

 number them. And he said unto him. So shall thy seed 

 be. And he believed in the Lord ; and he counted it to 

 him for righteousness." In this country the stars never 

 can shine with such unparalleled splendour as they do in 

 the high latitudes of Russia.' 



Of the Volga it is said that it has the longest course — 

 and, with the exception of the Danube, the largest body 

 of water of any river in Europe. It rises, as has been 

 intimated, among the Valdai hills in Lake Setinger, in 

 lat. 57° N., long. 53° 10', at an altitude of 550 feet above 

 the sea level, and takes a direction in general to the east- 

 ward, but with many windings, until it reaches the city 

 of Kazan. The rivers that flow into it above Kazan are, 

 if we except the Oka, of second-rate magnitude. At 

 some distance below Kazan the Volga receives the waters 

 of the Kama, drained from a very great extent of country. 

 It now flows southward with a great volume of water, and 

 it forms the boundary between Europe and Asia for 

 several hundred miles, till, reaching Tzarystyn, it turns 

 east, approaches the Caspian, and after separating into a 

 number of branches, estimated at from 60 to 70, dis- 

 charges itself into that sea, nearly 70 miles below 

 Astrackhan. Its course is computed at 2,700 miles, and 

 the area of its drainage at 400.000 square miles. 



The vast extent of country through which it flows being 

 in general level, it is navigable throughout after passing 

 Tver in the early part of its course. In May and June its 

 waters, receiving great increase from the melting of the 

 snow and ice, the boatmen take advantage of the increased 

 depth to descend its current and avoid those shallows and 

 islands which in other seasons obstruct their course. 



From the vicinity of Tver a communication is opened 

 to the Msta, a river flowing north to the Neva. 



