RUSSIA. 



preys, for exportation if not for home confumption, are the 

 molt important. One fpccics of fi(h peculiar to thefe waters 

 is the kyllo- itreamlmg, caught in great numbers in autumn, 

 near Revel and Roggervyk. They are pickled, and form 

 a good fubltitute for anchovies and fardelles, and thus pre- 

 pared, they are fent abroad to various parts. The potted 

 lampreys from Narva are no lcfs exquilite. The greateft 

 (lore of the gulf of Finland confiits of lterlets, falmon, and 

 carp. Sturgeon are found in the gulf of Cronltadt, and 

 likewife at times in the Neva. In winter, the tra-ifport of 

 frozen Mill from the remoter parts of the empire to St. Pe- 

 tersburg is very conliderable. In Ruffia there are federal 

 lakes that afford an abundant fupply of filh. The chief of 

 thefe is the Baikal, which fee. The Tfchan, a Siberian 

 lake, is particularly prolific in fifh ; and in this refpeft 

 among the European lakes the Ladoga is the mod; remark- 

 able. The Peipus and the Ilmen alio yield a great variety of 

 filh, and the fmaller European lake-; are proportionally pro- 

 ductive. According to the calculations of Hermann, the 

 whole value of the fifhery in one year, may be eilimated at 

 15,000,000 of rubles. 



Another branch ot productive induftry in the Ruffian em- 

 pire is the breeding of cattle. The nations of herdfmen in 

 this empire are the Kirglnfes, the Kalmucks, the Bafchkirs, 

 the Burats, and fevera] others lefs numerous : the breeding 

 of cattle is a principal trade with the Coffacks of the Don, 

 the Nogayans, the Barabinzes, and fome others ; with molt 

 of the nations of hunters it is a conliderable means of profit, 

 and as a profitable branch of trade it flourifhes in many 

 dillricts of proper Ruffia. The breeding of cattle affords 

 to the inhabitants many, and in fome dillricts all the means 

 of fubliltence, and yields befides to commerce a multitude of 

 articles for exportation. Two of thefe are hides and tallow : 

 ef the latter, in the year 1793, 1,055,000 poods were ex- 

 ported ; and the value of that quantity amounted to 

 4,279,000 rubles, not including the tallow candles, the ex- 

 portation ot which amounted in value to 170,000 rubles. 

 Yufts and leather were in the fame year (hipped off to the 

 amount of 2,249,000 rubles, and the other exports in the 

 products ariiing from the breeding of horned cattle, made a 

 (urn of more than 163,000 rubles. The whole value of .ill 

 thefe articles in one. year was upwards of 6,S62,ooo ru- 

 bles. The breeding of (heep is alfo an article of importance 

 in the Ruffian empire. The Nomadcs are richer in (heep 

 than in any other article, and even the boors and Coffacks in 

 Southern Ruffia and Siberia poffefs flocks of hundreds and 

 thoufands. Through the whole country this branch of pro- 

 ductive induitry might be very much improved. Goats and 

 hogs are alfo animals that yield to the Ruffian empire confi- 

 derable profit, and with due attention might he rendered 

 much more lucrative. Hog's brittles conltitute an import- 

 ant article of exportation ; in the year 1793, thefe, to the 

 Value of 742,000 rubles, were (hipped off. The horfc, the 

 afs, the camel, the rein-deer, ami the dog, are animals which 

 are capable of being rendered profitable to this country in a 

 much greater degree than they now are ; though at prefent 

 they are no) hy of attention. 



Another branch of productive induitry in the Ruffian em- 

 pire is agriculture. In Ruffia, agriculture is Iris tin- bufi 

 of the peafantry than in other countrii . T I the 



empire every village has its proper territory, and v. , 

 its allotted inclohires and commons. In Siberia every man 

 takes as much ground from the open fleppes .1; he 

 manage ; and when fuch .1 portion of ground is cxli.uilled, 

 he proceeds to another, &e. fo that thefe little Dipt ol land 

 lie feattercJ at twenty, fifty, and even eighty 'a 1 ll , difUnce 

 from the village. In Ruffia and Siberia they cultivate win- 



ter rye and fummer rye, winter wheat only in Ruffia as far 

 as the Kama, fummer wheat both in Ruffia and Siberia ; 

 barley, fpelt-barley, or bear-barley plentifully in Ruffia ; 

 oats in Ruffia and Siberia ; few peafe, and Hill fewer vetches 

 and beans ; a great deal of buck-wheat ; in Siberia, Tarta- 

 rian buck-wheat, millet, and the grain called panicum 

 germanicum, only in Ruffia. The villagers have hay-fieldi 

 on the banks of lakes and rivers, in brakes and fens of the 

 forelts. The old withered grafs, weeds, twigs, and light 

 Hull they fet on lire, and thisoccafions an appearance which 

 at night is tremendous. ■ Beiides corn, they grow flax in 

 large quantities, chiefly on the Volga, but molt of all in the 

 government of Yaroflaf, and alfo in the governments of 

 Mofcow and Kazan. Hemp is indigenous in all the fouth 

 and middle of Ruffia and Siberia, and is propagated in great 

 abundance, both for the material of linen, fail-cloth, &c. 

 and for the oil expreffed from its feed, of which a very great 

 quantity is confumed for food during the falls, and which, 

 as well as the hemp, is exported annually to a great amount. 

 Woad likewife grows wild in Southern Rulfia and Siberia ; 

 it is gathered in the Ukraine, and employed in llaining and 

 dyeing. It is alfo cultivated in the government of Penza, 

 and about the Don. Tobacco is planted almoit folely, but 

 in great abundance, in the Ukraine. Hops are propagated 

 by the villagers only, in fmall quantities, in the governments 

 of Kazan, Nifhnei-Novgorod, &c; and in Siberia, in the 

 province of Irkut(k, the wild fort is plentiful. Orchards 

 are of little account, except in the chief towns. No fruit- 

 trees thrive in Siberia. Water-melons are much cultivated 

 in the fouth-eallern parts of Ruffia, from the Don to the 

 Ural, efpeciall/ on tiie Volga. In the breeding of cattle, 

 the countryman is directed by climate and palturage. In 

 the (outh of Siberia a perlon often poffelfi s 300 horfes, 

 as many (heep, about half the number of horned cattle, 

 always a few lwine, and much poultry, fometimes geefe and 

 ducks. The Ruffian horfes are of a middling li/.e, with 

 large heads, long flabby ears, not very handfome, but fpi- 

 rited, llrong, and hardy. The horned cattle are fmall and 

 brilk : the cows give little milk, which is poor and thin. In 

 Little Ruffia the oxen are ufed for draught. About Arch- 

 angel there is a fine breed of large cows, originally brought 

 from Holland, and they do not degenerate. The true Ruf- 

 fian (heep are diltinguilhed from the common fort by a fhort 

 tail, about the length of feven inches. Hogs, dogs, and 

 cats are of the ordinary kinds. The poultry are houfed all 

 the winter in the cottage, under the hearth and the deeping 

 benches, for the fake of having Eafter eggs. The culture 

 of bees is the principal concern of the Balchkirs in the Ural, 

 and is alfo an object of attention in Southern Ruffia. In the 

 northern diltricts of Ruffia and Siberia the chace is purfued 

 as a trade, particularly for thofe animals whofe Ikii are ufed 

 as lurs, efpecially fables and grey fquirrels, for the wear of 

 the Ruffian gentry in town and country. The carrier's trade 

 is a fource of great profit. The towns at the diilance of 

 from 500 to 1000 verfts, ferve as Rations foi . the 



drivers and carriages, e.g. from Kiachta, [rkutfk, Kr.il- 

 noiarlk, Tomfk, Tara, Ekaterinenburg, 8cc. The country 

 market-towns and hamlets are commonly open, andmoftly 

 built in irregular ftreets, with little kitchei 



: the houles ; t 111 v are lituated on the banks ot rivers, 

 for the convenience of obtaining water. They contain many 

 and the monaKeries in or near them, from their 

 (trong walls, maffy gates, and numerous church towers, I 

 the appearance 01 caftles. The fortrefTes difperfed about 

 the country havi rth-n parts, but are moltly built 



like then ' . . ith a low palifadi round them. The 



cannons Hand 011 the gates and on the angles of the ramparts, 



or 



