RUSSIA. 



799 



attached a<^ provinces to those monarchies, and the Russian divisiori was formed into a kingdom 

 as a part of the Russian Empire. 



The Poles remained in quiet submission to the Russian government till 1830, when, on the 

 29th of November, Warsaw rose in insurrection, and the whole kingdom was speedily in revolt. 

 The hope of assistance from some of the free governments of Europe induced them to spurn 

 at all attempts on the part of the Russian emperor to bring them to submission, and a bloody- 

 struggle, with the armies of the autocrat, followed. The Poles at first obtained some signal 

 advantages, but no foreign power stirred in their behalf, the Russians poured in fresh armies, 

 and, in a year from the breaking out of the revolt, Poland was overpowered by numbers and 

 forced again to submit. The Russian despotism is now fully reestabhshed, and unhappy Po- 

 land has felt its bitterest persecutions. Many of the Poles were murdered in cold blood by 

 the victors, and others, with their families, were dragged in chains, or driven with the lash, to 

 the distant wilds of Siberia. 



CHAPTER CXXVI. RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 



5'^. Petersburg. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. This country is bounded north by the Frozen Ocean, east by 

 Asiatic Russia, south by the Caspian Sea, Caucasus, Sea of Azof, the Black Sea, and the 

 Danube, and west by Moldavia, Austria, Poland, Prussia, the Baltic, Finland, and Lapland. 

 It extends from 40° to 70° N. latitude, and from 21° to 68° E. longitude, and contains about 

 1,800,000 square miles.* 



2. jyiountains. The Ural JMountains form the boundary between Europe and Asia. They 

 consist of a chain 1,200 miles in length, extending from the Frozen Ocean, south, nearly to 

 the Caspian Sea. The Finnic Mountains are a continuation of the Scandinavian range, and 

 extend some distance into Russia between the White Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia. The 

 Jllaunian Mountains are a series of gentle elevations southeast of the Gulf of Finland. In 

 the south are the Mountains of Taurida. 



3. Rivers. Russia is watered by a great number of rivers, comprising the largest in Europe. 

 The Ural rises on the eastern declivity of the Uralian mountains, separates Europe from Asia, 

 and empties its waters, after a course of 1,300 miles, into the Caspian Sea. The Volga, the 

 largest river of Europe, rises in the government of Tver, and, passing in an easterly and south- 

 erly direction by Tver, Jaroslav, Kazan, and Astrachan, it flows into the Caspian Sea, by 70 

 mouths. Its principal tributaries are the Oka from the west, and the Kavia, a full, deep 

 stream, from the east ; its current is gentle and smooth, and it is navigated by more than 5,000 

 boats, while its valuable sturgeon fisheries employ even a greater number of fishing craft. 

 Length of its course, 2,500 miles. The Terek and Kuma are considerable streams rising in 

 the Caucasian Mountains, and flowing Into the Caspian Sea. 



* This statement does not include Poland, Finland, and 

 Russian Lapland, which have been separately desntilied, 

 and which carry the area of European Russia to 2.270,000 

 square miles. Besides the European territories, the Rus- 

 sian Empire comprises vast tracts of Asia, including the 

 whole of the northern part of the continent, and the coun- 



try to Ihe west of the Caspian 8ea,r,nd south of Caucasus. 

 Tiip northwestern part of America also lipl(in£;s to this 

 power. The whole empire has an area of neai ly 8,000,000 

 square miles, or one seventh of the habitable globe, with 

 a population of about 65,000,000 inhabitants 



