804 



RUSSIA. 



with extensive salt-works ; JVikolaiev, near Odessa, a small town, but important as tlie princi- 

 pal Russian naval station on the Black Sea ; and JVew Tcherkask^ 1 1 ,000 inhabitants, capita] 

 of the Cossacks of the Don. 



Wilna is the principal city of Western Russia, and was the capital of the ancient duchy of 

 Lithuania. It contains many remarkable edifices, among which are the cathedral, numerous 

 churches, and the hotels of many Polish nobles. About half of the population, 56,000, are 

 Jews, who carry on an extensive inland traffic. J\Iohilev^ 21,000 inhabitants ; Witepsk, 15,000 ; 

 and Minsk, 15,000, capitals of governments of the same names, are the other most considera- 

 ble towns of Western Russia. 



Kazan, on the Volga, a handsomely built and strongly fortified city, is the mart of the com- 

 merce between Siberia and European Russia, and the seat of extensive manufactures of cloths, 

 leather, soap, and iron ware. It was once the capital of a Tartar kingdom, and is the most 

 important Tartar city of Russia. Its university, theological academy, observatory, library, 

 botanical garden, &c., give it also a certain literary importance. Population, 48,000. Saratov, 

 upon the Volga, is a flourishing town, which owes its rapid increase to its extensive trade, and 

 its manufacturing prosperity. Population, 35,000. 



Jlstrachan, with 40,000 inhabitants, is built upon one of the islands in the mouth of the 

 Volga, and is the most frequented port on the Caspian Sea. Its numerous churches, its pretty 

 orchards and vineyards, its extensive suburbs, and its Kremlin, or citadel, give it an agreeable 

 appearance at a distance, but the houses are chiefly of wood, and the streets are irregular, 

 muddy, and badly paved. It is the chief Russian naval station on the Caspian Sea, and its 

 central position, which affords it a ready communication with the most remote parts of the em- 

 pire, and with the richest regions of Asia, renders it the emporium of Russian commerce with 

 India, Bucharia, and Persia. Three bazars or khans, in different parts of the city, are appro- 

 priated respectively to the Russian, Hindoo, and other Asiatic merchants. Other considerable 

 towns in Eastern Russia are Perm, 10,000 inhabitants, important for the rich mines of copper 

 worked in its neighborhood ; Ekaterinburg, 11,000, the centre of a rich gold district, contain- 

 ing large cannon founderies, and manufactories of cutlery and other iron ware ; and Uralsk, 

 12,000, capital city of the Cossacks of the Ural, with important fisheries. 



In Great Russia, besides the towns already described, are Kursk, a commercial town with 

 23,000 inhabitants, near which is a miraculous image of the Virgin, which attracts numerous 

 pilgrims ; Vologda, 13,000, which its central position between St. Petersburg, Moscow, Arch- 

 angel, and Kazan, and the canals and navigable rivers connected with it, render the great mart 

 of the inland trade of Northern Russia and Siberia ; Voronege, 26,000, and Riazan, 19,000 

 inhabhants, flourishing commercial and manufacturing towns ; Charkov, 13,000, noted for its 

 literary institutions ; and Pullava, 10,000, for the victory gained there by Peter the First, 

 over Charles the Twelfth, of Sweden. 



15. Canals and Railroad. The system of canalisation, favored by numerous navigable 

 rivers and lakes, and by the seas, which border Russia on 3 sides, has been carried to a great 

 extent. It was projected by Peter the Great, who, in founding St. Petersburg, designed to 

 make it the commercial emporium of his vast empire. Several canals of no great lengtli unite 

 the waters of the Volga with Lake Ladoga, and thus connect the Baltic and the Caspian Sea. 

 The Ladoga Canal, 66 miles, unites them with the Neva, and thus enables boats to avoid the 

 dangerous navigation of the lake. Two canals unite the Northern Dwina with different branches 

 of the Volga, and connect the White Sea with the Caspian. The Oginski Canal, 36 miles 

 long, connects the Dnieper with the Niemen, and affords navigadon from the Baltic to the 

 Black Sea. The Canal of Peter the First, connects the Don with the Volga, and is 100 

 miles in length ; the Oka is also united with the upper part of the Don ; these canals afford a 

 double communication between the Black and Caspian seas. Another extensive system of 

 canals connects the Vistula with the Niemen and the Duna, and the latter with the Neva. 

 There is one railroad in Russia, extending from St. Petersburg to Paulovski, 20 miles, which 

 it is proposed to continue to Moscow, 450 miles further. 



16. Jlgriculture. Russia raises much more corn than she consumes ; fruits and wine are 

 produced in abundance ; flax and hemp are staple productions. Mulberry trees have been 

 planted to a great extent, and the raising of cattle, horses, sheep, bees, and silkworms, occu- 

 pies many of the inhabitants. Poland rears many cattle, and raises much corn, but the rich 

 plains of the Vistula are blasted by Russian tyranny. 



17. Manufactures. Russia has for a long time possessed manufactures of leather, duck, 



