60 Dr Howison’s Accmnl of the Forest^ Trees 
for Russian produce, which would otherwise arrive in ballast ; 
and this they prefer, from its beauty, to the timber of their own 
growth, for making furniture. 
The peasantry have little or no tallow or oil ; what they can 
procure is entirely consumed at the shrines in the churches, and 
before the images in their isbas. To supply the place of candles, 
they take long billets, of that species of fir-tree which abounds most 
in resinous matter ; these they dry carefully near their peatches, 
during the tedious winter, and split, as occasion requires, into long 
pieces, resembling lath for a house. When a traveller arrives, 
or when a light is required, one of these is lighted at the peatch, 
and fixed in a wooden-frame, which holds it in a horizontal po- 
sition. It gives a bright flame, and burns for a short time ; 
when another is substituted. 
The extensive forests furnish to tlie proprietor a consi- 
derable addition to his revenue, from the potashes, charcoal 
and turpentine which they afford. The potash, or vegetable 
alkali, is made from every species of wood indiscriminately. 
When a sufficient quantity of ashes is collected, they lixiviate 
them, and pack them up into casks. These are conveyed down 
from the interior, by means of inland navigation, to Peter s- 
burgh, Riga, and other sea-ports, where they are kept in ex- 
tensive warehouses belonging to government. There they are 
broken up, the ashes collected in heaps, the good carefully se- 
parated from the bad, and repacked, in the presence of the fo- 
reign merchant who purchases them. 
In passing through the country, during the night, we repeat- 
edly saw great volumes of flame issuing from the forests ; and, 
during the day, whilst travelling in the woods, we observed that 
many of the finest trees had their internal wood burnt complete- 
ly into charcoal, from the fire ascending up the centre of the 
trunk, whilst the bark remained entire and seemingly uninjured. 
To make charcoal, they cut down every species of wood indis- 
criminately, form it up into large cones or piles, covered over 
with turf, set fire to them, and allow the combustion to advance 
in a slow progressive manner for some days. The cone is then 
pulled down or scattered, the charcoal collected, and sent to 
Petersburgh, Moscow, and other great towns, where it is con- 
sumed in the large works of government, as powder-mann facto- 
