Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/319

Rh RUSSIAN.] POLAND 307 sive lakes, whose alluvial deposits now yield rich crops. The fertility of the soil and the facility of communication by land and by water have made this plain the very cradle of the Polish nationality, and every furlong of it to the Pole is rich in historical memories. The very name of Poland is derived from it, Wielkopolska and Wielkopolane being the Slavonian for the great plain and its inhabitants. livers. Russian Poland belongs mostly, though not entirely, to the basin of the Vistula, its western parts extending into the upper basin of the Warta, a tributary of the Oder, and its north-east spur (Suwalki) penetrating into the basin of the Niemen, of which it occupies the left bank. For many centuries, however, the Poles have been driven back from the mouths of their rivers by the German race, maintaining only the middle parts of their basins. The chief river of Poland, and the very cradle of the Polish nationality, is the Vistula (Pol., Wisia the Vandalus, Visula, and Istulct of antiquity. It has a length of 620 miles, and a drainage area of 72,000 square miles. It rises in Galicia, in the Beskides, 3675 feet above the sea, where the Black and White Vistulas unite. Flowing first north-east, in an elevated valley between the Beskides and the Sandomir heights, it separates Russian Poland from Galicia, and already at Cracow has a breadth of 90 yards. It enters Russian Poland at Zawichwost, 473 feet above the sea. After having re ceived the San, it turns north, traversing for some 35 miles a broad valley deeply cut through the plateaus of southern Poland. This valley reaches at several places a width of 10 miles between the limestone crags which border it on both sides, the space between being occupied by two alluvial terraces, where the river winds freely, divides into several branches, and frequently changes its bed. Here it has a speed of 8 feet per second, with a gradient of 1 3 to 1 5 feet per mile, and a depth ranging from 4 to 20 feet. About Jusefow (51 N. lat. ) it enters the great central plain, where it flows north and west-north-west between low banks, with a breadth of 1000 yards. Its inundations, dangerous even at Cracow, become still more so in the plain, where the accumulations of ice in its lower course obstruct the outflow, or the heavy rains in the Carpathians raise its level. Dams, 20 to 24 feet high, are maintained at great expense by the inhabitants for 60 miles, but they do not always prevent the river from inundating the plains of Opolic and Kozienic, the waters sometimes spreading as far as 150 miles to the east. Below Warsaw (267 feet) it frequently changes its bed, so that, for example, Piock (180 feet), which formerly was on its left bank, is now on the right. About Thorn it enters Prussia, and a few miles below this town it finds its way through the Baltic ridge, flowing in a north-east direction and entering the Baltic Sea in the Frische-Haff at Dantzic. On the whole, it is what the physical geographer would call a &quot;young&quot; river, which is still excavating its bed, and probably on this account few towns of importance are situated on the Vistula in Russian Poland, the principal being S^domierz, Warsaw, and Piock, and the fortresses of Ivangorod and Novogeorgievsk (Modlin), while very many small towns have sprung up within short distances from its course. It is navigable almost from Cracow for small boats and rafts, which descend it at high water. Real navigation begins, however, only below its confluence with the Wieprz, the middle and lower Vistula being the chief artery for the traffic of Poland. Thousands of rafts and boats of all descriptions descend every year, with cargoes of corn, wool, timber, and wooden wares, giving occupa tion to a large number of men. Steamers ply as far as to Sedomierz. The Vistula receives many tributaries, the most important being the San, the Wieprz, and the Bug on the right, and the Nida and the Pilica on the left. The San (220 miles) rises in Galicia, in the same part of the Carpathians as the Dneister, and flows north-west, close to the southern frontier of Poland ; it is navi gable downwards from Dynow, and is ascended by boats as far as Yarosfaw in Galicia. The Wieprz (180 miles) is the chief artery of the Lublin government ; it flows north-west past Lublin and Lubartow, joining the Vistula at Ivangorod. It is navigable for small boats and rafts for 105 miles from Krasnostaw. The Bug, which describes a wide curve concentric with those of the middle Vistula and Narew, rises to the east of Lwow (Lemberg) and flows north and west, past Hrubieszow, Chehn, and Brest-Litowski, separating the Polish provinces of Lublin and Siedlce from Volhynia and Grodno. It joins the Vistula a few miles below its confluence with the Narew, some 20 miles below Warsaw, after a course of more than 675 miles. Only light boats (yalary] are floated down this broad but shallow stream, whose flat and open valley is often inundated. Its great tributary, the Narew (150 miles), brings the forest-lands of Byelowezha into communication with Poland, timber being floated down from Surazh and light boats from Tykocin. The mountain-stream Nida waters the hilly tracts of Kielce, and, rapidly descending south-east, joins the Vistula close by the Opatowiec custom-house. The Pilica rises in the south western corner of Poland, and flows for 135 miles north and east in a broad, flat, sandy, or marshy valley, of evil repute for its uuhealthi- ness ; it joins the Vistula at Mniszew, 30 miles above Warsaw. The Warta (450 miles) rises in the Chestochowo hills, 900 feet above the sea, and flows north and west past Sieradz (448 feet) and Koto. Below Czestochowo it waters a flat lowland, whose surface rises only from 2 to 5 feet above the level of the river, and the inhabitants have a constant struggle to keep it to its bed ; the country is, however, so low that every spring an immense lake is formed by the river at the mouth of the Ner ; as regards its right hand tributaries, it is almost impossible to define them from those of the Bzura, tributary of the Vistula, amidst the marshy grounds where both take their origin. The Warta turns west at Koto and leaves Poland at Pyzdry in the government of Kalisz ; it serves to convey timber to Prussia. The Niemen, which has a total length of 500 miles and a basin of 40, 000 square miles, flows along the north-east frontier of Poland, from Grodno to Yurburg, separating it from Lithuania. Already 70 yards wide at Grodno, it advances northwards in great windings, between limestone hills covered with sand, or amidst forests, past numerous ruins of castles, or koorgans, which witness the battles that have been fought for its possession. The yellowish sandy plains on its left allow only the cultivation of oats, buckwheat, and some rye. The river flows so slowly below Kovno as to seem almost stationary ; it often changes its bed, and, notwithstanding repeated attempts to regulate it, otters great difficulties to navigation. Still, large amounts of corn, wool, and timber are floated down, especially after its junction with the Black Haucza, giving occupation to about 90,000 men. A little above Kovno the Niemen turns west, and after having received the W ilja from the right, it attains a width of nearly 500 yards. At Yurburg it enters eastern Prussia, and reaches the Baltic Sea at the Kurische-Haff. Of its tributaries in Poland, only the Hancza Czarna and the Szeszupa, which winds through the province of Suwafki, are worthy of mention. Lakes are numerous in the province of Suwaiki, amounting Lakes, there to over five hundred ; but the largest of them, Wigry, tra versed by the Hancza, covers only 11,000 acres. They are mostly concealed amid thick coniferous or birch forests, and their waters stretch with undefined banks amidst marshes, sands, or layers of boulders thickly covered with moss. Another group of some one hundred and twenty small lakes is situated in the basin of the Warta (north part of Kalisz), the largest being Gopto, 18 miles long and 100 feet deep, surrounded by many smaller lakes, and receiving the Noted river. It was much larger even within historical times, and was well known from being situated on the highway from the Adriatic, via Koio on the Oder, to the basin of the Vistula. Though navigable for a few months only, the rivers of Poland Canals, have always been of considerable importance for the traffic of the country, and this importance is further increased by several canals connecting them with Russian and German rivers. The Niemen is connected with the Dnieper by the Oginski Canal, situated in the Russian government of Minsk. The Dnieper-and- Bug (Horodecki, Brzeski, also Krolewski) Canal in Grodno connects the Mukhavets, tributary of the Bug, with the Pina of the basin of the Pripet, that is, the Dnieper with the Vistula. The Vistula is connected also with the Oder by the Bydgoski or Bromberg Canal in Prussia, which connects the Brda, of the basin of the Vistula, with the Notec&quot;, or Netze, tributary of the Warta. All these canals are, however, beyond Russian Poland. In Poland proper, the Aigustowski Canal connects the Vistula with the Niemen, by means of the Hancza, Netta, Biebrz, and Narew. Another canal, to the west of te.czyca, connects the Bzura, a tributary of the Vistula, with the Ner and Warta ; and the bed of the former has recently been altered so as to obtain regular irrigation of the rich meadows extending along its banks. With the exception of its southern parts, Poland is built up Geology, almost exclusively of Secondary and Tertiary formations, covered with a thick sheet of Quaternary deposits. The non-schistous rocks are represented only by a small patch of porphyries near Checin, and another of basalts at the castle of Teczyriski. Small deposits of quartzites in the Dyininski Hills, characterized by the Orthis kielcensis, Rom., which formerly were considered as Devonian, belong to the Silurian as also a few dolomites appearing from beneath the Devon .an Old Red Sandstone and limestones. The last two cover wide tracts in the province of Kielce, and in the district of Bedzin, on the Silesian frontier. The Devonian lime stones of Kielce, which contain the Orthis striatula, Spirifer in flatus, Atrypa, reticularis, A. desquamata, Leptsena inter strialis, Brontcus flalellifcr, Spirifer vcrneuili, and Rhynchonella culoidcs, thus exhibit a fauna closely akin to that of the Devonian of Germany and Belgium, or the lowest part of the Upper Devonian the so- called &quot; Cuboides-Schichten. &quot; The hard sandstone of Dombrowa, Brzezina, &c., with Chonetes sarcinulata, Spirifer par adoxus, S. cultrijugatus, and Pterinea paillctci, is certainly Lower Devonian. This formation contains the chief mineral resources of Poland. The Carboniferous formation appears in the Olkusz and Bedzin districts. It consists of sandstones and clays, with layers of coal 30 feet thick. The Permian is represented by porphyric tuffs in the Olkusz district, &quot; Zechstein &quot; characterized by Productus hor-