Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/89

Rh JKIVEES.] RUSSIA 73 of the Carpathians enter Volhynia, Podolia, and Bessarabia, that ridges reaching 1100 feet are met with, intersected by deep ravines. The depressions on the borders of the central plateaxi thus ac- quire a greater importance than the small differences in its height. Such is the broad depression of the middle Volga and lower Kama, bounded on the north by the faint swelling of the Uvaty, which is the watershed between the Arctic Ocean and the Volga basin. Another broad depression, from 250 to 500 feet above the sea, still filled by Lakes Peipus, Ladoga, Onega, Bieio-ozero, Latche, Vozhe, and many thousands of smaller ones, borders the central plateau on the north, and follows the same east-north-east direction. Only a low low swellings penetrate into it from the north-west, about Lake Onega, and reach 900 feet, while in the north-east it is enclosed by the high Timanskiy ridge (1000 feet). A third depression of a similar character, occupied by the Pripet and the middle Dnieper, extends to the west of the central plateau of Russia, and penetrates into Poland. The immense lacustrine basin is now broken up into numberless ponds, lakes, and extensive marshes (see MINSK). It is bounded on the south by the broad plateaus spreading east of the Carpathians. South of 50 N. lat. the central plateau gently slopes towards the south, and we find there a fourth depression spreading west and east through Poltava and Kharkoff, but still reaching in its higher parts 500 to 700 feet. It is separated from the Black Sea by a gentle swelling which may be traced from Kremenetz to the lower Don, and perhaps farther south-east. This low swelling includes the Donetz coal-measures and the middle granitic ridges which cause the rapids of the Dnieper. Finally a fifth immense depression, which descends below the level of the ocean, extends for more than 200 miles to the north of the Caspian, comprising the lower Volga and the Ural and Emba rivers, and establishing a link between Russia and the Aral-Caspian region. The depression is continued farther north by plains below 300 feet which join the depression of the middle Volga, and extend as far as the mouth of the Oka. The Ural Mountains present the aspect of a broad swelling whose strata no longer exhibit the horizontally we see in Russia, and moreover are deeply cut into by rivers. It is connected in the west with broad plateaus joining those of central Russia, but its orographical relations to other upheavals must be more closely studied before they can be definitely pronounced on. The rhomboidal peninsula of the Crimea, connected by only a narrow isthmus with the continent, is occupied by a dry plateau gently sloping north and east, and bordered in the south-east by the Yalta Mountains, the summits of which range between 4000 and 5113 feet (see CRIMEA and TAURIDA). Rivers. Owing to the orographical structure of the East-European plains, which has just been described, the river-system has attained a very high development. Taking their origin from a series of great lacustrine basins scattered over the surface of the plateaus and differing slightly in elevation, the Russian rivers describe im- mense curves before reaching the sea, and flow with a very gentle gradient, receiving numerous large tributaries, which collect their waters from vast areas. Thus the Volga, the Dnieper, and the Don attain respectively a length of 2110, 1330, and 1125 miles, and their basins cover 645,000, 244,600, and about 115,000 square miles respectively. Moreover the chief rivers of Russia the Volga, the Diina, the Dnieper, and even the Lovat and the Oka take their rise in the north-western part of the central plateau, so close to one another that they may be said to radiate from the same marshes. The sources of the Don are ramified among the tribu- taries of the Oka, while the upper tributaries of the Kama join those of the Dwina and Petchora. In consequence of this, the rivers of Russia have been from remote antiquity the true channels of trade and migration, and have contributed much more to the elaboration of the national unity than any political institutions. Boats could be conveyed over flat and easy portages, from one river- basin to another, and these portages were subsequently transformed with a relatively small amount of labour into navigable canals, and even at the present day these canals have more importance for the traffic of the country than most railways. By their means the plains of the central plateau the very heart of Russia, whose natural outlet was the Caspian were brought into water-communication with the Baltic, and the Volga basin connected with the Gulf of Finland. The White Sea has also been brought into connexion with the central Volga basin, while the sister-river of the Volga the Kama became the main artery of communication with Siberia. It must be observed, however, that, though ranking before the rivers of western Europe in respect of length, the rivers of Russia are far behind as regards the amount of water discharged. They freeze in winter and dry up in summer, and most of them are navigable only during the spring-floods ; even the great Volga becomes so shallow during the hot season that only light boats can pass its shoals. Russia has a very large number of lakes. The aggregate area of the largest ones is stated at 25,800 square miles. The following is a descriptive list of the principal rivers of Euro- pean Russia. A. Arctic Ocean Basin. (1} The Petchora (1025 miles) rises in the northern Urals, and enters the ocean by a large estuary at the Gulf of Petchora. Its basin, thinly peopled and available only for cattle- breeding and for hunting, is quite isolated from Russia by the Timan ridge. The river is navigable for 770 miles ; grain and a variety of goods conveyed from the upper Kama are floated down, while furs, fish, and other products of the sea are shipped up the river to be transported to Tcherdyn on the Kama. (2) The Kara (139 miles) enters the Kara Sea. (3) The Mezen (510 miles) enters the Bay of Mezeii ; it is navigable for 450 miles, and is the channel of a considerable export of timber. (4) The northern Dwina, or Dvina (950 miles), with a basin of about 150,000 square miles, is formed by the union of two great rivers, the Yug (270 miles) and the Sukhona (330 miles). The Sukhona has its origin in Lake Kubenskoye, in north-west Vologda, and flow's rapidly southwards and eastwards, having a great number of rapids. It is navigable throughout its length, and, as Lake Kubenskoye commu- nicates by the Alexander of Wiirtemberg Canal with Lake Bieloye, it is connected with the Caspian and Baltic. The Vytchegda (685 miles), which flows west-south-west to join the Sukhona, through a woody region, thinly peopled, is navigable for 500 miles and in its upper portion is connected by a canal with the upper Kama. The Dwina flows with a very slight gradient through a broad valley, receiving many tributaries, and reaches the White Sea at Arch- angel by a number of branches. Notwithstanding serious obstacles offered by shallows, corn, fish, salt, and timber are largely shipped to and from Archangel. (5) The Onega (245 miles) rises in Lake Latche in the south of Oronetz, and flows into Onega Bay ; it has rapids ; timber is floated down in spring, and fishing and some navigation are carried on in the lower portion. B. Baltic Basin. (6) The Neva (46 miles) flows from Lake Ladoga into the Gulf of Finland (see ST PETERSBURG). (7) The Volkhoff (135 miles), discharging into Lake Ladoga (see LADOGA), and forming part of the Vyshnevolotsk system of canals, is an important channel for navigation ; it flows from Lake Ilmen (367 square miles), which receives the Msta (250 miles), connected with the Volga, the Lovat (310 miles), and many smaller tributaries. (8) The Svir (135 miles), also discharging into Lake Ladoga, flows from Lake Onega (4925 square miles), and, being part of the Mariinsk canal system, is of great importance for navigation (see VOLGA). (9) The Narova (46 miles) flows out of Lake Peipus into the Gulf of Finland at Narva ; it has remarkable rapids, notwith- standing which an active navigation is carried on by means of its waters. Lake Peipus, or Tchudskoye (136 square miles), receives (10) the Velikaya (210 miles), a channel of traffic with southern Russia from a remote antiquity, but now navigable only in its lower portion, and (11) the Embach (83 miles), navigated by steamers to Dorpat. (12) The Diina, or West Dwina (577 miles), with a basin area of about 75,000 square miles, rises in the Ostashkoff district of Tver, and falls into the sea below Riga, after having described a great curve to the south. It is shallow above the rapids of Jacob- stadt, but navigation is carried on as far as Vitebsk, corn, timber for shipbuilding, potash, flax, &c., being the principal shipments of its navigable tributaries (the Obsha, Ulla, and Kasplya) ; the Ulla is connected by the Berezina canals with the Dnieper. (13) The Niemen (Memel), with a course of 470 miles in Russia, rises in the north of Minsk, leaves Russia at Yurburg, and enters the Kurische Haff ; rafts are floated upon it almost from its sources, and steamers ply as far as to Kovno ; the export of corn and timber to Prussia, and import of fish, grocery, and manufactured ware are consider- able ; it is connected by the Oginski Canal with the Dnieper. The chief tributaries are the Viliya and the Shara. For (14) the Vistula, with the Bug and Narew, see POLAND. C. Black Sea Basin. (15) The Pruth (505 miles) rises ill Austrian Bukovina, and separates Russia from Roumania ; it enters (16) the Danube, which flows along the Russian frontier for 100 miles below Reni, touching it with its Kilia branch. (17) The Dniester (530 miles within Russia and about 330 miles in Austria) rises in Galicia. Light boats and rafts are floated at all points, and steamers ply on its lower portion ; its estuary has important fisheries. (18) The Dnieper (1330 miles), with a basin of about 245, 000 square miles, with tributaries, waters thirteen governments, of which the aggregate population numbers about 15,000,000. It also originates in the north-western parts of the central plateau, in the same marshy lakes which give rise to the Volga and Diina. It flows west, south, south-east, and south-west, and enters a bay in the north-western part of the Black Sea. In the middle navigable part of its course, from Dorogobuzh to Ekate- rinoslaff, it is an active channel for traffic. It receives several large tributaries : on the right, the Berezina (285 miles), con- nected with the Du'ua, and the Pripet (400 miles), both most important for navigation, as well as several smaller tributaries on which rafts are floated ; on the left the Sozh (330 miles), the Desna (590 miles), one of the most important rivers of Russia, navigated by steamers as far as Bryansk, the Sufa (252 miles), the Psiot (415 miles), and the Vorskta (268 miles). Below Ekaterinoslaff the Dnieper flows for 46 miles through a series of thirteen rapids. At Kherson it enters its long (40 miles) but XXI. 10