Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/304

Rh 280 VOLGA and the consequent draining of the marshes (see NOVGOROD), is one of them ; the drying-up of lakes all over the northern hemisphere, a process which is going on so rapidly (see TOMSK), in consequence of the deepening of the outflows of lakes and the cessation of supply to the lakes which remained after the glaciation of the northern hemisphere, is another ; and both causes are amply sufficient to explain the known phenomena throughout the historical period. The desiccation of the Russian rivers is only one instance of the general desiccation of the northern parts of the Old World, of which so many instances have been given under RUSSIA, TURKESTAN, TRANSCASPIAN REGION, and SIBERIA. Fisheries. The network of shallow and still limans or &quot;cut offs&quot; in the delta of the Volga and the shallow waters of the northern Caspian, sweetened as these are by the water of the Volga, the Ural, the Kura, and the Terek, is exceedingly favourable to the breeding of fish, and as a whole constitutes one of the richest fishing grounds of the world. As soon as the ice breaks up in the delta innumerable shoals of roach (Lcuciscus rutilus) and trout (Luciotrutta leucichthys) rush up the river. They are followed by the great sturgeon (Adpenscr huso], the pike, the bream, and the pike perch (Leucioperca sandra). Later on appears the Caspian herring (Clupea caspm), which formerly was neglected, but has now become more important than the various species of sturgeon ; the sturgeon (A. stcllatus) and &quot; wels &quot; (Silurus glanis, see vol. xxii. p. 67) follow, and finally the sturgeon Acipenser guldcnstadtii, so much valued for its caviare. In search of a gravelly spawning- ground the sturgeons go up the river as far as Sarepta (250 miles). The lamprey, now extensively pickled, the sterlet (A. ruthenus), the tench, the gudgeon, and other river species also appear in immense numbers. No less than 15,000 men, partly from central Russia, are engaged in the fisheries of the lower Volga and its delta, while on the waters of the northern Caspian there are as many as 3000 fishing-boats, giving employment to something like 50,000 persons. From the end of June onwards immense trawl-nets, some times a mile in length, and occasionally taking at one haul as many as 40,000 bream, 150,000 roach, and 200,000 herring s, are continually at work, and it is estimated that 3,600,000 cwts. of various fish, of the value of 15,000,000 roubles, are taken annually in the four fishing districts of the Volga, Ural, Terek, and Kura. Seal-hunting is also carried on off the Volga, and every year about 40,000 of the Phoca vitulina are killed to the north of the Man- ghishlak peninsula. Fishing is extensively carried on along the entire course of the Volga and its tributaries, as also in the lakes of its upper basin. Ice-Covering, In winter the numberless tributaries and sub- tributaries of the Volga become so many highways for sledges. The ice lasts from 90 to 160 days according to the climatic condi tions, and breaks up earlier in its upper course than in some parts lower down. The average date of the break-up is April llth at Tver, and 14 days later about Kostroma, from which point a regular acceleration is observed (April 16th at Kazan, April 7th at Tsaritsyn, and March 17th at Astrakhan). Similarly, the average dates of freezing are November 23d at Tver, November 20th about Kostroma, December 7th at Kazan, 20th at Tsaritsyn, and 17th at Astrakhan. Thus the river is open for an average of 226 days at Ostashkoff and Tver, 215 days at Kostroma, and 209 at Kineshma; from Nijni-Novgorod, where the average is 224 days, there is a regular increase (235 days at Kazan, 241 at Samara, 257 at Tsaritsyn, and 275 at Astrakhan). There are, however, great fluctuations, the navigation in some years having lasted only 182 days in the upper course, 169 at Kostroma, and 243 at Tsaritsyn ; while within the last eighty years maxima of 260 days in the upper course and 288 in the lower course have been observed. The tributaries are navigable for periods ranging from 180 to 246 days. Traffic. 1 The chief Volga traffic is up river, the amount of merchandise which reaches Astrakhan being nearly fifteen times less than that reaching St Petersburg by the Volga canals. The details of this traffic are highly characteristic of the present economic life of Russia. Ten million cwts. offish, salt, and naphtha are despatched from Astrakhan ; this contingent is soon swelled to 12 millions at Tsaritsyn by the salt brought by rail from the Baskuntchak salt-lakes. From Tsaritsyn 7 million cwts. of fish, salt, and naphtha are despatched by the first of the three railways which traverse Russia from south-east to north-west and connect the lower Volga with the Baltic. Considerable amounts of corn are added to this total on its way towards the north-west ; and, while salt, fish, and naphtha are discharged for use at various points in middle Russia, the flow of corn continues to swell ; portions of it are sent to Moscow from Gryazi and Orel, but the remainder goes north-west, so as to reach Riga to the amount of 9,300,000 cwts., chiefly of corn and flax. By the Volga itself only 5,100,000 cwts., chiefly of fish, salt, and naphtha, leave Tsaritsyn, but before this ascending traffic reaches Saratoff it has increased to 6,300,000 cwts., chiefly by the addition of corn from the Saratoff steppes. There the current of merchan- 1 See Sbornik of the Ministry of Roads and Communications, vols. xi. and xii., 1835 and 1887: Graphical Maps of the Movement of Goods in 1882 and 1883. dise divides again; 3 million cwts. of corn, fish, &c., leave the Volga to be carried north-westwards towards Tamboff, while the remainder is carried on farther north, up the Volga, receiving on the way considerable additions of corn from the fertile tracts of Samara and the steppes of Orenburg, which are connected with Samara by rail. At Samara the flow again divides, and part of it is sent again north-west, via Penza, to Ryazhsk; there the three north-western currents which leave the Volga respectively at Tsaritsyn, Saratoff, and Samara reunite after having taken in corn from the fertile regions of Tamboff and Ryazan, so that nearly 20 million cwts. of corn and other produce leave Ryazhsk to be carried on to Moscow. But the flow of corn ascending the Volga does not diminish, and Samara sends farther north no less than 14 million cwts., chiefly corn. At Kazan the volume of traffic is 16,200,000 cwts. (13 million cwts. of corn). Here a new mass, consisting of 11 million cwts. of corn, 3 of various metals, 4 of salt, and 6J of miscellaneous merchandise, all shipped down the Kama, joins the former, so that the total amount of merchandise forwarded from Kazan up the Volga reaches 35 million cwts. The Sura, the Oka, and the Vetluga add their corn, timber, and manufactured goods, and the volume reaching Nijni-Novgorod amounts to 38 million cwts. Here the stream divides once more : while manufactured goods brought in to the Nijni-Novgorod fair are dispersed from it all over Russia, nearly 10 million cwts. of various merchandise (4 million of corn) are sent by rail to Moscow, but the great bulk (28 million cwts.) continues to move up the river, receiving on the way more timber from the Unzha, and sending some corn north wards to Vologda and Archangel. When the traffic reaches Rybinsk, we find that it consists of 20 million cwts. of corn and flax, and 5^ million of metals, metallic and manufactured goods, hides, leather, and so on. At Rybinsk it again subdivides into three branches; one (6,300,000 cwts., chiefly of corn) is discharged and sent by rail to St Petersburg ; another (2,800,000 cwts.) continues up the Volga to enter the Vyshniy Vototchok and Tikhvinsk canal-systems ; and the third and largest (16 million cwts., almost entirely corn and flax) moves along the Mariinsk system towards Lake Ladoga and St Petersburg. Masses of timber and wood for fuel are added to it from the forest tracts of the lake district, the Syas and the Volkhoff bringing together nearly 17 million cwts., chiefly wood, so that finally 14,000,000 cwts. of corn and flax, 31,300,000 of timber and wood, 16,000,000 of building materials, and 4,000,000 of miscellaneous goods reach St Petersburg, which thus is the real seaport of the Volga basin. The goods traffic down the river is much less important in weight, but relatively greater in value. Its prominent feature is the amount of wood sent to supply the provinces of Samara, Saratoff, and Astrakhan, as well as the lower Don, which now have very few or no forests. But the 8^ million cwts. of wood and timber which reach Samara on boats are but a trifle in comparison with what is floated in the shape of rafts. The down traffic in manufactured goods is still more important. The grent bulk of those exported from St Petersburg is sent to Moscow by rail, and thence distri buted by rail over central Russia ; but part of it is sent by rail to Rybinsk, and thence shipped down the Volga. Moscow sends its goods for the same purpose, partly to Yaroslavl, and partly to Nijni-Novgorod (by rail), as also does Vladimir. Nijni-Novgorod distributes the merchandise all over eastern Russia, sends it up the Kama to Siberia, and ships nearly 2 million cwts. down the Volga. This quantity is increased by the additions brought bv rail to Samara, Saratoff, and Tsaritsyn. According to official returns the aggregate amount of goods loaded in the basin of the Volga amounts to nearly 4 million tons, valued at 150 million roubles (2 million tons, 100 millions worth, on the Volga proper) ; trustworthy authorities, however, consider the real value of goods loaded in the basin of the Volga to be not less than 500 million roubles, exclusive of nearly 34 million tons of timber and fuel. Formerly tens of thousands of &quot; buiiaki &quot; were employed in dragging boats up the Volga and its tributaries, but this method of traction has disappeared unless from a few of the tributaries. Horse- power is still extensively resorted to along the three canal systems. The first large steamers of the American type were built in 1872. Steamers arc now very common ; in 1885 as many as 766 were already in use on the Volga and its tributaries, and of these only one-eighth were not built within the Volga basin itself. One-third of them used naphtha as fuel. Of barges and other light vessels an immense variety of types are now in use ; during 1885 no fewer than 20,610 vessels were afloat, and during the last thirteen years the annual average of vessels built on the Volga and its tributaries has been 5030 (4,130,000 roubles). Large numbers of them are broken up after a single voyage. History. The Volga was not improbably known to the early Greeks, though it is not mentioned by any of the writers previous to Ptolemy, who all confounded the Caspian with a gulf of the Arctic Ocean. According to Ptolemy, the Rha is a tributary of an in terior sea, formed from the confluence of two great rivers, the sources of which are separated by twenty degrees of longitude ; but