The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

:;-nEUSSIA IN EUEOPE.oi' (lie rivers, and oblige them to expand into veritable seas in their upper basins.The lands stretching south and east of this lacustrine region are themselves butmoderately elevated, so that they are still mostly covered with lakes, marshes,peat beds, and badly drained low-lying tracts.East of Esthonia and Livonia one of these vast reservoirs, fed by the Velikaya,the Embach, and other large streams, stretches north and south for a distance ofover 80 miles. This is the Peipus of the Esthonians, known to the Russians as theChudsko'ie Ozero, or "Lake of the Chudes," because surrounded by Chudic(Finnish) tribes. It has a mean depth of some 30 feet, and forms two basinsconnected by a channel somewhat over 1 mile wide at its narrowest point, aboutEofPFig. 169.—Tvchkov.Scale 1 : 300,000.60 feet deep, and with a distinct current. The Peipus, which was formerly farmore extensive than at present, is probably the remains of an inlet connecting theeastern extremity of the Gulf of Finland with the Gidf of Riga, but now cut offfrom the sea by the gradual upheaval of the coast. The continual influx of riversand the rainfall have changed it to a fresh-water lake ; but at several points maystill be detected the old marine cliffs, in every respect like those on the presentEsthonian seaboard. Some of its fauna are also of marine origin, such as a speciesof seal which has gradually adapted itself to the slowly changing element. Anumber of salmon placed here by Von Baer in 1852 have multiplied, althoughprevented by the falls at the outflow from yearly visiting the Baltic. Since 1844,