The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

THE REGION OF LAKES. 821the so-called " year of the deluge," the level of the lake has heen considerablyraised, islands have disappeared, inlets have been formed, forests destroyed, andthe luchten, or neighbouring meadows, converted into quagmires. These changesare doubtless due to the extensive drainage operations that have been executed inthe surrounding districts, where 1,200 miles of drains now convey more water toFig. 170. Lakes and Marshes between the Volkhov and Dvina Basins.Scale 1 : 350,000.E of P.Eof GCPerthe lake than can be carried off by the Narova. Rapid encroachments have beenmade on the north side, where a range of shifting dunes, 24 to 30 feet high, isbeing constantly displaced northwards, leaving its site a prey to the advancing floods.As the lake has a mean elevation of 95 feet above the sea, its outlet, theNarova, descends somewhat precipitously through a series of rapids to the Gulf ofFinland. Above Narva it forms two branches round the island of Kriinholm,