The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

THE EEGION OF LAKES. 827of Finland, to winch it drains through the Neva. This stream, only 36miles long, ranks in volume with the great rivers of Europe, discharging from103,000 to 104,000 cuhic feet per second—a discharge greater than that of theRhine or Rhone, and surpassed outside of Russia by the Danube alone in Europe,and sufficient to have already changed into a fresh-water basin the easternsectionof the Gulf of Finland beyond Kronstadt. It varies in width from 850 to 4,200feet, and the steamers plying on it generally find 7 to 10 feet on the reefs.Still, like the other livers flowing to the gulf, it forms porogi, or rapids, some ofwhich are impassable to all except flat-bottomed craft. Between the quays ofSt. Petersburg it has a depth of from 20 to 50 feet, but beyond the delta itsvarious branches—Great and Little Neva, Great, Middle, and Little Nevka—areseparated from the sea by bars and sand-banks inaccessible to vessels drawing morethan 7 feet. On the other hand, very little sedimentary matter is carried down, sothat the channels are liable to but slight change, and the delta was increased by1,570 acres only between 171S and 1834, or at the yearly rate of about 14 acres,and of 6 or 7 feet along its whole front. The alluvial soil is only 79 feet thick,as shown by the borings of an artesian well sunk 660 feet to a body of waterflowing under the strata of Finland granite supporting the alluvia.Thanks to Ladoga, which regulates the discharge, the difference between highand low water is inconsiderable, and the floods would be in no way dangerousbut for the west winds blowing right up the stream, and capable of inundatingSt. Petersburg if they lasted several days. During the floods of November 7th,1824, the water rose more than 12 feet above the sea-level, deluging the greaterpart of the capital, and it rose again to nearly the same height in 1879, thoughit seldom exceeds 12 inches above the gulf. Another danger arises from thebreaking up of the ice in Lake Ladoga, which sends down huge masses, oftencausing great havoc along the banks, and destroyingthe quays of St. Petersburg.Observations extending over one hundred and fifty years show that the Neva isice-bound on anaverage for 138 days yearly, but with great fluctuations, varyingfrom ^7 days in 1822 to 194 in 1852.Climate.The climate of the Neva basin, lying under the sixtieth parallel of latitude, isnaturally unfavourable to any except the hardiest plants, capable of resisting thelong winter frosts and the thaws of spring. The oak, which reaches the latitudeof Gefle in Sweden, does not grow spontaneously in the Ingrian forests, flourishingonly on the banks of the ilsta, east of Lake Ilmen. The poplar, elm, maple,and ash, so characteristic of the forests in the temperate regions of CentralEurope, are here found only in well-tended private grounds. Even the silverpine is rare, nothing growing freely except the birch, alder, aspen, willow, andservice-tree. The northern limit of wheat is also marked by a line drawn throughLadogn, and to the south of Onega.Under such unfavourable conditions this region could scarcely become verythickly peopled, and one of the most remarkable phenomena of contemporaryz 2