Pola

Physical Features.

The undulating plain which forms the main part of the territory of Poland has no natural boundaries on the east and west, but connects the lowlands of Germany with the great plain of Russia. It extends from the Carpathian moun tains in the south to the Baltic sea ; it touches the Dvina in the north-east and just reaches the Oder in the south-west. But the Polish plain is not uniform. In the south the Carpathians form a mountainous belt reaching its highest point in the Tatra. North of this is the Carpathian plain, extending from west to east along the Upper Vistula, the San and the Dniester. North of this plain lie the southern uplands comprising the Silesian hills, the Cracow Jura, the Galician plateau, the Lysa Gora, the Lublin hills and the Podolian plateau, a region too diversified to be called a plain, and rising to heights of over 2,000 ft. above the sea. North of these uplands lies the central Polish plain—Poznan, Mazovia, Podlasia and Polesie, intersected by great rivers, and bounded on the north by a second belt of uplands, 600 to 700 ft. above the sea, covered with lakes, marshes and swamps extending from Pomerania through the Mazovian lakes to White Russia. The Baltic coast forms the northern limit of these uplands. Whereas the network of lakes and rivers, and the resulting facility of communication by land and water, together with the fertility of the soil, have made the great plain from Poznan to Warsaw the cradle of Polish nationality; the southern uplands, with their greater security and the vast mineral wealth, have been equally important.

Rivers, Lakes and Canals.

The basin of the Vistula com prises the central part of Poland. The Vistula rises in the western Beskids, flows through Cracow and Sandomierz, is joined by the San and Wieprz, which water the provinces of Lemberg and Lublin respectively, then by the Pilica. It flows through the Mazovian plain past Warsaw and Plock, being joined by the Bug, rising in the Podolian plateau, and its tributary, the Narew. The tributaries of the Narew rise in the Lake district, most of which is in Prussia, and are connected by the Augustow canal with the river Niemen. The Bug is also connected by the Royal canal with the Pripet, and so with the Dnieper. The Vistula continues its course through the ancient land of Chelmno, near Thorn, Bydgoszcz and Grud zianz, being connected with the Oder basin by the Bydgoszcz canal. Its estuary, the object of long struggles between Poles and Germans, lies in the republic of Danzig. The inundations of the Vistula, serious even at Cracow, are dangerous after it enters the plain, when the heavy rains in the Carpathians raise its level or the accumulations of ice in the lower course obstruct the outflow. The west of Poland belongs partly to the basin of the Oder. The Warta, 450 m. in length, rises in the southern uplands, and with its tributaries, the Prosna and Notec, forms the fertile plain of Great Poland, in which the earliest capitals, Gniezno, Poznan and Kalisz grew up in the district of lakes of which Goplo, 8o m.

long and ioo ft. deep, is famed in legend and history.

In the far north-east, Poland touches the basin of the Dvina. Part of the province of Vilna is drained by its tributary, the Disna, and contains a great region of swamps and lakes, of which Lake Narocz (311 sq.m.), is the largest lake in Poland. The area between the Niemen, the Narew and the Jasiolda contains the largest forests in Poland, and rafts of timber float down all these rivers. South of the Niemen basin is the basin of the Pripet, a tributary of the Dnieper. It is the region of dense forests and wide swamps, and is connected by the Oginski canal with the Niemen, and by the Royal canal with the Bug. Its right tribu taries, such as the Styr, water the Volhynian plain.

Lastly, the river Dniester and its tributaries drain the south east part of Poland down to the Rumanian and Russian frontiers, comprising the provinces of Tarnopol and Stanislawow and the oilfields of Lemberg.

Climate.

—The climate of Poland is dependent on her prox imity to the Baltic and the Carpathian mountains. Abundant rainfalls are caused by the predominating western oceanic winds. Consequently, the snow in Poland is not very thick, and spring sets in early. Frosts of —4° to —22° F are not uncommon, how ever, and the rivers are generally icebound for two and a half to three months. The average yearly temperature varies from 46° in Poznan to 32° F in Pinsk. The character of the climate is more continental in the eastern provinces. In Warsaw, the central capital, the earliest frost is about Oct. 18, the latest frost about March 15. The absolute maximum temperature is 95.5°, the abso lute minimum temperature —37.6° F. The annual rainfall is about 22.8 inches.

Flora.—The flora of Poland is characteristic of the transitional position of Poland between east and west. All the floral zones of Europe are found here. Deciduous forests merge into coniferous forests; the western flora of the Baltic meets the steppe flora of the Black sea. Of the original Polish trees the pine (Pinus sylves tris) is found almost everywhere, together with the birch and the alder. The yew and the larch, once so common, have disappeared. The fir has entered Poland from Siberia and is common. Among western European trees the oak, beech, hornbeam, elm, ash, lime tree, aspen and maple are common, the beech not appearing east of Brest-Litowsk and the fir only north of Lemberg. The oak— a highly venerated tree, especially in the Lithuanian region—grows in forests only on the most fertile land, but it is of common oc currence in conjunction with the beech and elm. The lime ap pears in groves only in the east. It is the most popular tree with the Poles; judgment of old was pronounced under its shade, and the folk-songs repeat its name. Ivy is characteristic of all parts of Poland, while the willow and orchard trees—apple, pear, plum and cherry—are cultivated everywhere.