From Onega the river Suire is navigated into lake Ladoga, and the chief requisite in this line, is a canal along the side of each of these lakes, as far as the mouth of the river Sass, whence the Ladoga canal would com plete the communication to the river Neva and St. Pe tershurgh.
Having explained the lines of communication between the Baltic sea and the great river Volga, we shall now turn our attention to the second great river of Europe and Russia. The Dnieper is navigable, on its snail) stream, as high as Smolensk°, being above 800 miles, and is only, in all that distance, once interrupted by cata racts ; they begin below the mouth of the Somara, and continue about 40 miles. In the spring, when the Rus sian rivers are high, from the melting of snows, loaded barks can descend the falls; at other times the goods are landed, and transported 40 miles by land to Knell kase, where they are again put into vessels, which pass down uninterruptedly to Kerson. From this port coast ing vessels pass through the Limmat, and over the bar of the Dnieper, to Odessa, which is now the natural port of this river. Operations have been undertaken to ob viate the cataracts by locks.
Besides the main channel, there are extensive navi gable branches: the Prypec is navigable to Pinsk and Alexandria, near B.:Ibinsk ; at Pinsk is the canal al ready described, which connects with the Niemen. On the eastern side the Deisna is navigable to Bansk, where canals have been projected to the Os-el and the Volga. The Lotscho adds 200 miles of navigation, and the Beresina is navigable above Borisof; and, by aneans of a canal, has been connected with the Dwina and Port of Riga: this is named the Beresinsky canal. It was be gun in 1797, and opened in 1805; enters the river Lergin, and proceeds by a side cut, with locks, four miles ; then along the stream, for 12 miles, to the lake Platten. From thence is the junction can-al, of six miles, with four locks, to the lake Beretscha, below which a side cut, of 11 mile, with two locks, leads into the Essa, which is lultowed to the Ulla and the Dwina.
The Dwina affords a navigation from Riga for 600 versts to Toropetz, near which is Volak, on a navigable river falling into the lake I-Julien.
'Die northern Dwina affords a navigation from Arch angel, on the White Sea, to Voiogda, near which it might communicate with the Shaxna, and, of course, with the Neva and the Volga. Eisttvard its branches
carry the navigation to near the Uras Mauntains. These fivers afford floatation to the raw produce of these exten sive regions.
In this way. Russia also enj Is a navigation through all Siberia, by weans Lit the ;veal. rivers 0,)y. Irtish, Jenisa, and Lena. In winter, these rivers likewise af ford the most convenient roads, even to the frontiess of China.
The only artificial navigation left us to consider, is the connection between the Volga and the Don. The latter is, indeed, only an imperfect navigation. Near Tcherkask it separates into two streams, which fall into the Sea of Azof, and, excepting in the spring, upon the melting of snows, it is scarcely navigable ; and its mouth is also choaked with sand, so that only flat-bottomed ves sels can pass. The navigation seems elliefly confined to the main river, which extends about 1000 versts to Epiphany, near its head. From this a canal has been carried towards Zula, on a branch of the Volga, thereby • opening an extensive market for thc coal and iron o: that district.
The canal of Iran was begun hy Peter. It was carried from Epiphany, along the bed of the Don, which in some places is improved by side cuts and locks, as far as the bend of that river, 15 miles above the town. From thence a conthated canal pa.ases nine miles across thc summit to the Chatch liver, lia%mg four or five locks on each side of the srnall lake Iran, which forms the Summit Pond. The Chatch is also improved by side cuts and locks, as far as Jula on the Una, by which the navigation is subsequently continued to the Oka and Volga.
The grand connection between the Dori and the Volga, where they approach each other in the province of As tracan, was one or the earliest projects of Peter the Great. But, above a century before his time, viz. in 1568, it bad been attempted hy Selim II. Emperor of the Turks, (See Cantemir's History of the Ottoman Em nire,) but, from various causes, was abandoned, and (as has already been stated) the success under Peter was not much greater, nor yet under the Empress Catherine, when the project was resumed in 1771. As it is un necessary to enter into details respecting it, we shall only observe, that the river Kamishinka was to have been improved, for 15 miles, by side-cuts and locks ; then a canal of three miles, on the summit, led into the Howla, which is navigable into the Don.