WILNA, an extensive government of West Russia, formed out of Samogitia and Lithuania, situated between 53° 35' and 56° 24' N. lat., and 26' 40' E. long., is bounded N. by Courland, N.E. by Vitepak, E. by Minsk, S. by Grodno, S.W. by Poland, W. by Prussia, and N.W. by the Baltic. Its area is 16,251 square miles, and the population in 1846 numbered 863,700.
The country is an extensive and rather elevated plain, diversified by forests and hills, the highest of which however do not rise more than 300 feet above the surface of the sea, and the hollows are filled with marshes and bogs. Some districts are too sandy for vegetation, but on the whole the soil is not unfavourable to cultivation. All kinds of grain and useful plants flourish. Here and there are found blocks of granite, and fossil bones of elephants and other animals. The country appears to have been covered with one vast forest for thousands of years. The progress of cultivation has of course thinned the forest; but there are still woods of great extent. There are many lakes and numerous rivers; most of the rivers are tributaries of the Niemen, which forms the south-western boundary of the province towards the kingdom of Poland. The Diina bounds the province for a short distance on the extreme north-east. The Wilia is the prin cipal river ; it rises in Minsk, is joined by the Narocz and the Swienta, and falls into the Niemen at Dauer. The Dange and the Beresina both rise in the province; the former passes into Prussia, and the latter Into 3Iinak. The course of most of these rivers is slow, and the water is bad In consequence of the many small streams which flow Into them from the marshes, which are chiefly in the east and south east of the province, where likewise the lakes are the most numerous, the principal of which are the Narocz, to the east of \Vilna, the Drisiraty, and the Lake of Braslau. The winters, though short, are very cold ; the spring is long and humid; the autumn and summer are wet and foggy.
Agriculture is the chief occupation of the inhabitants. Rye is the grain most generally cultivated, and considerable quantities aro exported. Next to rye are barley and wheat, then oats, buckwheat, peas and bean; and a little millet. Flax, hemp, and hops are grown, and a considerable quantity exported.
Cattle, though numerona, are in general of inferior breed. There Is a good breed of mall but hardy horses, called the Lithuanian, which are in great request for the Russian light cavalry. Bees are kept in great numbers. The abundance and remarkably fine quality of the honey aro attributed to the great forests of lime-trees, of the flowers of which the bees are very fond.
There are vast forests of oak, fir, ash, beech, lime, willow, maple, and alder, and great abundance and variety of wild-berries aro found.
Great quantities of charcoal are burned, and pitch, tar, potashes, and lamp-black are made. Large numbers of river-craft are built for the down-navigation of the rivers. There is abundance of game and wild beasts, among which are wolves, bears, gluttons, &c. The urus is said to exist iu the woods near Letewik.
The minerals are bog-iron, saltpetre, marble, granite, sandstone, jasper, agates, and chalcedony.
The manufactures are unimportant. The women in the country spin hemp, flax, and wool, weave linen and coarse cloth for their families, and knit stockings. The men work in the forests, and gain their livelihood partly as carriers, and by preparing potashes, pitch, tar, and lamp-black, and partly by assisting in the conveyance of goods on the Niemen, the Diina, and the Wilia. The articles exported are rye, flour, linseed, hop; timber, staves, bark, tar, potashes, hides, wool, hair, horns, feathers, honey and wax, tallow, butter, oxen, Lithuanian horses, and strong coarse linen. There are no great brandy-distilleries, but all the principal farmers have each his own still for himself and his family, and the Jews distil brandy for sale. The inland trade is almost exclusively in the hands of the Jews.
Towns.—Wdna, the capital formerly of Lithuania, now of the government of Wilna, is situated in 54° 43' N. Int., 25° 10' E. long., at the conflux of the navigable river Wilia and the Wileyka, and has about 58,000 inhabitants, of whom more than one-third are Jews. The streets arc crooked and narrow. On an eminence called the Castle Hill are ruins of a large palace of the Jagellons. The town-hall, the arsenal, the palace of the government, and some palaces of the nobility, are handsome buildings. Among the churches, which number about 40, the cathedral, dedicated to St. Stanislaus, is the most worthy of notice. It was built in 1367. Besides Catholic con vents there are several Jewish synagogues, two Protestant and two Greek churches. The University of \Vilna, founded as a college of Jesuits in 1578, was suppressed by a ukase of let May 1832, and its library of 200,000 volumes was transferred to St. Petersburg. The town has still a medical academy, a botanic garden, an observatory, and a theological seminary. It has a few manufactures and a considerable trade.
Troki, situated on a lake 17 miles to the west of Wilna, has 4000 inhabitants. Kowno, a town of 7000 inhabitants, is situated at the conflux of the Wilia and the Niemen ; it was here that the main body of Napoleon's army entered Russia in 1812. Kreidany, with 6000 inhabitants, is a very considerable town; all the houses are of wood.