CHAPTER XIII.

THE WATERWAYS OF RUSSIA. “The servitude of rivers is the noblest and most important victory which man has obtained over the licentiousness of Nature.” —_Gibbon._ The Russian Empire is, in many respects, the most remarkable in the world. With an area of more than eight and a half million of square miles, and a population of 110 millions, it is larger than the whole of the British Empire, including India, Canada, and Australia, and is about seventy times the size of the British Islands alone. It is natural that the internal transport of such a vast territory should present problems of deep interest, and should tax the resources of the engineers that have been from time to time occupied with their determination. This has been more than ordinarily difficult because of the vast distances to be traversed, and the inclement character of the climate, which practically seals up navigation entirely over a great part of the Empire for about six months of the year. Happily, the Empire is provided with a very ample river system, having, indeed, longer and deeper rivers than any other country in Europe, which means, of course, that water transport is available over long distances, without making any special or costly provision for that purpose. The enormous distances over which merchandise has been carried in pre-railway times, throughout the Russian Empire is justly regarded as one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of transportation. For many years previous to the commencement of the present century, large quantities of iron, salt, gold and silver, furs and skins, tallow, leather, marble and precious stones, in addition to the special products of China, were carried from the latter country to St. Petersburg, a distance of fully 2000 miles. The route adopted appears to have been by the Selenga to the Baikal Lake, and thence by the Angara to the Yenisey, where the merchandise was unloaded and carried overland as far as the river Ket. By this stream it was carried to the Obb, and thence up the Irtish and the Tobol, where it was again unloaded, and carried overland to the Tchussovaia, where it was put on vessels, and whence it was carried to the Kama and finally into the Volga. Such a system of transport is probably unequalled for extent and variety in any other part of the world, but the frequent removals and trans-shipments on this and on other principal routes rendered it a matter of urgent importance to connect the different waterways by canal navigation, whereby the leading maritime routes could be joined together. When we consider the condition of the Russian Empire at the time of Peter the Great, the semi-barbarism of its inhabitants, and the comparatively limited resources at his disposal, the work planned and achieved by Peter the Great[99] in the construction of canals is little short of marvellous. It was he who planned the grand scheme for uniting the Caspian and the Baltic with the Black Sea, by the junction of the Volga and the Don. It was he, also, who began the Ladoga Canal in 1718, although it was not completed until the reign of the Empress Anne. This canal, as constructed, connected the Volkhof with the Neva in a navigation of 67½ miles, with a uniform breadth of 70 feet, and a mean depth of 10 feet in spring and 7 feet in summer. Peter the Great connected Astracan and Petersburg by the canal of Vishni-Volotchok, although the canal was afterwards considerably improved by the Empress Catherine.[100] Peter the Great, who was the founder of Cronstadt, also constructed a canal giving access to the harbour of that place. It was not, however, completed in his lifetime. This canal, called after its founder, is lined with brick, as is also another canal, completed soon after the death of Catherine II., in order that vessels might be able to load and unload stores at the gates of the magazines built on both sides.[101] In the time of Peter, and under his direction or sanction, many other waterways were projected or improved in Russia. It was the aim of that monarch to render transport universal and economical throughout his wide dominions, and if his resources had been equal to his plans, Russia would have taken the foremost place in everything relating to water communication. In 1718, finding that the mouth of the Vistula was so choked up with sand that even a small vessel had often difficulty in passing over it, he caused a canal to be constructed, about three-quarters of a mile in length, directly into the bay, having a breadth of 120 to 180 feet in some places, and a depth of 13 to 15 feet. From the end of this canal, next the sea, there were piers running out about 500 yards into the bay, whence ships could enter the canal with almost any wind, and be perfectly secure—as, indeed, the bay of Dantzic may usually be reckoned, having an excellent anchorage ground, and being safe against all storms, those from the north-east and east only creating any danger. At the top of the canal just described, there were constructed flood gates, or a sluice, to prevent the waters of the Vistula running in, or choking it with sand. In the month of October, 1804, this sluice was finished. It will admit vessels of 36 feet beam, and drawing not more than 10 to 11 feet water. The ships thereby pass into the Vistula, and thence they may proceed up to the mouth of the Mottlau; or to the town, about four English miles; or they may lay in the Vistula close to the shore, in a good depth of water. A canal for heavy goods was constructed from Lübeck to the Elbe, where it falls in at Lauenburg, passing through Möellon, being a distance of from 35 to 40 English miles. Oddy reported in 1820 that “there are about 100 boats constantly employed on this canal, and as many more may be procured, nearly of an equal size and the same construction, long and narrow, carrying about 90 shlb. of 280 lbs. each. These vessels are generally from ten to twelve days going from Lübeck to Hamburg, having only three men to navigate them, without the assistance of horses. The freight is generally reckoned for the whole of one of these vessels, 100 marks current, from Lübeck to Lauenburg on the Elbe, and generally from thence to Hamburg, one third more; for which the boatman are responsible against damage or robbery. This canal has the advantage of never suffering delay for want of water in summer, with which it is supplied from the fine lake of Katzburg.”[102] An extraordinary access of enterprise appears to have occurred in Russia in or about the year 1796 in the construction of waterways designed to connect the different rivers and seas within or bordering upon the European dominions of that State. The Beresinski Canal was commenced in 1797; the Swir Canal in 1795; the Maria Canal in 1796; the Kamushuiski Canal was examined and ordered to be completed in the same year; while in 1797 the State undertook the construction of a canal from the Düna, below Riga, for the purpose of joining the Bay of Riga with the Bay of Finland. To the same period belong the project of a canal between Petersburg and Archangel; the Verroi Canal, designed to unite the Lake Waggola and the Black Rivulet; the Welikoluki Canal, designed to unite the rivers Neva and Dnieper with the Düna—a canal 81 miles in length; and the canals of Orel, designed to unite the rivers Bolwa and Shisdra; the Sna and Zon, and the Nerussa with the Kromü. This programme, comprehensive and liberal in its design, was only partially carried out, owing to the want of sufficient resources. The Baltic and the Caspian Seas were united more than half a century ago by three different systems of canals—the first uniting the Neva with the Volga by Lake Ilmen and the canal of Vishni Volotchok; the second uniting the Neva with the Volga, by the Ladoga Canal, and by the canals of Tichwin and Sjâs; and the third joining the same rivers by Lake Onega and the Maria Canal, which unites the rivers Wytegra and Kowspaga. The first of these three systems connects the Caspian and the Black Seas in a navigation of some 1434 miles. Ships or barges laden at Astracan ascend the river Volga to Twer, and thence proceed up the Twerza. After passing through the canal here, they descend the Msta to Novgorod, and proceed thence down the Volkhof to the Ladoga Canal, which connects with the Neva at Schlusselburg. Once on the Neva vessels can proceed direct to St. Petersburg without unloading cargoes. In the second canal system referred to there are three different artificial waterways—those of the Tichwin, Sjâs, and Swir. The first of these was constructed for the purpose of connecting the Sominka with the Lid, which falls in the Tschagadosh, and thence into the Mologa, which is connected with the Volga. The Swir Canal is a continuation of that of the Ladoga, which unites the Volkhof with the Sjâs river. The Swir Canal was completed in 1801, and in that year, according to Oddy,[103] 650 vessels of all sizes passed through it. The chief member of the third system is the Marian Canal, which was completed in 1801. The Onega Canal, designed to join the rivers Wytegra and Swir was built in 1808 to 1810. The Swir Canal, connecting the rivers Swir and Sjâs was completed in the year 1806. The Baltic and the Black Sea, like the Baltic and the Caspian, were connected in the early part of the century by three different systems of canal communication, which are equally remarkable. The first of these, the Beresinski Canal, unites the Düna with the Dneiper, and thereby joins the Bay of Riga with the Black Sea. The second unites the Njemen with the Dneiper by the Ognisky Canal, and the Courland Canal. The third system unites the western Bug with the Dneiper by the King’s Canal. The Beresinski Canal was commenced in the year 1797. The principal part of the navigation was completed in 1801, but the canal was not entirely finished until 1809. It forms a junction with the Dneiper, first by the river Ulla, which falls into the Düna, then by the Sergatcha, which falls into the Beresina, and finally into the Dneiper. The lakes Beloje and Beresina, lying on the route, are utilised to facilitate the connection. The Ognisky Canal, which was finally completed in 1803, was built largely at the expense of the Count of that name during the latter years of the Polish republic. It is thirty-four miles in length, and has ten sluices. For many years it afforded a passage for small craft between Königsberg and the Black Sea. The canal joins the rivers Szzara and Jasiolda, the first of which falls into the Njemen, and the latter into the Pripecz, thereby opening a communication _viâ_ the Dnieper with the Baltic and the Black Seas. The Governments of Lithuania, Volhinia, Little Russia, and Polish Ukraine, have long sent their produce by the Njemen to Königsberg and Memel, near which latter place it falls into the Baltic. Nearly a hundred years ago it was proposed to unite the Njemen with the Bay of Riga by a canal of ten versts in length, which would unite the Nevesha with the Lavenna at the mouth of the great Ada. The last King of Poland began the canal which unites the western Bug with the Dneiper, and which for that reason was called the King’s Canal. It unites the Prima and the Muckawetz, but it has not been very successful. As originally constructed, the canal had no sluices, and being short of water in the summer, and frozen in winter, it was only navigable in the spring months. Another important maritime connection, to which great importance was attached in the early part of the century, was that of the Bay of Riga with the Bay of Finland. This connection was arranged for—first, by joining the rivers Pemau and Narova by means of the Lake Peipus and the canal of Fellin; second, by uniting the rivers Düna and Neva, by Lake Ilmen and the Welikoluki Canal; and third, by joining the Düna and Narova with the Peipus Lake, and the Verroi and Riga Canals. Peter the Great attached much importance to effecting a junction of the Black and the Caspian Seas. The distance between these two maritime highways is about 400 miles, and the enormous trade that has recently been developed in petroleum at Baku, on the Caspian Sea, would have created a traffic for such a waterway that was never dreamt of in the time of that Czar. The Iwanoff Canal was begun by Peter in 1700 for the purpose of uniting the Don by means of Lake Iwan, with the river Shat, which passes through the Upa into the Oka. The canal had been carried from the Don into the valley of the Bobrucki, towards Cape Iwan, and twenty-four sluices had been completed, when the work was suddenly stopped, most probably because the means were insufficient for its completion; but early in the present century the completion of the canal was ordered by the Government. In 1716, Peter commenced the Kamüshinski Canal, designed to unite the Don and the Volga, and thereby to connect the Black and the Caspian Seas. Like the Iwanoff Canal, this undertaking had been partially finished when it had to be discontinued, apparently for engineering as well as for financial reasons, nor was it until 1796 that its construction was again resumed. _The Poutiloff Canal._—One of the most important canals in the Russian Empire, as well as one of the most recently constructed is that known as the Poutiloff Canal—a waterway built for the purpose of converting the city of St. Petersburg into a port. This has hitherto been rendered impossible by the defects of the bar of the river Neva. Hence all traffic arriving at St. Petersburg from the interior, or at Cronstadt from abroad, has had to be transhipped at great cost, and with so much delay that Newcastle coal has often taken as long in transit from Cronstadt to the capital, a distance of 18½ miles, as from the North of England to Cronstadt. In 1872 a Commission reported upon this canal, and the plan finally adopted was sanctioned and contracted for in 1874; but, owing to losses of plant conveyed from England, the works were not commenced till 1877. The canal starts from the Neva at St. Petersburg, and, diverging from the estuary-channel, it proceeds in a south-westerly direction for about 2 miles, and then curving gradually round towards the north-west, it runs in a straight line to Cronstadt. The canal is 207 feet wide at the bottom for the first part of its course, and has a continuous embankment on the side of the Gulf of Finland, and at places on the land side; at the termination of the curve it unites with a branch canal, which will eventually rejoin the Neva above St. Petersburg, and thence its navigable width is increased to 275 feet, its depth being 22 feet throughout. The first part of the straight portion is embanked on both sides, but for the last 10 miles a navigable channel, 275 feet wide, has been dredged through the Gulf, which has a depth there of only from 12 to 15 feet, while no banks have been made. [Illustration: THE POUTILOFF CANAL.] Three basins, formed by widening the canal at certain places, have been provided for the export and import trade, having a total area of 430 acres; but it is considered that these will not afford sufficient accommodation. Between 1877 and 1882, 5,304,000 cubic yards were excavated, out of a total of about 8,700,000 cubic yards. The working season, however, at St. Petersburg is short, and only one hundred and twenty-five days can be reckoned upon in the year, making an average of 8480 cubic yards per day. Water was admitted into the canal in the presence of the Emperor Alexander III. in November 1883; but the canal was not made available for the passage of vessels until 1884. The canal is reported to have greatly promoted the commercial prospects of the capital. This was much required, as, previous to the construction of the Poutiloff Canal, only vessels of very small size and light draught could ascend the Neva for the purpose of loading and unloading at St. Petersburg, while those of more than very limited draught were compelled to stop at Cronstadt, and discharge or load there. The cost of sending goods from Cronstadt to the capital was calculated at more than the freight from England,[104] without taking into account the loss of time, which often amounted to ten or fourteen days, and sometimes more. The Poutiloff Canal was constructed by the Russian Government, at a cost of about a million and a quarter sterling, and has been thrown open free of tolls. The points A and B on the plan, where warehouse accommodation has been provided, are in communication by rail with all the railways going out of St. Petersburg, and can also be approached by lighters with cargo for transport. It is expected that the canal will cause merchant-ships ultimately to abandon Cronstadt entirely. At the St. Petersburg end of the canal, a Government Commission recommended some years ago, that two basins would be required, each 22 feet deep, and capable of holding 90 steamers and 70 sailing vessels, with a third basin, having a depth of 10½ feet, in order to accommodate the barges arriving from the interior. The cost of these works has been estimated at over a million sterling. There has been a good deal of controversy as to the proper location for the port of St. Petersburg at the end of the canal. The original proposal was to erect the docks and basins at the head of the canal, close to the Poutiloff Ironworks, but the Ministry of Finance is reported to have favoured a project for constructing a port on the opposite side of the river—that is on the right bank—on the ground that it would be much less expensive. But the utility of the canal has already been so greatly proved, that the docks originally projected will be likely to be insufficient before long. About 2500 ships are stated to be annually employed in the foreign, and 700 in the local transport trade of the capital.[105] _The Perekop Canal_ is another recent undertaking of the Russian Government. According to ‘Reports of the Consuls of the U.S.A.,’ dated July 1888, Russia had then begun with the excavation of the Strait of Perekop, which connects the Crimea with the Russian continent. The canal is to go from Perekop to Goutschar, Sivash, and Genitschesk, and is to be 111 versts long. It will be 65 feet broad and 12 feet deep. At each end of the canal a port will be built. It is stated that the 85,000,000 roubles necessary for the undertaking have been found. The shortest road from Genitschesk to the northern ports of the Black Sea will be through the canal. The voyage from Odessa to Maripol is at present 434 sea miles long; through the canal it will be only 295 miles. The work will take five years to complete. When the canal is finished, it will be easy for Russia to send her ships through the Sea of Azov to Otschakow, to the mouth of the Dnieper, and to Odessa, because they will no longer have to sail round the Crimea, and they will thereby avoid the risk of being captured by foreign ships in case of war. The chief reason for building the Perekop Canal is stated to be the necessity for getting coal from the Don districts for the Russian fleet.[106] _The Baltic and White Sea Canal._—The latest project put forward with a view to extending and completing the canal system of Russia is that of an artificial connection between the Baltic and the White Seas. The principal port on the White Sea is Archangel, which is situated on the Dwina, about 30 English miles from its mouth. The building of St. Petersburg took away from Archangel a considerable part of its trade with European countries. The harbour of Archangel is, moreover, none of the best, and the bar at the entrance of the Dwina is said to have only about 14½ feet of water, so that ships which draw more water must be loaded out in the roads by lighters. Nevertheless, the shipping trade of Archangel is still considerable, and it is believed that it would be greatly promoted by a direct connection with the Baltic. The projected canal is estimated to cost 10 millions of roubles (1,000,000_l._), and the length of the canal will be 210 versts. General Ignatieff is said to have declared in favour of the undertaking, and the Russian engineers who have reported upon it state that it is easily feasible. _Lake Onega Canal._—Another project that has for some time past found a great deal of favour in Russia is that of a waterway from the White Sea to the Baltic by way of Lake Onega. Communication already exists between the two seas, but it is by a roundabout water route, starting from Archangel, and running up the Dwina to a point near Vologda. A canal would reduce this distance of nearly 1500 miles to about one-third of that figure. The estimated cost of the canal is about 750,000_l._ The project is one that received the consideration of Peter the Great, who, as we have already seen, was the greatest canal-maker that Russia has produced. _The Volga and Don Canal._—The new canal between the Volga and the Don will be 53 versts in length, and is estimated to cost 2,780,000_l._ The canal will commence at the Volga, 7 feet below the level of the Black Sea, and will terminate at a point of the river Don which is 119 feet higher than that water. At its tenth verst from the river Don the canal will traverse the river Karpooka, and at the twenty-fourth verst it will pass the Krivomoozquiski Station of the Volga-Don Railway. Here a basin for shipping will be provided. The canal subsequently runs parallel with the railway until it reaches the river Tchervlenoi, a branch of the Karpooka. From this point the watershed of the Volga and the Don will be cut through, the deepest cutting being 140 feet. The soil, however, is sandy, and is easily dealt with. A rapid descent is made at the end of the canal, where there will be a fall of 270 feet in 6 miles, and where thirteen locks, each 6½ metres deep, will be constructed. The total amount of earth to be excavated is estimated at 2,780,000 Russian cubic fathoms. It is proposed to construct each lock large enough to contain at one time two vessels, severally 210 feet long, 42 feet broad, and 7 feet deep. _The Hyegra and Kovja Canal._—In July 1886, a new canal, which forms an important link in the chain of canals that connect the Caspian and the Baltic was opened. This canal is 15 miles in length, 70 feet wide, and 7 feet deep. It joins the rivers Hyegra and Kovja. Upwards of 20,000 labourers were employed in the undertaking, together with three dredging machines, but the greater part of the work was done by hand. The quantity of excavation required was upwards of 270,000 Russian cubic fathoms of earth. Some of the cuttings were 30 feet in depth. The undertaking did not, however, present any engineering difficulties of importance. The traffic of the Caspian Sea is now very considerable, having been enormously increased within recent years by the development of the petroleum trade of Baku, and of the wealth of the minerals and other natural productions that are common to that region. The Baltic is a natural and the most convenient outlet for a great part of this trade, although pipes have been laid from the Caspian to the Black Sea, in order to discharge the petroleum into ships navigating that waterway. _The Proposed Black Sea and Azov Canal._—During the summer of 1888 the Russian Government complied with a demand for a concession, made by the Black Sea and Azov Canal Company, for the right to construct a canal intended to connect the Don basin and the Sea of Azov with the Dneiper basin and the Black Sea. The length of the proposed canal is stated to be a little over 26 English miles, and the cost is estimated at 3½ millions sterling. The mean depth proposed is about 14 feet. The work of construction is expected to occupy about four years. It has been remarked as a singular phenomenon that whereas the canal traffic of England has relatively diminished, that of other countries has been maintained. This has been explained by the fact that in other countries the distances are generally greater, and the canals are more like rivers than the narrow waters usual in our own country. On Russian canals, for example, barges range in length from 100 to 300 feet, and, instead of being mere lighters, they are to all intents and purposes the counterparts of ocean-going steamships. Large-sized steamers can proceed from the Neva through the canal system to the Volga, and descend thence to the Caspian Sea. Again, it is no unusual thing for barges of 500 or 1000 tons burden to start from some stream in the Ural Mountains with the floods of spring, and reach the river Neva in the autumn—a journey of nearly 1000 miles. The canals of Russia were for a long time, and are still to a considerable extent, largely navigated by flat-bottomed barques, of considerable length, but seldom more than 4 feet in depth, and drawing from 20 to 30 inches of water. “Their rudder,” it is said, “is a long tree like an oar. In case of leakage, instead of a pump they put up a rough cross-bar, from which is slung, by means of a rope, a wooden scoop, with which they throw out the water. These vessels are rudely constructed, purposely for conveying only one cargo. They cost from 100 to 300 roubles each (20_l._ to 60_l._), and when they arrive at Archangel, Petersburg, or Riga, and their cargoes are discharged, they are sold or broken up for firewood or other purposes, seldom fetching more than from 20 to 50 roubles.”[107] _The Canals of Finland._—Finland has a considerable wealth of lake navigation, which has been connected by canals to the great gain of local commerce. One of these is the canal of the Samia, which connects a chain of lakes with the Gulf of Finland by a waterway 37 miles long, with a fall of 260 feet. The fifteen locks are all of substantial masonry, and are fitted with wooden gates, the use of iron in connection with the stonework being dispensed with as much as possible, on account of its considerable changes of volume, due to the great range of temperature to which it is exposed. The masonry, though built in hydraulic cement, suffered considerably from the severe cold of winter; but in the year 1870 the plan was adopted of covering the lock chambers by means of 2-inch planks, and allowing the water to flow perpetually through the two gate sluices. Snow is allowed to accumulate over the temporary covers, and as the water running through has a mean temperature of 39° Fahrenheit, the lock chambers are readily kept at a temperature a little above the freezing-point. The levels between the locks are kept full all winter. The practice of running out the water is stated by a recent writer to be destructive to the banks. The canal of the Pielis connects two lakes; it is 40 miles long, and has a fall of 62 feet, surmounted by ten wooden locks. The crib-work of the walls is loaded with stone, and not clay or earth, as is commonly the case, in consequence of which the woodwork is not forced out of place by the expansion of the frozen filling, and does not rot so quickly. From all that has already been put forward, it must be evident that Russia has long been fully alive to the importance of developing her maritime resources, and especially her system of inland water transport. The total canal mileage of Russia has been estimated by Sir Charles Hartley at about 200 miles(?), and he remarks that, “in most instances, they have been formed with but little difficulty across the gentle undulations of the great watershed, thus uniting the head waters of rivers which have their outlets at opposite extremities of the Continent.”[108] _The River Systems of Russia._—No reference to the water transport of Russia would be complete unless it included the river-system of that interesting country, which is stated to be navigable to the extent of 19,000 miles. Rafts, however, can use such waterways to the extent of 38,000 miles. The chief rivers of Russia are the Volga, with a drainage area of 563,000 miles, and a course of over 2000 miles, making it the longest river in Europe; the Ural, with a drainage area of 95,000 square miles, and a course of 1446 miles; the Dwina, with a drainage area of nearly 100,000 miles, and a course of 650 miles; the Petchora, with a drainage area of 127,000 miles and a length of 915 miles; the Don, with a drainage area of 170,000 square miles, and a length of 980 miles; and the Dneiper, with a drainage area of 204,000 square miles, and a length of 1060 miles. In the summer these rivers, with their collateral canals, transport immense quantities of raw material to the south and west, and carry back manufactures of different kinds in exchange. In the winter, however, their navigation is generally closed, and traffic is carried either by railway or by road. There are, of course, many smaller streams, such as the Düna, 470 miles long; the Neva, 34 miles long; the Dneister, 640 miles in length; and the Bug, with a course of 430 miles. FOOTNOTES: [99] Peter the Great, as is well known, was a keen observer of everything that tended to open up the internal commerce of a country, and especially of all that tended to advance maritime progress, in which he took a deep interest. When Peter was residing in England canal navigation was hardly yet begun, but many rivers had been canalised, including the Aire and Calder, the Trent, the Witham, and the Medway. [100] For additional information on this subject consult Tooke’s ‘View of the Russian Empire,’ vol. i., and Cox’s ‘Travels in Poland and Russia,’ vol. iii. [101] Article “Canals,” in ‘Rees’s Encyclopædia.’ [102] Oddy’s ‘European Commerce,’ p. 292. [103] Oddy’s ‘European Commerce.’ [104] Report by Her Majesty’s Ambassador at St. Petersburg, Commercial series, No. 2 1884. [105] Paper read in 1886 before the Society for Promoting Russian Trade. [106] London _Economist_, July 14, 1888. [107] Oddy’s ‘European Commerce,’ p. 69. [108] ‘Inland Navigation in Europe,’ March 1888.