Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

184SLUICES OF SCHLUSSELBURG.

the fortress, that tomb of the youthful Ivan, which they would not suffer me to approach. It will be seen shortly how this secret object of my journey was attained.

To enumerate all the structures of granite that I have seen this morning, the floodgates fixed in grooves worked in blocks of that stone, the flags, of the same material, employed as the pavement of a gigantic canal, would fortunately little interest the reader; it will suffice him to know that during the ten years that have elapsed since the first sluices were finished, they have required no repairs. This is an astonishing instance of stability in a climate like that of Lake Ladoga. The object of the magnificent work is to equalise the difference of level that there is between the canal of Ladoga and the course of the Neva near to its source. With .this object, sluices have been multiplied, without reference to cost, in order to render as easy and prompt as possible a navigation that the rigour of the seasons leaves open for only three or four months in the year.

Nothing has been spared to perfect the solidity and the precision of the work. The granite of Finland has been used for the bridges, the parapets, and even, I repeat it with admiration, for lining the bed of the canal; in short, all the improvements of modem science have been had recourse to, in order to complete, at Schlussclburg, a work as perfect in its kind as the rigours of the climate will permit.

The interior navigation of Russia deserves the attention of all scientific and commercial men : it constitutes one of the principal sources of the riches of the land. By means of a series of canals, the en-