The largest river traversing Lithuania is the Dnieper, a river extensively utilised for the floatage of wood. By Professor ShavranofF, of the St. Petersburg School of Forestry, there was supplied to me a series of papers by Mr M. 0. Polytaief, On Forests of the Dneiper, which supplies the illustrations of this of which I was desirous; and Mr Richard Sevier, of St. Petersburg, a friend whom I found ready to give me every assistance in my enterprise which I could desire, supplied me with a translation of the whole, which I shall insert entire.
The Dnieper, I may premise, rises in the southern portion of the government of Tver, passes by Smolensk, shortly after which it enters Lithuania, passes MoghilefF, and flowing thence towards Kiev, it afterwards passes Kkaterinoslav and Cherson, falling into the Black Sea a little beyond. It is navigable from a little above Smolensk to the mouth. From Smolensk its course is south-west, till it reaches Orcha, in the government of
Moghileff, under the parallel of 54° 32', whence it has a southern course through the government of Mogbileff, which it divides on the south-west from that of Minsk. In this part of its course it receives numerous tributary streams; amongst others, the Dneitz, or Drouts, and the Berezina, which is united to the Dwina by means of a canal, and the Verditch, all on the right bank. At the point where it leaves the government of Moghileff, and turning to the west and south forms the boundary between parts of the governments of Minsk and Tchernigov, it receives the Soj on its left bank. Before it reaches Kiev, past which it flows, it receives the Pripett, which the Muchavice and Orginski canals connect with the Vistula and the Niemen on the right bank. After passing Kiev it receives on the same bank the Teterev, Zdvij, and Irpen. Further on it receives the Roso; and, after receiving others on the right bank and the left, it is joined by the Bug, which traverses Podolia. By itself and its tributaries the Dnieper supplies abundant facilities for the transport of timber and firewood to the south.