The trade of Narva, since the foundation of St. Petersburg, has been insignificant enough. It scarcely occupies fifty ships ; and a Nan'a patriot, who would boast of his city, must point back to olden times, when some hundreds of ships were often anchored before It. Narva now trades chiefly with Pskoff, Dorpat, and Gdoff.
The far-famed waterfalls of the Narova lie about a verst above the town. One fine fresh winter's morning we had a delightful diive to them in an elegant fiacre-sledge, over an excellent snow-road. The Narova divides itself into two arms, each of which forms a separate waterfall, and they afterwards unite again. The island between the two arms of the river is 500 paces broad, and is adorned with pretty gardens, trees, and houses ; so are the edges of the waterfalls themselves, with mills, manufactories, and fishing-huts, and the whole together must afford a very pretty spectacle in summer. The western waterfall, at a httle distance from which a bridge leads to the island, is much the finest sight. More water falls in the eastern arm, but it is not possible to get so close to it as to the western fall. The white shower of snowy spray, which is much admired in most waterfalls, produces but little effect (in winter at least) in those of the Narova, on account of the monotonous white snow-mantle under which every object is then concealed.
After gliding over the smooth snow-path along the side of the Narova, we re-entered the Petersthor, and passing out again as quickly at the Wasserthor, over the beautiful stone bridge built by the Emperor Alexander, we entered the land of the old Finnish Ingrians, now known as Ingermannland. As in Narva I leave the last of the German trading cities of the Baltic, it may be as well to cast a comparative glance over the commercial activity of these towns. The following table shows the trade of the German seaports of the Baltic in the year 1838, and their relation to the commerce of the whole Russian empire.
Value of exports in rubles.
Value of imports in rubles.
Total of the German Baltic seaports of Russia
Total Baltic seaports of Russia
Total of the Russian empire . . 300,000,000