Tobacco is much cultivated in the Ukraine, whence it is ex ported to the neighbouring countries. In Bessarabia, Tauria, the Crimea, and on the banks of the Don even the vine is cultivated, and the annual produce of very good vines is estimated at about 2,200,000 gallons. Potatoes, cabbages, turnips, carrots, and, in some places, cucumbers, pumpkins, and radishes, are extensively grown. Melons, asparagus, hops, and liquorice are among the vegetable produce. In the most southern districts there are peaches, apricots, quinces, mulberries, and walnuts; and in the extensive orchards of the Crimea there are also almonds and pomegranates.

Vast forests abound in various parts of Russia, and they furnish the seaports with large supplies of timber, pitch, tar, &c., for exportation; indeed the forests constitute one of the principal sources of wealth to Russia. Horses and black cattle are reared in immense numbers, and the total number of sheep in the Russian empire is estimated at 60,000,000. The northern provinces, and especially Siberia, abound in wild animals, which are eagerly hunted for their valuable furs, as the sable, ermine, black fox, &c.; and the bear, wolf, and other beasts of prey are also very common. The fisheries of the river Volga, and of the Caspian Sea, are extensive and very productive. Upwards of 10,000 fishing-boats are employed on the Volga alone. Salt is extensively made in the southern provinces. Vast quantities of hides and tallow are exported, though the domestic consumption of both articles is immense. Russia is noted for its metals, as gold, platina, silver, copper, &c. The Ural Mountains contain diamonds, emeralds, and other precious stones. Thus there is no lack of the bounties of Providence, and, under a better system of government, Russia might become one of the most happy, productive, and prosperous countries in the world. The inland navigation is extensive, the Baltic and Caspian seas being connected by canals; and goods may be conveyed by water, with a few interruptions, from Petersburg to the Eastern Ocean. Petersburg on the Baltic, and Odessa on the Black Sea, are the great emporiums of commerce. From these ports vast quantities of wheat, timber, tallow, hemp, flax, potashes, furs, honey and wax, coarse linen, and sail-cloth, are exported.

We shall conclude this paper with a description of two of the principal cities in Russia, and in our next number we purpose giving some account of its inhabitants, customs, religion, &c.

St. Petersburg, the modern capital of Russia, was founded by Peter the Great, in 1703, in a low marshy spot of ground at the mouth of the river Neva. It is built on piles, driven

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into what was originally nothing better than a swamp. The ground is consequently low and level, which exposes the city to frequent inundations; the one that occurred in 1824 destroyed an immense amount of property, and more than 8,000 lives. It is only by rebuilding this city every few years that it is saved from destruction, for the soil is in many places fathomless bog, and the piles float instead of sustaining the buildings above them; and a prevalence of west winds would raise the waters of the Gulf of Finland high enough to sweep away the whole city. In the reign of Alexander it narrowly escaped this disaster. The unfinished cathedral is already full of cracks that threaten its fall, while its foundations render its duration hopeless. The weather is far from being agreeable, for it is calculated that there are annually 97 bright days, 104 rainy, 72 of snow, and 93 unsettled and changeable; while the storms are frequent and violent, and the frosts intense. But as to its architectural aspect, no city in Europe equals St. Petersburg in the width of its streets or the grandeur of its public buildings. The united magnificence of all the other cities of Europe," says a modern traveller, "could but equal St. Petersburg; and there is nothing little or mean to offend the sight: all is grand, extensive, wide, and open; and the streets, which are spacious and straight, seem to consist entirely of palaces. The residence of the emperor is called the Winter Palace, to distinguish it from a palace built by the Emperor Paul, and which was styled the Summer Palace. The second building of importance here is the Marble Palace, one of the most magnificent palaces in the world. Then there is the celebrated equestrian statue of Peter the Great, remarkable for its base being a solid mass of red granite, weighing upwards of a thousand tons, and which brought to St. Petersburg from a morass nine miles distant. The churches are very numerous-that of the cathedral of Notre Dame of Cazan, erected by the late Emperor Alexander, being considered the finest. Most of the houses are built of bricks, stuccoed, so that they resemble stone; but in the low districts they are constructed of timber. Taking it altogether, the city lighted up at night by gas has a very imposing apOn the banks of the Neva it is seen to great

was

pearance.

advantage."

In many places this river equals the Thames in breadth at London Bridge; it is deep, rapid, and clear, and its banks are lined with handsome buildings. On the north, the fortress, the Academy of Sciences, and the Academy of Arts, arrest On the opposite side are seen the imperial palaces, the Admiralty, the houses of many of the nobles, and the

the

eye.

English line, occupied by English merchants. The quay and pavement are of hewn granite. The population of this great city has been estimated at upwards of 450,000.

Moscow, the ancient capital of Russia, is celebrated for the terrible destruction which overtook the army of Napoleon there in 1812. Having invaded Russia with an immense army, Napoleon entered Moscow, but to his surprise and consternation found the place forsaken by its inhabitants, who had carried away everything portable, and destroyed all the stores of provisions, so that the French soldiers roamed through empty streets, and sought in vain to alleviate the pangs of hunger by rifling uninhabited houses. The inhabitants, acting under the orders of the governor of Moscow, deliberately set fire to the city, and Napoleon, at the risk of his life, was obliged to fly, blinded by the glare and stifled by the heat. From a short distance he beheld the burning city, and in four days Moscow was in ashes, and with it were buried the last hopes of the French army. In the retreat which followed, that army was almost totally destroyed, after enduring the most awful sufferings from hunger and cold. Out of 400,000 soldiers, not 20,000 returned. Such are the horrors of war. Moscow is now rebuilt, and contains a population of more than 300,000. It has a most grotesque yet beautiful appearance, is celebrated for the variety of its architecture, and con tains many fine public buildings, of which the Kremlin is the most remarkable. A recent traveller thus describes it:"Innumerable gilded steeples, in form like minarets, Oriental pavilions, and Indian domes, transport you to Delhi; donjon keeps and turrets bring you back to Europe in the times of the crusades the cross, which glitters in every direction, seems as though fallen from heaven amid an assembly of Asiatic nations, to point out to them all the narrow way of salvation." It was doubtless before this poetical picture that Madame de Stael exclaimed, "Moscow is the Rome of the North!" M. G. D.

THE BIBLE.

How precious is the Word of God to the Christian; it is more precious to him than silver or gold; it is food for his soul; he takes a delight in reading that Word when he has done his day's work; after he has been engaged in the busy pursuits of life, that Word is his companion; it is a light unte his path, and a lamp unto his feet; it will not deceive him. Some books and wicked men will deceive him, but the Word

of God will not; it is true; we should value it above anything that is earthly; we should have the Word of Christ fixed in our hearts, and hold it fast at all times.

The precious Word of God will endure for ever, when earthly things have passed away; trifling things of earth we shall soon have done with, we need something that is abiding, something we can take with us into eternity. The believer has this treasure in the blessed Bible. Let us search the Scriptures earnestly, and pray much for the Holy Spirit of truth to guide us into all truth, that the Word of Christ may dwell in us richly in all wisdom. Fellow-sinners, do you read and meditate upon that Word? If you can read, and yet neglect reading the Word of God, is a sign that you do not love the Bible; and if you do not love the Bible, it is clear you do not love the God and author of the Bible. You that are young, delay not to read the Bible till you think you can better understand it; you may not live another day, not even another hour. Read it at once, and pray much before so doing, that you may be enlightened by the Holy Spirit, so that you may understand the Scriptures.-J. WREAKS.

THE MARINER'S COMPASS.

THE sea is the great highway of nations, rendering as it does communication betwixt nations very distant from each other far more practicable than if nothing but dry land divided them.

Navigation, or the art of conducting ships across the sea, was only very partially known and practised in olden times. The Chinese perhaps were amongst the first to make use of ships, then the Phenicians, the Carthaginians, the Egyptians,

the Romans, and other nations of Europe and Asia; but great disadvantages were experienced because of their having no guide to direct them in their voyages. They were guided in their course by the sun in the day time, and by the stars in the night; but then these were very uncertain guides, for should the heavens be overcast, as was often the case, and neither sun or stars were visible, the sailors were thrown into the greatest danger. You will all remember the narrative in the Acts of the Apostles, of St. Paul's voyage from Cesarea to Rome. At one time no small tempest lay upon the ship, all hope of safety was taken away, and neither sun nor stars for many days were visible, so that they were quite in perplexity as to their position. They knew not but the tempest was carrying them forward in a course opposite to that which they intended; or what was worse, that they should be driven against hidden rocks or unknown shores.

The hardy Scandinavian tribes, who lived on the borders of the Northern Seas, were bold navigators, and their voyages were marked by a fearless daring unknown to any of the other early nations of antiquity. It is related of them that they carried ravens with them, that by the direction of the flight of these powerful and sagacious birds, they might be guided to the discovery of new and distant shores. It was not, however, until the invention of the Mariner's Compass that distant voyages could with any prospect of success or safety be undertaken.

This extraordinary instrument, now that the discovery has been made, appears to us simple enough. It consists of three parts; namely, the box, the card or fly, and the needle. The box, which contains the card and needle, is a circular brass receptacle hung within a wooden one in such a manner as to allow of its retaining a horizontal position during all the motions of the vessel. The rim of the compass box, or the outside circle of the card, is divided into 32 equal parts, called points. The four principal ones are called cardinal points, viz., north, south, east, and west. The needle is a small bar of steel made magnetical, which has the property of constantly pointing one of its ends towards the north pole of the world. It is fixed in the under side of the card, and in the centre is placed a socket; which is poised on an upright pointed pin fixed in the bottom of the box, so that the card hanging on the pin turns freely round its centre, and one of the points, by the property of the needle, will always be directed toward the north pole.

By the aid of this singular instrument our seamen can now pursue their course along the trackless deep in any direction