said to end at Dorogobuzh, it flows through an undulating
country of Carboniferous formation; in the second it passes west to
Orsha, south through the fertile plain of Chernigov and Kiev, and then
south-east across the rocky steppe of the Ukraine to Ekaterinoslav.
About 45 m. S. of this town it has to force its way across the same
granitic offshoot of the Carpathian mountains which interrupts the
course of the Dniester and the Bug, and for a distance of about 25 m.
rapid succeeds rapid. The fall of the river in that distance is 155 ft.
The Dnieper, having got clear of the rocks, continues south-west through
the grassy plains of Kherson and Taurida, and enters the Black Sea, or
rather a _liman_ or bay of the Black Sea, by a considerable estuary in
46 deg. 30' N. and 32 deg. 20' E. On this ramifying _liman_, into which
the Bug also pours its waters, stand Nikolaiev and the fortified town of
Ochakov. Navigation extends as far up as Dorogobuzh, where the depth is
about 12 ft., and rafts are floated down from the higher reaches. The
banks are generally high, more particularly the left bank. About the
town of Smolensk the breadth is 455 ft., at the confluence of the Pripet
1400, and in some parts of the Ekaterinoslav district more than 1-1/4 m.
In the course above the rapids the channel varies very greatly in nature
and depth, and it is not infrequently interrupted by shallows. The
rapids, or _porogs_, form a serious obstacle to navigation; it is only
for a few weeks when the river is in flood that they are passable, and
even then the venture is not without risk and can only be undertaken
with the assistance of special pilots. It is from these falls that the
Cossacks of the Ukraine came to be known as Zaporogian Cossacks. As
early as 1732 an attempt was made to improve the channel. A canal, which
ultimately proved too small for use, was constructed at Nenasitets in
1780 at private expense; blastings were carried out in 1798 and 1799 at
various parts; in 1805 a canal was formed at Kaindatski, and the channel
straightened at Sursk; by 1807 a new canal was completed at Nenasitets;
in 1833 a passage was cleared through the Staro-kaindatski porog; and in
the period 1843 to 1853 numerous ameliorations were effected. The result
has been not only to diminish greatly the dangers of the natural
channel, but also to furnish a series of artificial canals by which
vessels can make their way when the river is low. Of the tributaries of
the D