nieper the following are navigable,--the Berezina and the Pripet
from the right, and the Sozh and the Desna from the left. By means of
the Dnieper-Bug (King's) canal, and the Berezina and Oginski canals,
this river has a sort of water connexion with the Baltic Sea. In the
estuary the fisheries give employment to large numbers of people. At
Kiev the river is free from ice on an average of 234 days in the year,
at Ekaterinoslav 270 and at Kherson 277. (P. A. K.; J. T. BE.)

DNIESTER (_Tyras_ and _Danaster_ or _Danastris_ of classical authors,
_Nistrul_ of the Rumanians, and _Turla_ of the Turks), a river of
south-eastern Europe belonging to the basin of the Black Sea. It rises
on the northern slope of the Carpathian mountains in Austrian Galicia,
and belongs for the first 350 m. of its course to Austrian, for the
remaining 515 m. to Russian, territory. It drains an area of 29,670 sq.
m., of which 16,500 sq. m. belong to Russia. It is excessively
meandering, and the current in most parts even during low water is
decidedly rapid as compared with Russian rivers generally, the mean rate
being calculated at 1-7/11 m. per hour. The average width of the channel
is from 500 to 750 ft., but in some places it attains as much as 1400
ft.; the depth is various and changeable. The principal interruption in
the navigable portion of the river, besides a sprinkling of rocks in the
bed and the somewhat extensive shallows, is occasioned by a granitic
spur from the Carpathians, which gives rise to the Yampol Rapids. For
ordinary river craft the passage of these rapids is rendered possible,
but not free from danger, by a natural channel on the left side, and by
a larger and deeper artificial channel on the right; for steamboats they
form an insuperable barrier. The river falls into the sea by several
arms, passing through a shallow _liman_ or lagoon, a few miles S.W. of
Odessa. There are two periodical floods,--the earlier and larger caused
by the breaking up of the ice, and occurring in the latter part of
February or in March; and the later due to the melting of the snows in
the Carpathians, and taking place about June. The spring flood raises
the level of the water 20 ft., and towards the mouth of the river
submerges the gardens and vineyards of the adjacent country. In some
years the general state of the water is so low that navigation is
possible only for three or four weeks, while in other years it is so
high that navigation co