y hors de combat. After that the Monitor was very
prudent and displayed no especial longing to visit Kotlas.

In order to better comprehend the situation and terrain of the river
forces, a few words regarding the two rivers and their surroundings will
not be without interest. This region is composed of vast tundras or
marshes and the balance of the entire province is covered with almost
impenetrable forests of pine and evergreen of different varieties. The
tundras or marshes are very treacherous, for the traveler marching along
on what appears to be a rough strip of solid ground, suddenly may feel
the same give way and he is precipitated into a bath of ice cold muddy
water. Great areas of these tundras are nothing more than a thickly
woven matting of grasses and weeds overgrowing creeks or ponds and many
a lonely traveler has been known to disappear in one of these marshes
never to be seen again.

This condition is especially typical of the Dvina River. The Dvina is a
much larger river than the Vaga and compares favorably to the lower
Mississippi in our own country. It meanders and spreads about over the
surrounding country by a thousand different routes, inasmuch as there
are practically no banks and nothing to hold it within its course. The
Vaga, on the other hand, is a narrower and swifter river and much more
attractive and interesting. It has very few islands and is lined on
either side by comparatively steep bluffs, varying from fifty to one
hundred feet in height. The villages which line the banks are larger and
comparatively more prosperous, but regarding the villages more will be
said later.

[Illustration: Group of soldier surrounding a grave.]
U. S. OFFICIAL PHOTO
A Shell Screeched Over This Burial Scene

[Illustration: Soldier operating a machine gun.]
U. S. OFFICIAL PHOTO
Vickers Machine Gun Helping Hold Lines

[Illustration: Train moving through the forest.]
U S OFFICIAL PHOTO
Our Armored Train

[Illustration: Several boats tied on the shore of a river. Towers of
the town are in the background.]
RENICKE
First Battalion Hurries Up River

[Illustration: Soldiers huddled around a fire at night.]
RED CROSS PHOTO
Lonely Post in Dense Forest

[Illustration: Buildings in the foreground, the ocean in the background.]
MORRIS
Statue of Peter the Great and State Buildings in Archangel

[Illustration: Soldiers receiving rations from a train.]
U. S. OFFICIAL PHOTO
Drawing Rations, Verst 4