Peter Kropotkin and John Thomas Bealby

“ RIGA (Esth. Ria-Lin) , a seaport of Russia, 366 m. by rail S.W. of St Petersburg, the capital of the government of Livonia. The Gulf of Riga, 100 m. long and 60 m. in width, with shallow waters of inconsiderable salinity (greatest depth, 22 fathoms) , freezes to some extent every year. The town is situated at the southern extremity of the gulf, 8 m. above the mouth of the Dvina, which brings Riga, by means of inland canals, into water communication with the basins of the Dnieper and the Volga. ”

“ Having direct railway communication with the fertile parts of southern and south-eastern Russia, Riga has become the second port for foreign trade on the Baltic, ranking next after St Petersburg. The port freezes on an average 127 days every year. The larger ships cannot reach Riga, and are unloaded at Ust-Dvinsk (formerly Dunamünde) . By no means all the trade with the interior is transported by the railways; no inconsiderable portion of the goods is carried by water. ”

“ Industrial activity has developed and includes railway-carriage works, works for the manufacture of machinery, oil mills and breweries. Owing to its communication by water and rail with the forests of White Russia and Volhynia, Riga is a great mart for timber. Flax and linseed also occupy a prominent place, Riga being the chief Russian port for the extensive flax-producing region of north-west Russia. ”