THE KOLA PENINSULA, OR RUSSIAN LAPLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3277, 3 January 1917, Page 54

THE KOLA PENINSULA, OR RUSSIAN LAPLAND.

By (). Lixdksai"

.According to information recently received from Norwegian sources, it would appear that the line of railway which is to place Petrograd in direct communication—via Kun, on the south-western shore of the White Sea, and Kandalaks—with an ice-free harbour on the Murman coast of the Kola Peninsula will in all probability bo completed before the end of the year. Interest, therefore, attaches to that remotely situated portion of the Russian Empire. The great Kola Peninsula, which may he described as bounded on the east bv the White, Sea, on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the west by Norway and Finland, and on the south by the While Sea and Karelia, covers an area of approximately 40,000 geographical square miles, of which at least one-half consists of treeless and barren tundra, about three-eighths of forest (pine and birch), and the remainder of lakes and swamps. Its water-sy .-terns may conveniently be,divided 'into two groups—those which flow northwards into the Arctic and those which discharge into Ihe White Sea. Of the former, the most important, between the Norwegian frontier and the Kola Fiord, are the Peisen, Bomenijok, Latscha, Ora, Tschadnajok, Tulern, and Kola or Guollejok; while the vast tracts of desolate tundra which extend from the Kola Fiord to the east coast are traversed by a number of streams, of which the largest are the. Tinberka, Vuronje, and Jokonga. The Tschavanga, Varsuga, and Umba* flow southwards, as does the Niva. which discharges the waters of the beautiful Imandra Lake into the Gulf of Kandalaks. The only river which runs from west to east is the Ponoi, a majestic stream, which is more than half a mile wide at the, mouth. With the exception of the Niva, which has a very rapid course, none of these rivers presents any natural obstacles in the way of falls to themigratory fish, and the salmon ascend without difficulty to their upper waters. As a rule, ice begins to form on the lakes about the end of October, and does not break up again until the following May. By a provision of Nature, heavy falls of snow invariably occur before the setting in of severe cold, so that the ice is prevented from attaining a degree of thickness which would be injurious to fish life.

In addition to salmon, the inland waters of Russian Lapland abound with trout, grayling, and pike, so that when peace returns once more it is probable that British anglers will take advantage of the new railway in order to exploit this wide field of enterprise. Here, however, it may bo interpolated that whereas salmon may be taken with the rod in Finmarken in the middle of June, they do not make their appearance in Kola Fiord until a month later, and in the Gulf of Kandalaks until August. The Murman coast, which extends for a distance of nearly 300 miles from the Norwegian frontier on the Jakobselv to Svjatoinos (the Holy Cape) at the entrance to the White Sea,* has long been celebrated for the quantities of fish which frequent it. Of these the most important species is the cod ; but halibut, coal-fish, haddocks, and flounders are also captured in large numbers. With regard to the herring, a wellknown Russian writer states that " they o:cur along the coast from the Kola Fiord to Archangel, a distance of 1000 versts. They are also taken in the Gulf of Kandalaks and along the coast to Petschora, a distance of 1500 ver.:ts, and they are captured still farther to the eastward at the mouths of the Obi and Yenisei." " To the Kola Fiord in autumn," says Boguslav Bjelomorski, " there come such shoals of herring that the inhabitants catch more than they know what to do with by means of nets set just autside their houses "; and in his "Statistical Survey of Russia" Nabolskin remarks : " When tlie herring come in from the Arctic to the White Sea -•-generally in July—they are often so closely parked together 'that they form huge solid masses. Followed by other fish, they enter the fiords, bays, and mouths of the rivers in such numbers that they cover the shores for long distances. . . . The White Sea herring," adds this writer, " are. fat, white, and of good flavour, and when salted are not at all inferior to the Dutch."

In the middle of the sixteenth century the monk Trifan, of Novgorod, the apostle to the Lapps, built a church and founded a monastery at the mouth of the Petsfhenga, where it enters the Peiscn Fiord. In 1556 he journeyed to Moscow, and there obtained from the Grand Duke Ivan Vasilivitshj a deed of gift, according to which all the surrounding district was convoyed to the monastery. This document proved a valuable one ; and owing to the advantages it conferred the Peisen Kloster became the most important place on the Murman coast. The monks had their own flocks and herds, they had whale and other fisheries, they built vessels, and they did a considerable trade with foreign countries. Amongst other matters, thev despatched 20,000 pood of salt annually to the interior of Russia by way of Kola, receiving in return flour, wax, linen, etc. The monastery would seem to have attained the height of its prosperity in 15C0, when it was attacked and burned down by the Swedes, some 200 persons perishing in the defence. After that the monks re-established themselves at Kola, and about the beginning of the eighteenth century the monastery which they had erected there ceased to exist. For the terminus of the Murman railway, as it is already called, the Russians have selected a spot near the outer end of the Kola Fiord, where the ice presents no difficulties to winter navigation; and at the head of that long: Arctic inlet

stands the little grey town of Kola. Hither in 1556 came Burroughs in search of intelligence concerning the unfortunate Sir Hugh Willoughby, who, it was afterwards ascertained, perished of cold and hunger, with the crews of his two vessels, on the Ar/.ina River, near the entrance to the White Sea. In the bay he found 30 lodjes about to start fur Nova Zemb.a ; and here in 1594 Barents found many Russian craft lying. Archangel, Onega, Kern, Mezen, and other White Sea ports used to vie with Kola in fitting out vessels for the Arctic island groups—Spitsbergen, Jan iviayen, etc.,—the principal objects of pursuit 'being the bear, reindeer, beluga, fox, walrus, and seal. In 1835 no fewer than 80 vessels, carrying 1000 men, left these ports for Nova Zembla alone. They sailed at midsummer, and most of them returned in autumn;'but they were provisioned for 18 months.

Two important rivers enter the fiord close to the town of Kola. The largest of these, the Tulern (flood River), is navigable by boat all the way up to Miotjavre, next to Imandra the'most extensive sheet, of water in Russian Lapland; and salmon not only enter that lake, but ascend its main continent as far as the frontier of Finland. The lower reaches of the Tulern are slow-iiowing and lakelike in character; but at a place called Oaljebokkanjarga, 14 miles from the mouth, the river contracts to a width of about 150 yards, and there is a fine rapid, where salmon rise well to the fly. The route for travellers from Kola to Kandalaks, a distance of 140 miles, runs along the water-system of the Kola River as far as the lake Guolle Javrc; and should the weather be favourable the journey is an enjoyable one. More than a half* of it is made in boats on lakes and rivers, the remainder by comparatively short tramps through forest. Immediately to the south of Guolle Javrc lies the narrow swampy neck of land which forms the watershed between the Arctic and the White Sea riversystems ; and soon after passing it the traveller readies beautiful Imandra (470 ft above sea level), a fine sheet of water nearly 60 miles in length. On some of the numerous and large wooded islands with which it abounds the Lapps keep reindeer all the year round ; and it may be imagined that, when breathing the mosquito-laden atmosphere of the summer months, these animals frequently cast longing eyes upon the distant peaks and cool, snow-clad slopes of Umbolek Dunder, which for a distance of over 70 miles stretches away towards the north. At different points on the shores of Imandra log huts for the accommodation of travellers have been erected by the Government, and from one of tTiese—Jekostrov —Mogylni Ostrov ("The Island of the Dead "), a Lapp place of burial, may be visited. There is plenty of sport with large trout, char, and grayling to be had on this lake, while salmon and grilse also are sometimes captured at the lower end. Tho remainder of the journey to Kandalaks can easily be performed in a day; but owing to'the turbulent character of the effluent stream, the Niva, most of the distance—about 21 miles —must be traversed on foot. —Chambers's Journal.