Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1892-10-07
THE DELTA OF THE DANUBE.
Interesting Facts About Ono Corner OF
the Czar,s Domain.

Interesting Facts About Ono Corner Of
the Cars Domain.
The Danube delta begins forty-fve
miles below Galatz where the river di-
vides into two branches, the left-hand
one, the Kilia arm, taking a general
northcasterly course, with many turns 1
and subdivisions, past the Russian
towns Ismail and Kilia, and, short
distance beyond the fishing village of
Villloff, flows into the Black sea
through seven narrow channels The
right-hand branch, actually the main
stream, divides again ten miles below
the first fork, the Sulina arm running in
q general casterly direction to the port
of Sulina, and the Black sea, and the st.
Georges arm winding sluggishly on to-
ward the southeast under the extreme
eastern spurs of the great range of
Dobrudscha hills. Each side of the
irregular equilateral triangle bound
cd by the KiliR and St. Georges
arms and the sea-coast measures
about fifty miles in n straight line, and
the largest part of the tract thus en-
closed in marsh and swamp land COW
cred with dense growth of tall reeds,
intcrsperscd with numerous lakes, and
cut up into countless islands by narrow
lagoOns. In the whole of this great
delta there are only few square miles
of ground higher than the general level
of the marsh, and these are two broad
ranges of sand dunes running north
east and southwest several miles in
land, marking the line of the ancient
seacoast, where the waves and wind
raised this barrier long before the men,
DRY of man. These sandy elevations are
now covered with forest of oak-trees,
and support sparse population. With
this exception the delta is uncultivated
| and the few natives who inhabit the
great marsh are almost all engaged
in fishing. They build themselves
rude huts out of the tall reeds, make
| their beds and even their net
floats out of the same useful plant, and
during the summer months set their
nets in every lake and lagoon, preserv-
ing their catch in salt or carrying it at
convenient times to the distant mar
lets. This great marsh is at all times
most impressive, and in summer, when
the reeds have grown to their full
| height and are in blossom, the land
scape, although monotonous in the ex-
| IRENE, often has great elements of
| beauty. Narrow waterways, seldom
more than fathom broad, intersect
the marsh in all directions, and only
the natives familiar with the intricate
windings of these natural canals can
find their way from one point to anoth-
or of this labyrinth. Some of these
waterways are known to have been
made use of in the period of Roman oc-
cupancy, and the race of fishermen who
now make use of them have preserved
their type, their dress, their boats, and
their implements practically unchanged
| since the time when Ovid was exiled to
the shores Of the Euxinc Myriads of
wild-fowl breed in the solitude of the
broad morass, and many kinds of fish
abound in its quiet waters In the au-
tumn, when the frost has killed the
! reeds, great tracts of the delta are often
swept over by fires, consuming all the
vegetation above the level of the mud,
but clearing the way for new and
vigorous growth in the spring. Only
during the winter months is the marsh
passablc for vehicles or even for pedes-
TRANS, and when the whole region is
frozen hard the mails and the few pas.
sengers who are obliged to travel are
carried on sledges straight across from
one station to another over the level
surface of land and water.
Russia took possession of this region
after the capture of Ismail, in the early
part of the century, and in order to help
commerce at home, put various restric.
tions on the Danube trade, which al.
most annihilated it for time. The
adoption of free trade by England
naturally stimulated the export bust,
ness in the corn-producing countries OF
the Danube, and great pressure was
brought to bear to induce Russia to re-
move the hampering restrictions on the
navigation of the river. 1nteruationa,
disputes arising from this cause finally
eliminated in the Crimean war, and il
was not without reason, therefore, that
the treaties of peace contained articles
intended to place the navigation of the
river in control of the countries mos
interested in the corn supply.-E d
| Mi1lnt in, IInrnar'S