their trade and ships. of silk in the web. But, however intrepid and disposed to persevere in commercial pursuits, their vessels were of the rudest description, and their knowledge of maritime affairs, or of the science and art of navigation, was far behind that of the most ignorant of the nations of the South. Nevertheless the Muscovites extended their trading operations farther to the south and east than any of the northern nations had hitherto done; and, not satisfied with the limited markets on the shores of the Baltic, they visited as traders the North or Arctic Ocean, and the Black and Caspian Seas. The internal navigation of the rivers Dwina, Don, and Volga, extending almost from Archangel to Astrakhan, afforded an almost inexhaustible field for inland and maritime commerce. Every year increased the demand from the western countries of Europe for their furs, salt, dried fish, train oil, honey, flax, and caviare; till at length they also started a trade with Persia by the Black Sea, and with India by the Caspian, being thus the first of modern nations to avail themselves of the ancient overland routes to the far East. St. Petersburgh and Moscow still carry on a considerable commercial intercourse with China by the same means.
Russians: their early commerce, Although it was not until the ninth century that the Russians are mentioned by name, their monarchy, within one century afterwards, obtained an important place in the map of Constantine, Novgorod and Kief being then considerable entrepôts of commerce. "Between the sea and Novgorod," remarks Gibbon,[1] "an easy intercourse was discovered; in the summer through a gulf, a lake, and a navigable river; in the
- ↑ Gibbon, c. lv.
