Beauplan.
going up the River, which at first sight seems impossible; some of those Falls we have made way through, being 7 or 8 foot high; judg whether those were not places to ply the Oars. Among them none can be admitted as a Cossack, that has not gone up all the Porouys; so that by their rule I may be a Cossack, and that is the Honour I acquir'd by that Voyage.
Porouys, falls on the Boristhenes.
To give you the true definition of the word Porouy, I must inform you that it is a Russian word signifying a Stone or Rock; and this Porouy is a ridg of such Stones reaching quite cross the River, whereof some are under Water, others level with the surface, and others 8 or 10 foot above it. They are as big as a House, and very close to one another, so that it resembles a Dam or Bank to stop the course of the River, which then falls down five or six foot in some places, and six or seven in others, according as the Boristhenes is swoln. For in Spring when the Snow melts, all the Porouys are cover'd with Water, except the seventh, call'd Nienastites, which alone obstructs Navigation at that time of the year. In Summer and Autumn when the Waters are very low, the Falls are sometimes 10 or 15 foot; and between these 13 Falls there is but one place, which is betwixt Budilou the roth and Tawolzane the 11th, where the Tartars can swim over, the Banks there being very easy to get up.
In all the distance from the first to the last Porouy, I observ'd but two Islands that are not flooded: The first is athwart the fourth Fall call'd Strelczi, which is all Rock 30 foot high, all Precipices quite round; it is about 580 paces long, and 70 or 80 over: I know not whether there is any Water in it, for no Creature goes into it but the Birds, yet all about it is cover'd with wild Vines. The second is much bigger, all Rock too, but not so full of Precipices as the other. The place is naturally strong and pleasant to dwell in. In this Island there grows abundance of Tavala, which is a red Wood as hard as Box, whose quality is to make Horses stale. The Island is call'd Tawolzany, the name of the 11th Fall, as has been said before. The 13th Porouy is call'd Wolny, and is a very convenient place to build either a Town or Fort.
A Cannon-shot above it is a little Rocky Island call'd by the Cossacks Kaczawanicze, which signifies boiling of Millet, to express their satisfaction for being come down all the Falls in safety; therefore they feast in this little Land, and it is with Millet that they treat themselves on their Voyages.
Below Kaczawanicze, and as far as Kuockosow, there are pleasant places to inhabit. Kuockosow is a little River which falls into the Nieper or Boristhenes on the side of Tartary, and which gives Name to a Neck of Land enclosed by the said Boristhenes, and hemm'd in by two inaccessible Precipices, as appears in the Map, so that there is no coming at it but on the Land-side through a place about 2000 paces in breadth and low enough. It were need only to close up this place to make a fine strong Town. It is true that the ground not being plain, it makes a sort of hollow, so that the Tartar Banks command these places, and they again command the Tartar Banks. These places are very high, the River is there free and undivided, and very narrow, especially towards the South, which you will find mark'd down in the Map by pricks. Those are the narrowest parts I have so mark'd, and I have seen Polanders with a Bow shoot across the River, and the Arrow has fallen above 100 paces beyond the Bank. There is the best and safest Ford the Tartars have, for there the Channel cannot be above 150 paces over; the Banks are easy, and the Country open, so that they have no Ambushes to fear: This Pass is also call'd Kuiskosow.
Half a League lower is the head of Chortizca, but I having gone no further on that side, shall only tell you what I learn'd by information from others, and therefore I do not deliver it as undeniable. They say that Island is considerable because of its great height, and being almost hemm'd in with Precipices, therefore not very accessible. It is two Leagues in length, and half a League in breadth, especially towards the upper end, for it grows narrower and lower towards the West: it is not subject to Floods, has abundance of Oaks, and would be a very good place to build a Town, which would be as it were a Watch-tower over the Tartars. Below this Island the River grows very wide.
Below it is Wielsky Ostro, an Island two Leagues long, and all plain; it is of no great consequence, because in Spring it is flooded, only about the middle, where there remains a place dry of about 1 500 or 2000 Paces Diameter. Opposite to this Island on the Tartar side there rises a River which falls into the Nieper, and is call'd Konsekawoda, very rapid, makes a Channel apart, and holds its own till two Leagues below the Island of Tawan,along
