VLADIVOSTOK, the chief naval station of Russia on the Pacific, is situated in 43° 7' N. lat. and 131° 55' E. long., on the Gulf of Peter the Great in the Sea of Japan. This gulf, which has a length of nearly 50 miles, and a width at its entrance of 112 miles, is divided into two large bays—Amur and Usuri—by the hilly peninsula of Muravioff-Amurskiy, continued in a group of islands, of which the Kozakevitch or Russkiy (Johanga-tun) is the largest. A narrow strait, which has received the high-sounding name of the Eastern Bosphorus, separates this from the peninsula, and Vladivostok occupies the northern shore of one of its horn-like expansions, which the Russians have called the Golden Horn (Zolotoi Rog). The depth of the Eastern Bosphorus ranges from 13 to 20 fathoms, and that of the Golden Horn from 5 to 13, the latter thus affording a spacious harbour, —one of the finest, indeed, in the world. The hills are covered with forests of oak, lime, birch, maple, cork, walnut, acacia, ash, aspen, poplar, elm, apple, pear, and wild cherry, with a rich undergrowth of the most varied shrubs. Excellent timber is supplied by oak and cedar forests not far off. The climate, however, is severe, if compared with that of corresponding latitudes in Europe. Though standing in almost the same parallel as Marseilles, Vladivostok has an average annual temperature of only 38°∙5 F., and, although the gulf itself never freezes, a thin ice-crust forms along the shores in December, keeping ships ice-bound for from thirty to forty-five days....
The settlement of Vladivostok, though founded only in 18G1, had in 1886 12,500 inhabitants, chiefly military; and for hundreds of miles inland the sole population consists of the small military posts by which communication is maintained up the Suifun to Lake Khangka and the Cossack settlements on the Usuri. Vladivostok is connected with headquarters by telegraph.
Since the transference of the navy workshops from Nikolaievsk the place has gained in importance. It has a pro-gymnasium for boys (60 pupils), a club, and a newspaper. The imports of both Russian and foreign goods during the last five years have reached an average of from 2½ to 8 millions of roubles; but the exports are insignificant. Some 3000 or 4000 Coreans find employment in the Gulf of Peter the Great in gathering the edible seaweed Laminaria saccharina, of which about 70,000 cwts. (£45,000) are sent to China annually. The discovery of gold in the neighbouring alluvial deposits brought together some hundreds of Chinese, but the Russian Government compelled them to withdraw. The amount of gold is, however, not believed to be remunerative.
The Gulf of Peter the Great was discovered in 1852 by the French corvette “Capricieuse,” and named the Golfe d’Anville. Two years later Count Putyatin, on board the frigate “Pallada,” described the south-western part of the gulf and the Bay of Possiet. In 1855 an English squadron mapped its middle portion as far as Lefu (Askold) Island, and gave it the name of Victoria Bay. The whole gulf was mapped in 1859 by the Russian ships “America” and “Stryelok,” and two years later a Russian post, which afterwards received the name of Vladivostok, was established.
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