lake which away from its shores has been filled in with sand to a
small extent and to a larger extent has turned into swamps. It is
densely covered with rushes, and out of its waters, which are far from
clear, a multitude of stony islets rise up covered with dense
underbrush. Its center is surrounded by an even more dense seam of
pine forests. Its rivers and brooks are so slow that they can hardly
be distinguished from stagnant waters. The only town of any importance
within its limits is Pinsk on the Pina.

In a general way five railroad lines have been built through various
parts of the Pripet Marshes; the most important being a section of
the Rovno-Vilna railroad; two others of special importance to the
Russian retreat were the Brest-Litovsk-Pinsk-Gomel and the
Ivangorod-Lublin-Cholm-Kovel-Kieff road. The Brest-Litovsk-Minsk
railroad also passes in its greatest part through the outlying
sections of the Pripet Marshes. The effect of these swamp lands on
the Russian retreat and the German advance, of course, was twofold:
it increased the difficulty of the Russian retreat, throwing at the
same time very serious obstacles in the way of the advancing
Germans.

To the southward, and in a region very similar in all its
characteristics, is the Volhynian triangle of fortresses: Lutsk,
Dubno, and Rovno. Here too, during the fighting around these three
places, the Russian and German armies had to contend with tremendous
difficulties, which were caused chiefly by the fact that this part of
the country, with the exception of a few sections, was almost
impassable. This fact, undoubtedly, was primarily responsible for the
decision of the Russian Government to locate these three powerful
fortresses at that particular point, because the very difficulties
which nature had provided became valuable aids to a strong defense
against an invasion of Russian territory by Austro-Hungarian troops
from the south.

The fortresses of Lutsk and Dubno date with their beginning as far
back as 1878, at which time they were built according to the plans of
the Russian General Todleben. A little later the fortifications of
Rovno were added to this group, and one of the strongest triangles of
Russia's fortifications was formed thereby. The sides of this triangle
measure thirty, twenty-five, and forty miles respectively. The
longest of these is the line between Lutsk and Rovno, with its back
toward the Pripet Marshes. Of the three fortresses Rovno is