Of the great region drained by the Danube, only the Carpathian country of the sources of the Theiss, Sereth, and Pryt lie within Ukrainian boundaries. The Theiss is formed by the junction of two source-rivers near the Svidovez and the Chornohora, and collects all the rivers of the Ukrainian country belonging to Hungary — the Visheva and Isa on the left, the Torez, Talabor, Velika Rika, Berzava and Bodrochka, which consists of five sourcerivers (the Latoritza, Uz, Laboretz, Tepla and Ondava). All these rivers of the Hungarian-Ukrainian mountain country break their difficult way in deep, picturesque passes, thru forest-covered mountain chains. Innumerable rafts carry the trunks of the fallen Carpathian giants into the treeless plains of Hungary. Here, too, the rivers suddenly lose their mountain character; their currents become sluggish, their waters turbid, their banks swampy.
Of the Sereth and its tributaries, the Sochava and Moldava, only the sources belong to Ukrainian national territory. On the other hand, a considerable part of the Prut country lies within it. The Prut River rises at the Hoverla, where it forms a beautiful waterfall along the crater walls. Then it flows in a picturesque defile toward the north, forms another waterfall at Yaremche, then immediately leaves the mountains, uniting in the sub- Carpathian hill-country with the roaring Cheremosh, which also rises in two source-rivers on the slopes of the Black Mountains and flows in a deeply-cut meandering valley thru the beautiful Hutzul country. In the sub- Carpathian country the Prut has a wide, flat valley, taken up in places by marsh meadows. The river winds down the wide valley in countless twists, forms side branches and old river beds, and reaches the Danube in the midst of liman-like lakes and bogs, not far from the swampy delta. Outside of the mountains, the Prut receives only insignificant tributaries of small volume. Between the Danube and the Dniester we see only a few miserable little steppe rivers, emptying into salty or bracken liman lakes (e. g., the Yalpukh and the Kunduk Rivers). #
The important Dniester River attains a length of over 1300 km., and possesses the greatest variety of distinct sections of river of all the Ukrainian streams. It originates in the High Beskid, near the village of Vovche, as a very energetic, wild creek. In a defile it advances into the sub-Carpathian hill-country, where it has deposited great masses of rubble. The mountain stream changes rapidly into a lowland stream and forms great swamps in the Dniester Plain, which, in high-water time, are converted into large river lakes. From the left bank, the Dniester here receives the muddy Vereshitza (from the Rostoche), which forms many ponds, from Western Podolia, the Hnila Lipa. All the remaining tributaries of this section of the Dnieper come from the Carpathians, on the left the Strviaz (Strivihor), on the right the Bistritza, the mighty meandering river Striy with the Opir, and the Svicha (with the Misunka). All these rivers are mountain streams, flow in beautiful defiles, and deposit great masses of rubble on the verge of the Carpathians. Beginning at the delta of the Svicha, the Dniester Plain becomes a wide, flat-bottomed valley, in which the river flows along in great bends and receives the Limnitza and both the Bistritzas from the Carpathians. Near Nizniv the banks approach each other very closely and the Dniester enters a yar (canon), not leaving its steep sides until near Tiraspil. The Podolian tributaries of the Dniester on the left side, the Zolota Lipa, Stripa, Sereth, Zbruch, Smotrich, Ushitza, Murakhva, Yahorlik, roll their turbid waters in similar cafions toward the Dniester. The Bessarabian tributaries, on the contrary, have wide, swampy valleys. All these plateau rivers are slight in volume of water,altho some of them attain considerable length. Only in the spring, when the snow-blanket melts, do their waters overflow the banks. In summer the water-level becomes very low, and the water of the early summer showers is stored up in the many ponds, which are found in large numbers, in the country about the sources of these rivers. All these plateau rivers are not even navigable for rafts; even the little fishers' boat can hardly find its way along the muddy shoals.