Thus, the rapids hinder Dnieper navigation to this day, and not least for the reason that the insurance companies will not insure vessels for the rapids section. For this reason, the river fleet of the Dnieper is separated into two parts. Above the rapids (in 1900) 208 steamboats and 1002 other ships, below the rapids (together with the inlets of the Boh) 148 steamboats and 1203 other ships were plying. The number of steamboats increased threefold above the rapids and doubled below the rapids during the last sixteen years of the last century. The total horse power in 1900 was over 16,000. In 1906 the number of steamers of the Dnieper region was 382, the number of other ships 2218.
The Dnieper ships, propelled by sails and oars, which carry lumber, grain, fruit and other goods, are of various types. The largest are called "honchaki," and have a tonnage of up to 1400; then come the "barzi" and "barki" (900—1300 tons), "berlini" (800—1140 tons), which are the most useful, "baidaki" (650 tons), "trembaki," "laibi," "dubi" (130—160 tons), "lodki" (80 tons), "galari" (50 tons), and "chaiki" (30 tons). The tonnage of the river fleet of the Dnieper (not counting steamers), in 1900, was approximately 500,000 tons, hence not much less than the tonnage of the present Austro-Hungarian merchant-marine.
Besides this, the Dnieper and its tributaries are navigated by a great number of rafts. In 1910 the number of them was 15,676.
Of the river harbors of the Dnieper system, Kherson carries on the greatest exchange of goods (10 million q. in 1910). Then follow Kiev (5.3 million q.), Katerinoslav (3.1 million q.), Cherkassi (2.1 million q.), Niznodniprovsk (1 million q.), Chernihiv (0.6 million q.), and Pinsk (0.5 million q.).
Navigation on the Don, as a result of the small volume of water, is much slighter than the Dnieper navigation, despite the absence of rapids. In 1900, the number of steamboats on the Don was 189, with 10,000 horse- power (in 1906 it was 382); the number of other ships 488, with 200,000 tonnage (in 1906 only 471 ships). The main riverharbor is Rostiv, which handles goods to the amount of 7.5 million q. annually.
A good deal smaller still is the navigation of the Dniester. Here, in 1900, there were only 9 steamers, with 200 horsepower (16 steamers in 1906), and 187 ships of other kinds with a tonnage of 22,000 tons (277 of them in 1906). The harbors of the main stream are Benderi (handles 0.7 million q. of goods) and Maiaki (0.5 million q.). On the Kuban River 69 steamers (counting in those of the Kura) and 131 other ships plied in 1906.
In general, river navigation in the Ukraine is on a very moderate scale. The negligence of the Russian Government and the low grade of culture limit the development of Ukrainian interior navigation. Thru the regulation of the Dnieper rapids and the connection of the river systems of the Dnieper and Dniester with the Baltic waters, by means of practicable canals, the waterways of the Ukraine could attain a wonderful importance.
Having come to the end of our description of Ukrainian traffic, we must still devote some attention to Ukrainian sea-navigation. Its present condition is as lamentable as the general condition of Ukrainian traffic. Of course, there is no doubt that the Black Sea has many qualities unfavorable to the development of navigation — its seclusion, the lack of good harbors, and an abundance of dangerous storms. Yet, what are these disadvantages against modern engineering? To assign all the blame to the low grade of Russian industry, as the Russian publicists are in the habit of doing, will not do. The causes of the slight development of Pontian navigation should be sought in the low cultural conditions of the ruling Russian nation and in the indolence of the government, which is not properly encouraging this navigation. The Russian steamers do not enjoy a good reputation on the Black Sea. Pontian coastwise navigation, which at the beginning of the 19th Century had a splendid start, and was carried on predominantly by Ukrainians, has not been able to develop properly under the heavy fist of the government. Today, conditions on the Black Sea are such, that the transportation of a unit by weight of goods from one Pontian harbor to another, costs just as much as the transportation of the same unit from the same port to England.