MAP OF THE BORYSTHENES The Dnieper River

By Guillaume le Vasseur de Beauplan, military architect to the King of Poland and Sweden. Engraved by Willem Hondius, Gdansk, 1650.

A two-part map illustrating the lower course of the Dnieper River. It highlights the geography between the Boh and Dnieper rivers, including the cataracts (rapids) and the region of the Cossacks.

Kobiljak.
In this small town, which is surrounded by a rampart and trench and situated on the bank of the Dnieper, lives the Lord of that land.

Course of the Dnieper from Chortiza to the Black Sea.
Through this tract, the water of the river, intercepted by islands and rocks and divided into many channels, is gathered again and runs with great force through what is almost a single canal until the Sea.

ABOUT THE COSSACKS.
The Kozacy or Cossacks are inhabitants of the Dnieper around the cataracts. A warlike and hardy people, who live their lives under the empire of the King of Poland. They often struggle for the defense of their freedom against the Turks and Tartars, and sometimes even against the Poles themselves. These men are of tall stature, strong limbs, and most apt for enduring labor.