Chapter Five.

Chapter Five.The Metals found in Mines.The chief object of the travellers was to inquire into the mode in which mines in different countries are worked, the causes of accidents, and the best method of preventing them. Their knowledge was superior to that which most of our readers are likely to possess, and it will be necessary, in order to understand their proceedings, to glance at the mining districts of the world, and to describe some of the principal mines among them.No country possesses, within the same area, so large an amount of varied mineral wealth as Great Britain. Besides the seventeen coal districts of Great Britain, we find in Scotland numerous lead mines in the clay slate mountains on the borders of Lanarkshire and Dumfriesshire. In the north of England, with Alston Moor as the centre, along the borders of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham, are extensive veins of lead. Cumberland, the north of Wales, and the Isle of Anglesey produce copper ore, as also mines of lead and magnesia, with many other metals,—zinc, arsenic, cobalt, and bismuth. Iron in large quantities is found in South Wales, South Staffordshire, and in the Scottish coal-fields, where the ironstone appears in abundance alternating with layers of coal and other strata, and is generally won from the same pit as that from which the coal is extracted.Besides coal, Ireland contains mines of copper and lead, found in the slate and limestone ranges, contiguous to the sea coast. Crossing from thence to Spain, we arrive in a country rich in mines, though, owing to its distracted state, for many years greatly neglected. Here lead is found in large quantities in the mountain chains.Quicksilver is abundant from extensive veins of cinnabar in the province of Mancha. In Galicia tin has been produced from very early times. Iron ore is very abundant, and silver mines, for many centuries abandoned, are now again being reworked. Gold was at one period discovered in large quantities, but is supposed to be almost exhausted.The most important coal-field of France is round Étienne, near Lyons. Mining operations are also carried on in Brittany and the Vosges. Although possessing less mineral wealth than England, the French were far in advance of us in regard to the management of their mines. Germany possessed the chief school for scientific mining. Its principal metalliferous sites are the Hartz Mountains, on the borders of Hanover and Prussia, and the Erzgebirge or Ore Mountains, which separate Saxony from Bohemia. They yield silver, copper, lead, iron, tin, and cobalt.The most prolific sites of the precious metals in Europe are possessed by Austria. The Styrian Alps furnish a vast amount of iron. The province of Carniola supplies quicksilver. Hungary and Transylvania, copper, lead, antimony, and iron. The most extensive works are found in the neighbourhood of the town of Cremnitz and Schemnitz. The veins in this region obtain the enormous dimensions of from 20 to 200 feet in width. The extensive forests of oak, pine, and beech which clothe the hills supply fuel for the numerous smelting works, while water, carefully collected into reservoirs, moves the required machinery. The whole of the drainage of the mines is collected in a receptacle 600 feet below the surface, from whence it is conveyed under a lofty mountain ridge by a magnificent gallery twelve miles in length.Norway and Sweden possess extensive mines of iron and copper, as also silver. The latter country furnishes the best iron in the world, and it is much used in England for the manufacture of steel.Passing eastward to Russia, we find the rich mines of the Ural Mountains, which divide Europe from Asia, and then on to the Altai chain on the southern frontier of Siberia, we meet with rich mines of gold and silver, and other valuable metals. On the European side of the Ural there is a deposit of copper sand-ore, extending over a district of 480 miles in length, by 280 in breadth. The mineral wealth of Asiatic Russia is far greater. It consists of copper ores; iron cropping out at the surface, gold and platinum. The Altai Mountains especially produce silver, and some gold, with lead and copper ores. The silver mines of this region were worked at a very early period, as is proved by the discovery of an excavation a thousand feet in length, from which a stone sphinx was dug up, corroborating a statement of Herodotus that the Scythians possessed mines of gold and silver, which, according to his account, were guarded by monsters and griffins. Baron Humboldt supposes that he referred to the bones of elephants, and other gigantic animals, discovered at the present day in the steppes between the Ural and Altai chains.Crossing the Atlantic to America, we find vast quantities of the precious metals in the mountains of the Brazils and along the whole range of the Andes. In the province of Minasgeraes, gold is obtained from subterranean excavations, as also by washing the surface soil, when diamonds are also found. Auriferous deposits exist in the deep valleys among the mountains of Chili, and in Peru and Bolivia are immense veins of silver ore. High up on the Andes are the mines of Pasco and Potosi; while in the same region, quicksilver, copper, lead, tin, and other metals have been discovered. The copper mines being nearest the sea, are generally worked, the ore being sent to Swansea.The lofty plateau of Mexico in North America has, from the first, been celebrated for its rich silver mines, of which there have altogether existed no less than three thousand, but the larger number of these have long been unworked. The gold mines of California and of Australia are too well known to require mention; but we must not forget the rock oil, concealed for ages in the North American continent. Both the United States and Canada now yield an abundant supply.The number of metals discovered beneath the surface, including the metallic basis of the earth and alkalies, amounts to forty-two, but metals, commonly so-called, number only twenty-nine. These are platinum, gold, tungsten, mercury, lead, palladium, silver, bismuth, uranium, vanadium, copper, cadmium, cobalt, arsenic, nickel, iron, molybdenum, tin, zinc, antimony, tellurium, manganese, tatiaum, chromium, columbium, rhodium, iridium, osmium, cerium. Many of these, however, are so rare, that as yet they are of no practical use. Gold has been known from the earliest ages, and is found in scales, threads, grains, and rolled masses, or nuggets, which latter have been discovered in California and Australia weighing from twenty to thirty pounds, but the largest of all met with was in Asia, on the southern side of the Urals.Large quantities of gold were discovered on a marshy plain which had been thoroughly turned over, when it was resolved to take down the buildings in which the gold was washed, and under the very corner of one of them a lump was found, weighing no less than ninety-six and a-half pounds troy, and valued at 4000 pounds. Gold has been found in Scotland, and in the county of Wicklow, Ireland, where about 10,000 pounds worth was picked up in the bed of a river by the inhabitants, before the Government became aware of its existence. Gold is so malleable that a single grain can be beaten out to form a gold leaf covering a surface of fifty-six square inches, and it is so ductile that the same quantity may be drawn into a wire 500 feet in length. Silver is found embedded in various rocks, where it occurs in veins, assuming arborescent or thread-like forms, and occasionally appearing in large masses. The largest mass found in Europe was brought from Kongsberg, in Norway, weighing upwards of 560 pounds, but another, won from the mines of Peru, was said to weigh 800 pounds. The celebrated mines of Potosi, 10,000 feet above the sea, were discovered in 1545 by an Indian who, when chasing a deer, laid hold of a shrub to assist in his ascent; it came up by the roots, to which he found attached a quantity of glittering particles, which he at once knew to be silver. Veins of silver have been discovered in England and Scotland, but generally mixed with lead.Iron, the most useful of all metals, is found in large quantities in England, in many parts of Europe, and the United States. At one time Sussex was full of iron mines, the furnaces being fed with charcoal, until so extensive was the destruction of the woods and forests that the Government interfered, and placed restrictions on the consumption of the timber.On the discovery of the present method of smelting with pit coal, the works, which at one time numbered 140 in Sussex alone, were abandoned, and hop-fields now cover the ground where furnaces once blazed.Copper ranks next to iron in utility. In Cornwall there are upwards of 100 copper mines. It derives its name from the island of Cyprus, where it was first obtained by the Greeks. It is employed pure for numerous purposes, and is also mixed with other metals to form bell metal, speculum metal, for optical purposes, and German silver.Lead occurs in veins most plentifully in mountain limestone districts, and usually contains some portion of silver. There are lead mines in various parts of England, as well as in Spain, Saxony, and in Bohemia, and some very rich lead mines have of late years been worked in the United States.Tin is found in Cornwall in larger quantities than in any other part of the world. It is generally discovered in the alluvial soil of low grounds, where it is known as stream tin, because it has been washed by the agency of water from the rocks in which it was originally embedded mixed with sand and gravel. Tin is also found in the island of Banca, in the Indian Archipelago, in Bohemia and Saxony, Chili and Mexico.Mercury is a rare metal. The richest mines are at Almaden, a small town of La Mancha, in Spain. It is also found in Austria, China, and Peru, and a few other places. It is sometimes found in globules, but it is generally procured from one of its ores, cinnabar, a sulphate of the metal, of a red colour, and indeed identical with the richly prepared paint vermilion. A thousand workmen are employed in the Spanish mines, above or under ground. It freezes at an exceedingly low temperature, and was found solid during midwinter by the traveller Pallas. Of the other metals, some used as medicines, or pigments, or to form alloys, we have not time now to speak.

The chief object of the travellers was to inquire into the mode in which mines in different countries are worked, the causes of accidents, and the best method of preventing them. Their knowledge was superior to that which most of our readers are likely to possess, and it will be necessary, in order to understand their proceedings, to glance at the mining districts of the world, and to describe some of the principal mines among them.

No country possesses, within the same area, so large an amount of varied mineral wealth as Great Britain. Besides the seventeen coal districts of Great Britain, we find in Scotland numerous lead mines in the clay slate mountains on the borders of Lanarkshire and Dumfriesshire. In the north of England, with Alston Moor as the centre, along the borders of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham, are extensive veins of lead. Cumberland, the north of Wales, and the Isle of Anglesey produce copper ore, as also mines of lead and magnesia, with many other metals,—zinc, arsenic, cobalt, and bismuth. Iron in large quantities is found in South Wales, South Staffordshire, and in the Scottish coal-fields, where the ironstone appears in abundance alternating with layers of coal and other strata, and is generally won from the same pit as that from which the coal is extracted.

Besides coal, Ireland contains mines of copper and lead, found in the slate and limestone ranges, contiguous to the sea coast. Crossing from thence to Spain, we arrive in a country rich in mines, though, owing to its distracted state, for many years greatly neglected. Here lead is found in large quantities in the mountain chains.

Quicksilver is abundant from extensive veins of cinnabar in the province of Mancha. In Galicia tin has been produced from very early times. Iron ore is very abundant, and silver mines, for many centuries abandoned, are now again being reworked. Gold was at one period discovered in large quantities, but is supposed to be almost exhausted.

The most important coal-field of France is round Étienne, near Lyons. Mining operations are also carried on in Brittany and the Vosges. Although possessing less mineral wealth than England, the French were far in advance of us in regard to the management of their mines. Germany possessed the chief school for scientific mining. Its principal metalliferous sites are the Hartz Mountains, on the borders of Hanover and Prussia, and the Erzgebirge or Ore Mountains, which separate Saxony from Bohemia. They yield silver, copper, lead, iron, tin, and cobalt.

The most prolific sites of the precious metals in Europe are possessed by Austria. The Styrian Alps furnish a vast amount of iron. The province of Carniola supplies quicksilver. Hungary and Transylvania, copper, lead, antimony, and iron. The most extensive works are found in the neighbourhood of the town of Cremnitz and Schemnitz. The veins in this region obtain the enormous dimensions of from 20 to 200 feet in width. The extensive forests of oak, pine, and beech which clothe the hills supply fuel for the numerous smelting works, while water, carefully collected into reservoirs, moves the required machinery. The whole of the drainage of the mines is collected in a receptacle 600 feet below the surface, from whence it is conveyed under a lofty mountain ridge by a magnificent gallery twelve miles in length.

Norway and Sweden possess extensive mines of iron and copper, as also silver. The latter country furnishes the best iron in the world, and it is much used in England for the manufacture of steel.

Passing eastward to Russia, we find the rich mines of the Ural Mountains, which divide Europe from Asia, and then on to the Altai chain on the southern frontier of Siberia, we meet with rich mines of gold and silver, and other valuable metals. On the European side of the Ural there is a deposit of copper sand-ore, extending over a district of 480 miles in length, by 280 in breadth. The mineral wealth of Asiatic Russia is far greater. It consists of copper ores; iron cropping out at the surface, gold and platinum. The Altai Mountains especially produce silver, and some gold, with lead and copper ores. The silver mines of this region were worked at a very early period, as is proved by the discovery of an excavation a thousand feet in length, from which a stone sphinx was dug up, corroborating a statement of Herodotus that the Scythians possessed mines of gold and silver, which, according to his account, were guarded by monsters and griffins. Baron Humboldt supposes that he referred to the bones of elephants, and other gigantic animals, discovered at the present day in the steppes between the Ural and Altai chains.

Crossing the Atlantic to America, we find vast quantities of the precious metals in the mountains of the Brazils and along the whole range of the Andes. In the province of Minasgeraes, gold is obtained from subterranean excavations, as also by washing the surface soil, when diamonds are also found. Auriferous deposits exist in the deep valleys among the mountains of Chili, and in Peru and Bolivia are immense veins of silver ore. High up on the Andes are the mines of Pasco and Potosi; while in the same region, quicksilver, copper, lead, tin, and other metals have been discovered. The copper mines being nearest the sea, are generally worked, the ore being sent to Swansea.

The lofty plateau of Mexico in North America has, from the first, been celebrated for its rich silver mines, of which there have altogether existed no less than three thousand, but the larger number of these have long been unworked. The gold mines of California and of Australia are too well known to require mention; but we must not forget the rock oil, concealed for ages in the North American continent. Both the United States and Canada now yield an abundant supply.

The number of metals discovered beneath the surface, including the metallic basis of the earth and alkalies, amounts to forty-two, but metals, commonly so-called, number only twenty-nine. These are platinum, gold, tungsten, mercury, lead, palladium, silver, bismuth, uranium, vanadium, copper, cadmium, cobalt, arsenic, nickel, iron, molybdenum, tin, zinc, antimony, tellurium, manganese, tatiaum, chromium, columbium, rhodium, iridium, osmium, cerium. Many of these, however, are so rare, that as yet they are of no practical use. Gold has been known from the earliest ages, and is found in scales, threads, grains, and rolled masses, or nuggets, which latter have been discovered in California and Australia weighing from twenty to thirty pounds, but the largest of all met with was in Asia, on the southern side of the Urals.

Large quantities of gold were discovered on a marshy plain which had been thoroughly turned over, when it was resolved to take down the buildings in which the gold was washed, and under the very corner of one of them a lump was found, weighing no less than ninety-six and a-half pounds troy, and valued at 4000 pounds. Gold has been found in Scotland, and in the county of Wicklow, Ireland, where about 10,000 pounds worth was picked up in the bed of a river by the inhabitants, before the Government became aware of its existence. Gold is so malleable that a single grain can be beaten out to form a gold leaf covering a surface of fifty-six square inches, and it is so ductile that the same quantity may be drawn into a wire 500 feet in length. Silver is found embedded in various rocks, where it occurs in veins, assuming arborescent or thread-like forms, and occasionally appearing in large masses. The largest mass found in Europe was brought from Kongsberg, in Norway, weighing upwards of 560 pounds, but another, won from the mines of Peru, was said to weigh 800 pounds. The celebrated mines of Potosi, 10,000 feet above the sea, were discovered in 1545 by an Indian who, when chasing a deer, laid hold of a shrub to assist in his ascent; it came up by the roots, to which he found attached a quantity of glittering particles, which he at once knew to be silver. Veins of silver have been discovered in England and Scotland, but generally mixed with lead.

Iron, the most useful of all metals, is found in large quantities in England, in many parts of Europe, and the United States. At one time Sussex was full of iron mines, the furnaces being fed with charcoal, until so extensive was the destruction of the woods and forests that the Government interfered, and placed restrictions on the consumption of the timber.

On the discovery of the present method of smelting with pit coal, the works, which at one time numbered 140 in Sussex alone, were abandoned, and hop-fields now cover the ground where furnaces once blazed.

Copper ranks next to iron in utility. In Cornwall there are upwards of 100 copper mines. It derives its name from the island of Cyprus, where it was first obtained by the Greeks. It is employed pure for numerous purposes, and is also mixed with other metals to form bell metal, speculum metal, for optical purposes, and German silver.

Lead occurs in veins most plentifully in mountain limestone districts, and usually contains some portion of silver. There are lead mines in various parts of England, as well as in Spain, Saxony, and in Bohemia, and some very rich lead mines have of late years been worked in the United States.

Tin is found in Cornwall in larger quantities than in any other part of the world. It is generally discovered in the alluvial soil of low grounds, where it is known as stream tin, because it has been washed by the agency of water from the rocks in which it was originally embedded mixed with sand and gravel. Tin is also found in the island of Banca, in the Indian Archipelago, in Bohemia and Saxony, Chili and Mexico.

Mercury is a rare metal. The richest mines are at Almaden, a small town of La Mancha, in Spain. It is also found in Austria, China, and Peru, and a few other places. It is sometimes found in globules, but it is generally procured from one of its ores, cinnabar, a sulphate of the metal, of a red colour, and indeed identical with the richly prepared paint vermilion. A thousand workmen are employed in the Spanish mines, above or under ground. It freezes at an exceedingly low temperature, and was found solid during midwinter by the traveller Pallas. Of the other metals, some used as medicines, or pigments, or to form alloys, we have not time now to speak.

Chapter Six.Salt and Quicksilver Mines.The object of the travellers was not only to inspect coal mines, but to view the wonders of the subterranean world. It is impossible to do more than give a very brief account of the places they visited. They had found their way to the Carpathian Mountains, in order to visit the salt mines of Wieliczka, a small town to the south of Cracow. The valley in which the mine is situated is fruitful and picturesque. Descending by a staircase of thirty feet or so, through a bed of clay, they arrived at the commencement of the level galleries, which branch off in all directions. Overhead was a ceiling of solid salt, under foot a floor of salt, and on either side grey walls of salt, sparkling here and there with minute crystals. The guide led them on through a bewildering maze of galleries. Now they entered a grand hall, now descended by staircases to another series of vaulted chambers. On every side was solid salt, except where stout piers of hewn timber had been built up to support the roof, or wooden bridges had been thrown over some vast chasm. As they descended, the air became dry and agreeable, and the saline walls more pure and brilliant. One hall, 108 feet in length, resembled a Grecian theatre, the places where the blocks had been taken out in regular layers representing seats for the spectators. Here and there were gangs of workmen, some labouring at the solid floor, others trundling wheel-barrows full of cubes of salt.Soon after entering, they reached the chapel of Saint Anthony, excavated in the times of the Byzantines, supported by columns, with altar, crucifix, and life-size statues of saints. They appeared, from being coated with smoke, to be of black marble, but Mark, putting his tongue to the nose of one of the saints, discovered it to be of salt. Many of the saints, however, were disappearing before the damp, which enters in that higher region from the upper world. The heads of some, and the limbs of others had already fallen.The guide had come provided with some Bengal lights, one of which he kindled on the altar, bringing into light this strange temple; then, as the flame burnt out, the whole vanished as if by magic. Passing across a wooden bridge, resting on piers of salt, they entered a vast irregular vault in which were two obelisks of salt, to commemorate the visit of Francis the First and his empress. As they reached the floor, a boy ran along the bridge above with a burning Bengal light, which threw flashes of blue lustre on the obelisks, the scarred walls, the vast arches, the entrance to the deeper halls, and the lofty roof, fretted with the picks of the workmen. Another hall was entered, with cavernous tunnels at the farther end, passing through one of which, they embarked upon a lake in a heavy, square boat, and entered a gloomy passage, over the entrance to which was inscribed, in salt letters, “Good luck to you.” Midway in the tunnel the halls at either end were suddenly illuminated, and a crash, as of a hundred cannon bellowing through the vaults, shook the air in such a way that the boat had not ceased to tremble when they landed in the farther hall. The noise was produced by a single gun.A tablet, on which was inscribed, “A hearty welcome,” greeted them on landing. At a depth of 450 feet their journey ceased, although they were but half-way to the bottom. About 1500 men are employed in the mines, who labour only six hours at a time, and live in the upper world. The blocks are first marked out on the surface by a series of grooves. One side is then deepened to the required thickness, and wedges being inserted under the block it is soon split off. This salt bed occupies a space of 9000 feet in length and 4000 in width, and consists of five successive stages, separated from each other by intervening strata of from 100 to 150 feet in thickness, and reaching to the depth of 1500 feet.More than ten years ago a serious accident, which threatened the destruction of the mine, occurred. While boring, to obtain some potash salts, through an aquiferous stratum, a spring was tapped, which poured an immense quantity of water into the lower galleries. The inhabitants feared not only the ruin of the mine, but the falling in of their houses from the melting of the salt pillars; but fortunately the inundation was confined to the lower galleries, and a powerful steam-engine being set to work, the water was again pumped out, and the spring blocked up. However, so vast are the excavations that it would have taken many years to fill them.Contrasting with the bright glitter of the salt mines of Wieliczka are the gloomy slate quarries of Saint Peter’s Mount, near Maestricht, in the Netherlands, the most extensive in the world. For centuries they have been worked, both for building and manuring, and probably benefiting the agriculturist more than the architect. In spring and summer the labourers occupy themselves in their fields above ground, and not until winter approaches do they begin to burrow in the entrails of the earth.The two travellers followed a trusty guide through those endless passages, which constantly crossed each other, either to the left hand or to the right. Darkness to be felt, silence profound, reigned everywhere, even the human voice seemed to die away without awakening an echo—the only sound to be heard being an occasional dropping of water from the roof into a small pool below.Suddenly the guide extinguished his torch, when, bold as they were, and well accustomed to subterranean regions, a sensation of awe crept over them. Their first impulse was to feel for the wall, for in vain their eyes sought a ray of light, as in vain, also, their ears listened for the slightest sound.Neither spoke for some minutes, and they experienced a sensation of relief when the guide relit his torch. Numbers of hapless beings have been lost in these trackless galleries, and here and there are inscriptions on the walls, notifying that a corpse was found on the ground below. One poor workman lost his way, and roamed about until his torch died out of his burnt fingers. The lamp of another was overturned, and he in vain endeavoured to find his way out of some remote gallery.A French geologist while exploring the quarry discovered a corpse shrivelled to a mummy, the hat lying close to his head, a rosary in his hand. It was conjectured to be the body of a workman who had died more than half-a-century before, the dry air and the absence of insects explaining the preservation of the corpse. Two centuries ago four Franciscan monks resolved to construct a chapel in honour of their tutelar saint. In order to be able to retrace their steps, they took with them a large ball of twine, leaving one end secured to a spot where people were constantly passing. Their twine unwound, they at length reached a vast hall, probably not visited for many ages. Near the entrance one of them drew a sketch of the convent, and wrote beneath it the date of their discovery. When about to return, what was their horror to find that their twine had snapped. They must have searched for it in vain, for never more did they return.At last the prior, alarmed at their absence, sent parties to explore the excavations, but so vast were they even then, that seven days elapsed before the corpses of the hapless friars were found, their faces downwards, and their hands folded as if in prayer.During the siege of Maestricht by the French Republic, a party of the besiegers occupied the quarries. The Austrians who garrisoned Fort Pierre at the back of the mountain, formed a plan to drive them out, and tunnelling made their way towards their enemies. Although they marched silently along, their torches betrayed them, and the besiegers pouring in a volley of musketry killed a large number, made prisoners of some, and drove the rest into the depths of the cavern.On the banks of the Nile are several prodigious stone quarries, from which the cities of ancient Egypt were built. Perhaps the largest is that of Haggar Silsibis. Here passages, broad as streets, with walls fifty or sixty feet high, now stretching straight forward, now curved, extend from the east bank of the river into the heart of the mountain, where halls have been hollowed out large enough to contain the Roman Colosseum, the rough hewn irregular roof resting upon immense square or many-sided pillars, some of which are eighty to a hundred feet in circumference. Here numerous blocks, already completely separated from the rock, appear ready to be transported; the labours of the quarry-men having suddenly been arrested by the invasion of the Conqueror, who overthrew the priests of Isis.One of the most curious quarries of ancient days is found near Syracuse. The greater portion is a hundred feet below the level of the earth, and of vast extent, the whole hewn out of rock as hard as marble, the blocks thus obtained being employed in building Syracuse. It is converted by the monks, who have a convent above it, into a garden—a romantic and beautiful spot, as no wind can touch it. It is filled with a variety of vines and shrubs and fruit trees, among which oranges, citrons, pomegranates, and figs grow luxuriantly, and obtain an unusual size. Sicily produces sulphur in large quantities—the chief sulphur pits being near Girgenti. Most of the inhabitants are employed in them, to the neglect of the rich soil of their island; they labour away in the most primitive manner, pickaxe and spade being the only implements employed.When a promising vein is struck, the miners set to work, and filling their baskets with the sulphur, carry it out and throw it into large heaps of a conical shape. These mounds are covered over with moist clay, some openings being left for the escape of smoke; the bottom is then ignited, and the matted sulphur flows out through grooves into pans, where it congeals in solid masses. The passages to the mines are so narrow, that persons can with difficulty pass each other; they then expand into high vaults, the roofs of which are ornamented with beautiful crystals of celestine and gypsum. On account of the excessive heat, the workmen labour in a nearly nude state, their dark brown skins sprinkled with light yellow sulphur dust, making them look savage and strange in the extreme. Towards the end of the last century, the sulphur mine of Sommatin caught fire, the conflagration causing the complete abandonment of the pit. For two years it raged, until the mountain, suddenly bursting asunder, a stream of molten sulphur gushed forth, and precipitated itself into the neighbouring river. The mass of sulphur, amounting to upwards of 40,000 tons, was thus obtained by the owners of the former pit, who had believed themselves ruined.There are sulphur mines in different parts of the world, the largest of which are in Japan, but too remote to be worked with advantage. Gypsum, or sulphate of lime, better known as Plaster of Paris, is found in prodigious quantities at Montmartre, close to that city; but as it can readily be worked without having recourse to subterranean excavation, it need not be mentioned further.When gypsum assumes an opaque, consistent, and semi-transparent form, it is known as Alabaster. The largest quarries are near Volterra, in Italy. Here the whole population have been employed for centuries, either in cutting it out of the mine, or in converting it into elegant forms of great variety, which are sent to all parts of the world.Great Britain possesses inexhaustible alabaster mines in the neighbourhood of Derby. Some is worked on the spot, but the finest blocks are sent to the studios of sculptors.Quicksilver, or mercury, is among the rarest of metals. The only two important mines in Europe are at Almaden, in Spain, and Idria, in Carniola. The former, situated on the Sierra Morena, was for many years farmed off to the Fuggers of Augsburg, but are now worked either by government or private companies. This was one of the most interesting spots visited by the two travellers.Entering a spacious tunnel, completely walled with solid masonry, they advanced into the very bosom of the mountain. Here galleries branch out in various directions, hewn in the slate forming the matrix of the vein. One of them leads to a vast circular hall, called the Boveda de Santa Clara. At one time a horse gin was employed in this hall for raising the ore, but at present this work is performed through a shaft descending to the lowest level of the mine. Convenient steps lead down from another gallery to the first working level, and thence the descent is by short ladders to deeper storeys. The galleries are of a sufficient height to allow a person to work upright. The upper ones are dry, but the lower are humid and damp, although the water is easily raised by hand-pumps from storey to storey into a large receiver, which is emptied by a steam-engine. So extremely rich are the veins, that although worked for many centuries, the mine has scarcely yet reached a depth of 1140 feet. The present quantity raised annually amounts to eighty-thousand hundredweight of pure mercury. The ore known as cinnabar is of a dark-red colour, and gives a beautiful appearance to the galleries. Sometimes when a hewer detaches a block of ore with his pick mass of quicksilver, the size of a pigeon’s egg, rolls out, and leaping along the floor, divides into thousands of small drops. Owing to the imperfect apparatus with which the ore is sublimated, nearly one-half is lost. Formerly criminals only were employed in these mines. They were conducted at sunrise from prison by a subterranean passage into the mine, and compelled to toil on until the evening, when they were led back again to their dungeons. In a few years the greater number died, through inhaling the poisonous vapours of the mercury. Reduced to despair, a century and a-half ago, they set fire to the galleries, which, being then constructed of wood, were destroyed, and mining operations put a stop to for many years. Only free labourers are now employed, who are not allowed to work longer than six hours a-day. Most of these, however, die between the ages of thirty and forty, and those who exist longer are affected by palsy.The quicksilver mines of Idria were discovered upwards of three centuries ago by a peasant who had placed a tub under a spring issuing from the mountain side. On attempting to move it, he found it excessively heavy, and on examining the bottom he saw that it was partly full of a heavy liquid, shining like silver. Ignorant of the value of the substance, he had sense enough to take it to a goldsmith, without mentioning the place where he had found it. In course of time, however, a man named Anderlein, having bribed him, became master of the secret, and with several others began to work the mine. In the next century the Venetians drove out the Germans, but were finally compelled by the Emperor Maximilian to give it up, and he restored it to its rightful owners. The mine has since been worked by the State. Ingress to the mine can be obtained by descending a convenient flight of steps, with galleries running off here and there from landing-places, or by descending in a few minutes through a perpendicular shaft in one of the tubs by which the ore is raised. The galleries lead to the various storeys of the mine, the lowest of which is 145 fathoms beneath the surface. The vein itself descends to an unknown depth, and is horizontal, but its extent has not yet been measured. The ores being embedded in limestone of a loose nature, all the galleries had from the first to be supported by wooden props. The wood has, on several occasions caught fire, with disastrous results. Early in this century the labourers observed a thick smoke issuing from the deepest part of the mine. It rose higher and higher, spreading through the upper galleries, yet no fire was to be seen, nor sound of flames heard.Some of the workmen attempted to reach the scene of the fire, but were driven back by the dense and suffocating smoke, impregnated with vapours. Endeavours were made to smother the fire, but though the mine remained closed for five weeks, no sooner was it re-opened than the fire burst forth more furiously than at first. The howling of the flames ascending from the lowest depths of the pit awed the spectators, and the mercurial and sulphureous fumes arising from it threatened instant destruction to all who might approach. The director of the mine, as a last resource, came to the decision of flooding the works, and a river turned into the shaft ran down it for two days and three nights. At first no perceptible effect was produced, but on the second a terrific explosion shook the mountain as if an earthquake had taken place. The huts near the opening were blown to pieces, and even the stone houses on the slopes of the hill, fell with tremendous crashes. Water, however, gained the victory. Gradually the vapour dispersed, and after a few weeks the workmen were able to descend into the pit. They found, however, the galleries torn up, the vaulted roofs burst, and the stairs destroyed. It took two years to pump out the water, which, it is said, poisoned all the fish in the Idriza.High pay being offered to any who would venture in to collect the quicksilver, which had accumulated in considerable quantities, many, tempted by the bribe, made their way into the workings, but overcome by the mercurial vapours, several perished.The galleries have now been formed of stone, seven feet high and six feet broad, though some are still propped up with wood. They are of immense extent, amounting to no less than fifty miles. As late as 1846 another fire occurred in the wooden galleries, which was quenched by putting that part under water. The workmen labour in a tropical heat and an atmosphere full of deadly vapours. It is no wonder that a premature age overtakes many of them, and that young men are seen trembling in every limb, though it is said that those who survive their forty-fifth year may live on until they are sixty or seventy. To transport mercury, the greatest care is required. It is first packed in sacks of sheepskin, tanned with alum. The sack, being pressed and punched to ascertain if it is sound, is enclosed in a second skin. These are then placed in a small cask, and the cask again in a square box. Notwithstanding these precautions, as the sacks sometimes burst, the loss of the metal is great, and the mercury is now generally transported in large iron bottles, the stoppers being screwed down by means of a machine; in this condition, it is exported to England.

The object of the travellers was not only to inspect coal mines, but to view the wonders of the subterranean world. It is impossible to do more than give a very brief account of the places they visited. They had found their way to the Carpathian Mountains, in order to visit the salt mines of Wieliczka, a small town to the south of Cracow. The valley in which the mine is situated is fruitful and picturesque. Descending by a staircase of thirty feet or so, through a bed of clay, they arrived at the commencement of the level galleries, which branch off in all directions. Overhead was a ceiling of solid salt, under foot a floor of salt, and on either side grey walls of salt, sparkling here and there with minute crystals. The guide led them on through a bewildering maze of galleries. Now they entered a grand hall, now descended by staircases to another series of vaulted chambers. On every side was solid salt, except where stout piers of hewn timber had been built up to support the roof, or wooden bridges had been thrown over some vast chasm. As they descended, the air became dry and agreeable, and the saline walls more pure and brilliant. One hall, 108 feet in length, resembled a Grecian theatre, the places where the blocks had been taken out in regular layers representing seats for the spectators. Here and there were gangs of workmen, some labouring at the solid floor, others trundling wheel-barrows full of cubes of salt.

Soon after entering, they reached the chapel of Saint Anthony, excavated in the times of the Byzantines, supported by columns, with altar, crucifix, and life-size statues of saints. They appeared, from being coated with smoke, to be of black marble, but Mark, putting his tongue to the nose of one of the saints, discovered it to be of salt. Many of the saints, however, were disappearing before the damp, which enters in that higher region from the upper world. The heads of some, and the limbs of others had already fallen.

The guide had come provided with some Bengal lights, one of which he kindled on the altar, bringing into light this strange temple; then, as the flame burnt out, the whole vanished as if by magic. Passing across a wooden bridge, resting on piers of salt, they entered a vast irregular vault in which were two obelisks of salt, to commemorate the visit of Francis the First and his empress. As they reached the floor, a boy ran along the bridge above with a burning Bengal light, which threw flashes of blue lustre on the obelisks, the scarred walls, the vast arches, the entrance to the deeper halls, and the lofty roof, fretted with the picks of the workmen. Another hall was entered, with cavernous tunnels at the farther end, passing through one of which, they embarked upon a lake in a heavy, square boat, and entered a gloomy passage, over the entrance to which was inscribed, in salt letters, “Good luck to you.” Midway in the tunnel the halls at either end were suddenly illuminated, and a crash, as of a hundred cannon bellowing through the vaults, shook the air in such a way that the boat had not ceased to tremble when they landed in the farther hall. The noise was produced by a single gun.

A tablet, on which was inscribed, “A hearty welcome,” greeted them on landing. At a depth of 450 feet their journey ceased, although they were but half-way to the bottom. About 1500 men are employed in the mines, who labour only six hours at a time, and live in the upper world. The blocks are first marked out on the surface by a series of grooves. One side is then deepened to the required thickness, and wedges being inserted under the block it is soon split off. This salt bed occupies a space of 9000 feet in length and 4000 in width, and consists of five successive stages, separated from each other by intervening strata of from 100 to 150 feet in thickness, and reaching to the depth of 1500 feet.

More than ten years ago a serious accident, which threatened the destruction of the mine, occurred. While boring, to obtain some potash salts, through an aquiferous stratum, a spring was tapped, which poured an immense quantity of water into the lower galleries. The inhabitants feared not only the ruin of the mine, but the falling in of their houses from the melting of the salt pillars; but fortunately the inundation was confined to the lower galleries, and a powerful steam-engine being set to work, the water was again pumped out, and the spring blocked up. However, so vast are the excavations that it would have taken many years to fill them.

Contrasting with the bright glitter of the salt mines of Wieliczka are the gloomy slate quarries of Saint Peter’s Mount, near Maestricht, in the Netherlands, the most extensive in the world. For centuries they have been worked, both for building and manuring, and probably benefiting the agriculturist more than the architect. In spring and summer the labourers occupy themselves in their fields above ground, and not until winter approaches do they begin to burrow in the entrails of the earth.

The two travellers followed a trusty guide through those endless passages, which constantly crossed each other, either to the left hand or to the right. Darkness to be felt, silence profound, reigned everywhere, even the human voice seemed to die away without awakening an echo—the only sound to be heard being an occasional dropping of water from the roof into a small pool below.

Suddenly the guide extinguished his torch, when, bold as they were, and well accustomed to subterranean regions, a sensation of awe crept over them. Their first impulse was to feel for the wall, for in vain their eyes sought a ray of light, as in vain, also, their ears listened for the slightest sound.

Neither spoke for some minutes, and they experienced a sensation of relief when the guide relit his torch. Numbers of hapless beings have been lost in these trackless galleries, and here and there are inscriptions on the walls, notifying that a corpse was found on the ground below. One poor workman lost his way, and roamed about until his torch died out of his burnt fingers. The lamp of another was overturned, and he in vain endeavoured to find his way out of some remote gallery.

A French geologist while exploring the quarry discovered a corpse shrivelled to a mummy, the hat lying close to his head, a rosary in his hand. It was conjectured to be the body of a workman who had died more than half-a-century before, the dry air and the absence of insects explaining the preservation of the corpse. Two centuries ago four Franciscan monks resolved to construct a chapel in honour of their tutelar saint. In order to be able to retrace their steps, they took with them a large ball of twine, leaving one end secured to a spot where people were constantly passing. Their twine unwound, they at length reached a vast hall, probably not visited for many ages. Near the entrance one of them drew a sketch of the convent, and wrote beneath it the date of their discovery. When about to return, what was their horror to find that their twine had snapped. They must have searched for it in vain, for never more did they return.

At last the prior, alarmed at their absence, sent parties to explore the excavations, but so vast were they even then, that seven days elapsed before the corpses of the hapless friars were found, their faces downwards, and their hands folded as if in prayer.

During the siege of Maestricht by the French Republic, a party of the besiegers occupied the quarries. The Austrians who garrisoned Fort Pierre at the back of the mountain, formed a plan to drive them out, and tunnelling made their way towards their enemies. Although they marched silently along, their torches betrayed them, and the besiegers pouring in a volley of musketry killed a large number, made prisoners of some, and drove the rest into the depths of the cavern.

On the banks of the Nile are several prodigious stone quarries, from which the cities of ancient Egypt were built. Perhaps the largest is that of Haggar Silsibis. Here passages, broad as streets, with walls fifty or sixty feet high, now stretching straight forward, now curved, extend from the east bank of the river into the heart of the mountain, where halls have been hollowed out large enough to contain the Roman Colosseum, the rough hewn irregular roof resting upon immense square or many-sided pillars, some of which are eighty to a hundred feet in circumference. Here numerous blocks, already completely separated from the rock, appear ready to be transported; the labours of the quarry-men having suddenly been arrested by the invasion of the Conqueror, who overthrew the priests of Isis.

One of the most curious quarries of ancient days is found near Syracuse. The greater portion is a hundred feet below the level of the earth, and of vast extent, the whole hewn out of rock as hard as marble, the blocks thus obtained being employed in building Syracuse. It is converted by the monks, who have a convent above it, into a garden—a romantic and beautiful spot, as no wind can touch it. It is filled with a variety of vines and shrubs and fruit trees, among which oranges, citrons, pomegranates, and figs grow luxuriantly, and obtain an unusual size. Sicily produces sulphur in large quantities—the chief sulphur pits being near Girgenti. Most of the inhabitants are employed in them, to the neglect of the rich soil of their island; they labour away in the most primitive manner, pickaxe and spade being the only implements employed.

When a promising vein is struck, the miners set to work, and filling their baskets with the sulphur, carry it out and throw it into large heaps of a conical shape. These mounds are covered over with moist clay, some openings being left for the escape of smoke; the bottom is then ignited, and the matted sulphur flows out through grooves into pans, where it congeals in solid masses. The passages to the mines are so narrow, that persons can with difficulty pass each other; they then expand into high vaults, the roofs of which are ornamented with beautiful crystals of celestine and gypsum. On account of the excessive heat, the workmen labour in a nearly nude state, their dark brown skins sprinkled with light yellow sulphur dust, making them look savage and strange in the extreme. Towards the end of the last century, the sulphur mine of Sommatin caught fire, the conflagration causing the complete abandonment of the pit. For two years it raged, until the mountain, suddenly bursting asunder, a stream of molten sulphur gushed forth, and precipitated itself into the neighbouring river. The mass of sulphur, amounting to upwards of 40,000 tons, was thus obtained by the owners of the former pit, who had believed themselves ruined.

There are sulphur mines in different parts of the world, the largest of which are in Japan, but too remote to be worked with advantage. Gypsum, or sulphate of lime, better known as Plaster of Paris, is found in prodigious quantities at Montmartre, close to that city; but as it can readily be worked without having recourse to subterranean excavation, it need not be mentioned further.

When gypsum assumes an opaque, consistent, and semi-transparent form, it is known as Alabaster. The largest quarries are near Volterra, in Italy. Here the whole population have been employed for centuries, either in cutting it out of the mine, or in converting it into elegant forms of great variety, which are sent to all parts of the world.

Great Britain possesses inexhaustible alabaster mines in the neighbourhood of Derby. Some is worked on the spot, but the finest blocks are sent to the studios of sculptors.

Quicksilver, or mercury, is among the rarest of metals. The only two important mines in Europe are at Almaden, in Spain, and Idria, in Carniola. The former, situated on the Sierra Morena, was for many years farmed off to the Fuggers of Augsburg, but are now worked either by government or private companies. This was one of the most interesting spots visited by the two travellers.

Entering a spacious tunnel, completely walled with solid masonry, they advanced into the very bosom of the mountain. Here galleries branch out in various directions, hewn in the slate forming the matrix of the vein. One of them leads to a vast circular hall, called the Boveda de Santa Clara. At one time a horse gin was employed in this hall for raising the ore, but at present this work is performed through a shaft descending to the lowest level of the mine. Convenient steps lead down from another gallery to the first working level, and thence the descent is by short ladders to deeper storeys. The galleries are of a sufficient height to allow a person to work upright. The upper ones are dry, but the lower are humid and damp, although the water is easily raised by hand-pumps from storey to storey into a large receiver, which is emptied by a steam-engine. So extremely rich are the veins, that although worked for many centuries, the mine has scarcely yet reached a depth of 1140 feet. The present quantity raised annually amounts to eighty-thousand hundredweight of pure mercury. The ore known as cinnabar is of a dark-red colour, and gives a beautiful appearance to the galleries. Sometimes when a hewer detaches a block of ore with his pick mass of quicksilver, the size of a pigeon’s egg, rolls out, and leaping along the floor, divides into thousands of small drops. Owing to the imperfect apparatus with which the ore is sublimated, nearly one-half is lost. Formerly criminals only were employed in these mines. They were conducted at sunrise from prison by a subterranean passage into the mine, and compelled to toil on until the evening, when they were led back again to their dungeons. In a few years the greater number died, through inhaling the poisonous vapours of the mercury. Reduced to despair, a century and a-half ago, they set fire to the galleries, which, being then constructed of wood, were destroyed, and mining operations put a stop to for many years. Only free labourers are now employed, who are not allowed to work longer than six hours a-day. Most of these, however, die between the ages of thirty and forty, and those who exist longer are affected by palsy.

The quicksilver mines of Idria were discovered upwards of three centuries ago by a peasant who had placed a tub under a spring issuing from the mountain side. On attempting to move it, he found it excessively heavy, and on examining the bottom he saw that it was partly full of a heavy liquid, shining like silver. Ignorant of the value of the substance, he had sense enough to take it to a goldsmith, without mentioning the place where he had found it. In course of time, however, a man named Anderlein, having bribed him, became master of the secret, and with several others began to work the mine. In the next century the Venetians drove out the Germans, but were finally compelled by the Emperor Maximilian to give it up, and he restored it to its rightful owners. The mine has since been worked by the State. Ingress to the mine can be obtained by descending a convenient flight of steps, with galleries running off here and there from landing-places, or by descending in a few minutes through a perpendicular shaft in one of the tubs by which the ore is raised. The galleries lead to the various storeys of the mine, the lowest of which is 145 fathoms beneath the surface. The vein itself descends to an unknown depth, and is horizontal, but its extent has not yet been measured. The ores being embedded in limestone of a loose nature, all the galleries had from the first to be supported by wooden props. The wood has, on several occasions caught fire, with disastrous results. Early in this century the labourers observed a thick smoke issuing from the deepest part of the mine. It rose higher and higher, spreading through the upper galleries, yet no fire was to be seen, nor sound of flames heard.

Some of the workmen attempted to reach the scene of the fire, but were driven back by the dense and suffocating smoke, impregnated with vapours. Endeavours were made to smother the fire, but though the mine remained closed for five weeks, no sooner was it re-opened than the fire burst forth more furiously than at first. The howling of the flames ascending from the lowest depths of the pit awed the spectators, and the mercurial and sulphureous fumes arising from it threatened instant destruction to all who might approach. The director of the mine, as a last resource, came to the decision of flooding the works, and a river turned into the shaft ran down it for two days and three nights. At first no perceptible effect was produced, but on the second a terrific explosion shook the mountain as if an earthquake had taken place. The huts near the opening were blown to pieces, and even the stone houses on the slopes of the hill, fell with tremendous crashes. Water, however, gained the victory. Gradually the vapour dispersed, and after a few weeks the workmen were able to descend into the pit. They found, however, the galleries torn up, the vaulted roofs burst, and the stairs destroyed. It took two years to pump out the water, which, it is said, poisoned all the fish in the Idriza.

High pay being offered to any who would venture in to collect the quicksilver, which had accumulated in considerable quantities, many, tempted by the bribe, made their way into the workings, but overcome by the mercurial vapours, several perished.

The galleries have now been formed of stone, seven feet high and six feet broad, though some are still propped up with wood. They are of immense extent, amounting to no less than fifty miles. As late as 1846 another fire occurred in the wooden galleries, which was quenched by putting that part under water. The workmen labour in a tropical heat and an atmosphere full of deadly vapours. It is no wonder that a premature age overtakes many of them, and that young men are seen trembling in every limb, though it is said that those who survive their forty-fifth year may live on until they are sixty or seventy. To transport mercury, the greatest care is required. It is first packed in sacks of sheepskin, tanned with alum. The sack, being pressed and punched to ascertain if it is sound, is enclosed in a second skin. These are then placed in a small cask, and the cask again in a square box. Notwithstanding these precautions, as the sacks sometimes burst, the loss of the metal is great, and the mercury is now generally transported in large iron bottles, the stoppers being screwed down by means of a machine; in this condition, it is exported to England.

Chapter Seven.Stalactite and Ice-Caverns.Numberless and varied are the cavernous regions below the earth, presenting the strangest and often awe-inspiring sights to the spectator. In some rivers flow hundreds of feet beneath the green fields and widespreading trees.Through the caverns of Adolsberg, Planina, and Upper Laibach flows a river known as the Poik, which then assumes other denominations, according to its locality. In some places it forms cataracts, leaping over the most picturesquely grouped rocks. In others it has forced a passage amid them, and then flows gently on.Our travellers resolved to undertake a voyage on the Poik, and embarked in a boat, their progress being stream upwards through the celebrated cave of Planina. They had to be cautious, for often the current ran with great rapidity, and to keep a watchful eye for rocks which lay hidden beneath the water.Rowing on for about 600 feet from the entrance of the cavern, at the end of a magnificent dome, they found that the river occupied the whole space. To this part persons on foot could proceed, as the ground on either side of the river was level. Now passing through a portal 48 feet high and about 24 broad, and as well proportioned as if cut out by the hand of man, their ears were saluted by the thundering roar of a distant cataract. As the archway widened, they suddenly emerged on a lake 250 feet in length and 150 broad, beyond which the cave divided into two arms, forming the channels of two streams, whose confluent waters formed the lake.The walls of the cavern on either side rose abruptly out of the water, with the exception of one small landing-place at the foot of a projecting ridge. Here and there hung masses of stalactite, resembling a petrified cascade, the rest of the rock being black and naked. So high was the vault that their torches could not pierce the gloom, the impressiveness of which was increased by the roar of a waterfall heard through the channel to the left.Hitherto their progress had been easy, but they now resolved to proceed up the left branch. They had frequently to get out of their boat, and wading, drag her over the shallows. The voyage terminated at the end of a small hall with a circular dome, the floor being a lake 180 feet in length, and from 40 to 45 feet in depth. In the roof appeared a chasm, sloping upwards through a small aperture, in which a violent current of air set in, almost extinguishing their torches.Beyond the mouth of the chasm another gallery opened out, into which the persevering travellers penetrated. Nothing could surpass the beauty of the spar crystals with which its walls were encrusted. At the entrance stood a white figure, which might easily be supposed to be an angel, guarding the entrance with a glittering sword, threatening all who should venture with profane hands into his sanctuary.Further on, projected in bold relief, was a colossal statue of a monarch, sceptre in hand. As they proceeded they passed groups of stalagmitic cones of all shapes and sizes. Some like the smallest icicles, others rising six feet in height from the ground, as thick as a human figure, the whole shining and glittering as the light of the torches fell upon them, and standing out in bold relief against the dark background formed by the brown wall of the cavern.Returning to the central hall, they made their way up the eastern branch, which is much larger than the one they had just visited, the main stream flowing through it. As they pulled up, the increasing roar of waters announced a large waterfall. They found that enormous masses of stone, falling from the roof, had narrowed the bed of the river to about fifteen feet, over which the water shot in a broad sheet, fully ten feet in height. The effect as it rushed over the jet-black rocks, casting up flakes of milky white foam, when illuminated by the torches, was very beautiful.Having hauled up the boat over the rugged mound, they again embarked, encountering a couple of reefs. They then proceeded on between steep walls with a free navigation, for upwards of four miles. In many places the roof was adorned with draperies formed of snow-white stalactites, but generally the black walls alone appeared. In some parts the roof descended so low that they were compelled to lie down, and shove the boat along by holding to the roof above their heads, until at length they found that they could proceed no further.Of the world beneath the surface some of the most beautiful scenes are presented by the ice-caves of France and Switzerland. One of the most curious is the glacière “Grâce Dieu,” near Besançon. In the centre of the cave rose three stalagmites of ice. The central mass was 66.5 feet in circumference. Some distance above the ice-floor on the right was a small fir-tree, which had been fixed in the ground, and had become completely covered so that the tree itself had disappeared, its crystal incrustation showing every elegance of variety in form. From each twig of the different boughs, complicated groups of icicles streamed down. The mass to the left, however, was the grandest and most beautiful. It consisted of two vast heads, with several others of less height resembling a group of lions’ heads bending down, richly decked with icy manes, huge masses measuring 76.5 feet in circumference. On looking at this column from the side opposite the entrance to the cave, so that it stood in the centre of the light pouring down in a long slope from the outer world, the transparency of the ice made the whole appear as if it were set in a frame of impalpable liquid blue, the effect of the light penetrating through the mass at its extreme edges.The Schafloch or Trou-aux-Moutons, a vast ice-cave on the Rothhorn, in the canton of Berne, is equally beautiful and curious. It takes its name from the fact that on the approach of a storm, the sheep and goats fly to it for shelter, although never going as far in as the place where the ice commences. The travellers entered the cave amid masses of loose stone, with which in a short time the ice was found to intermingle until it entirely hid the naked rock. They passed between two magnificent columns of ice which formed the portal to the fairy cavern. The floor, composed of ice, rose on either side to meet these columns in a graceful swelling curve, so that it appeared as if their bases expanded and met in the middle of the cave.They had now to make their way amidst stalagmites rising from the floor, met by stalactites descending from the roof. All the time as they twisted in and out among the glittering pillars of ice, endeavouring to do as little harm as possible, they were accompanied by an incessant fall of small portions, shivering and glittering on reaching the ground.Passing beyond the two columns, they saw before them a perfect sea of ice, which became broader and broader until they reached the edge of a magnificent ice-fall, smooth and unbroken, beyond which they were unable to penetrate.They afterwards visited another beautiful ice-cavern known as the glacier of Saint Sivres, into which a stream flows, becoming completely congealed.There are many other ice-caverns in Bohemia, Hungary, the Hartz Mountains, and in various parts of North America. One of them, however, surpassing in size the others, is the cave of Yermalik, in the province of Kondooz, in the centre of Asia. When Kondooz was invaded by the savage warrior Genghis Khan, 700 men with their wives and children took refuge in this cavern, and offered so brave a defence, that after attempting in vain to destroy them by fire, the barbarous invader built up the entrance with large blocks of stone, and left them to perish of hunger.Nearly forty years ago the cave was visited by two British officers, who had great difficulty in obtaining guides, as the natives believed the cave to be the abode of Satan. The entrance is about half-way up a hill, and about fifty feet in height, and about the same in breadth. Squeezing their way through a narrow passage between two rocks, probably the remains of Genghis Khan’s fatal wall, they came to a drop of about sixteen feet. Down this, by means of ropes, they were lowered by two men, who remained to haul them up again. Passing through a narrow tunnel, over a floor of smooth ice, they reached a vast hall, damp and dripping, the light of their torches not enabling them to form any idea of its size. Here they discovered hundreds of skeletons, the victims of Genghis Khan’s cruelty. Among them was one, evidently the skeleton of a mother, holding in its long arms the skeletons of two infants. The bodies of others had been preserved, and lay as they had fallen, shrivelled into mummies. After leaving this vast sepulchre, they proceeded through several low arches with smaller caverns, until they reached an enormous hall, in the centre of which was a prodigious mass of clear ice, in the form of a bee-hive, its dome-shaped top just touching the long icicles which depended from the jagged roof.A small opening led into the centre of this wonderful ice-heap, which was divided into several compartments, presenting numerous fantastic forms. In some the glittering icicles hung like curtains from the roof, in others the whole compartment was as smooth as glass. The prismatic colours which presented themselves as the torches flashed on the surface of the ice were beautifully brilliant.On every side they were surrounded by solid ice, and, scarcely able to keep their feet, they slid noiselessly over the glittering surface of the mysterious hall.The icicles having reached the floor of one of the largest of the compartments, had the appearance of pillars supporting the roof.In Italy and the South of France there are caverns with some distant aperture through which the wind enters, and being cooled in its subterraneous passage, sends forth a cold blast at the other end, such as the Aeolian Cavern, near Terni. It has been utilised by the proprietors of some of the neighbouring villages, who have conducted the cold air to their houses by means of leaden pipes, which on sultry summer days convey a pleasant coolness through plaster-of-paris masks, with wide distended mouths, fixed in the walls of the rooms.

Numberless and varied are the cavernous regions below the earth, presenting the strangest and often awe-inspiring sights to the spectator. In some rivers flow hundreds of feet beneath the green fields and widespreading trees.

Through the caverns of Adolsberg, Planina, and Upper Laibach flows a river known as the Poik, which then assumes other denominations, according to its locality. In some places it forms cataracts, leaping over the most picturesquely grouped rocks. In others it has forced a passage amid them, and then flows gently on.

Our travellers resolved to undertake a voyage on the Poik, and embarked in a boat, their progress being stream upwards through the celebrated cave of Planina. They had to be cautious, for often the current ran with great rapidity, and to keep a watchful eye for rocks which lay hidden beneath the water.

Rowing on for about 600 feet from the entrance of the cavern, at the end of a magnificent dome, they found that the river occupied the whole space. To this part persons on foot could proceed, as the ground on either side of the river was level. Now passing through a portal 48 feet high and about 24 broad, and as well proportioned as if cut out by the hand of man, their ears were saluted by the thundering roar of a distant cataract. As the archway widened, they suddenly emerged on a lake 250 feet in length and 150 broad, beyond which the cave divided into two arms, forming the channels of two streams, whose confluent waters formed the lake.

The walls of the cavern on either side rose abruptly out of the water, with the exception of one small landing-place at the foot of a projecting ridge. Here and there hung masses of stalactite, resembling a petrified cascade, the rest of the rock being black and naked. So high was the vault that their torches could not pierce the gloom, the impressiveness of which was increased by the roar of a waterfall heard through the channel to the left.

Hitherto their progress had been easy, but they now resolved to proceed up the left branch. They had frequently to get out of their boat, and wading, drag her over the shallows. The voyage terminated at the end of a small hall with a circular dome, the floor being a lake 180 feet in length, and from 40 to 45 feet in depth. In the roof appeared a chasm, sloping upwards through a small aperture, in which a violent current of air set in, almost extinguishing their torches.

Beyond the mouth of the chasm another gallery opened out, into which the persevering travellers penetrated. Nothing could surpass the beauty of the spar crystals with which its walls were encrusted. At the entrance stood a white figure, which might easily be supposed to be an angel, guarding the entrance with a glittering sword, threatening all who should venture with profane hands into his sanctuary.

Further on, projected in bold relief, was a colossal statue of a monarch, sceptre in hand. As they proceeded they passed groups of stalagmitic cones of all shapes and sizes. Some like the smallest icicles, others rising six feet in height from the ground, as thick as a human figure, the whole shining and glittering as the light of the torches fell upon them, and standing out in bold relief against the dark background formed by the brown wall of the cavern.

Returning to the central hall, they made their way up the eastern branch, which is much larger than the one they had just visited, the main stream flowing through it. As they pulled up, the increasing roar of waters announced a large waterfall. They found that enormous masses of stone, falling from the roof, had narrowed the bed of the river to about fifteen feet, over which the water shot in a broad sheet, fully ten feet in height. The effect as it rushed over the jet-black rocks, casting up flakes of milky white foam, when illuminated by the torches, was very beautiful.

Having hauled up the boat over the rugged mound, they again embarked, encountering a couple of reefs. They then proceeded on between steep walls with a free navigation, for upwards of four miles. In many places the roof was adorned with draperies formed of snow-white stalactites, but generally the black walls alone appeared. In some parts the roof descended so low that they were compelled to lie down, and shove the boat along by holding to the roof above their heads, until at length they found that they could proceed no further.

Of the world beneath the surface some of the most beautiful scenes are presented by the ice-caves of France and Switzerland. One of the most curious is the glacière “Grâce Dieu,” near Besançon. In the centre of the cave rose three stalagmites of ice. The central mass was 66.5 feet in circumference. Some distance above the ice-floor on the right was a small fir-tree, which had been fixed in the ground, and had become completely covered so that the tree itself had disappeared, its crystal incrustation showing every elegance of variety in form. From each twig of the different boughs, complicated groups of icicles streamed down. The mass to the left, however, was the grandest and most beautiful. It consisted of two vast heads, with several others of less height resembling a group of lions’ heads bending down, richly decked with icy manes, huge masses measuring 76.5 feet in circumference. On looking at this column from the side opposite the entrance to the cave, so that it stood in the centre of the light pouring down in a long slope from the outer world, the transparency of the ice made the whole appear as if it were set in a frame of impalpable liquid blue, the effect of the light penetrating through the mass at its extreme edges.

The Schafloch or Trou-aux-Moutons, a vast ice-cave on the Rothhorn, in the canton of Berne, is equally beautiful and curious. It takes its name from the fact that on the approach of a storm, the sheep and goats fly to it for shelter, although never going as far in as the place where the ice commences. The travellers entered the cave amid masses of loose stone, with which in a short time the ice was found to intermingle until it entirely hid the naked rock. They passed between two magnificent columns of ice which formed the portal to the fairy cavern. The floor, composed of ice, rose on either side to meet these columns in a graceful swelling curve, so that it appeared as if their bases expanded and met in the middle of the cave.

They had now to make their way amidst stalagmites rising from the floor, met by stalactites descending from the roof. All the time as they twisted in and out among the glittering pillars of ice, endeavouring to do as little harm as possible, they were accompanied by an incessant fall of small portions, shivering and glittering on reaching the ground.

Passing beyond the two columns, they saw before them a perfect sea of ice, which became broader and broader until they reached the edge of a magnificent ice-fall, smooth and unbroken, beyond which they were unable to penetrate.

They afterwards visited another beautiful ice-cavern known as the glacier of Saint Sivres, into which a stream flows, becoming completely congealed.

There are many other ice-caverns in Bohemia, Hungary, the Hartz Mountains, and in various parts of North America. One of them, however, surpassing in size the others, is the cave of Yermalik, in the province of Kondooz, in the centre of Asia. When Kondooz was invaded by the savage warrior Genghis Khan, 700 men with their wives and children took refuge in this cavern, and offered so brave a defence, that after attempting in vain to destroy them by fire, the barbarous invader built up the entrance with large blocks of stone, and left them to perish of hunger.

Nearly forty years ago the cave was visited by two British officers, who had great difficulty in obtaining guides, as the natives believed the cave to be the abode of Satan. The entrance is about half-way up a hill, and about fifty feet in height, and about the same in breadth. Squeezing their way through a narrow passage between two rocks, probably the remains of Genghis Khan’s fatal wall, they came to a drop of about sixteen feet. Down this, by means of ropes, they were lowered by two men, who remained to haul them up again. Passing through a narrow tunnel, over a floor of smooth ice, they reached a vast hall, damp and dripping, the light of their torches not enabling them to form any idea of its size. Here they discovered hundreds of skeletons, the victims of Genghis Khan’s cruelty. Among them was one, evidently the skeleton of a mother, holding in its long arms the skeletons of two infants. The bodies of others had been preserved, and lay as they had fallen, shrivelled into mummies. After leaving this vast sepulchre, they proceeded through several low arches with smaller caverns, until they reached an enormous hall, in the centre of which was a prodigious mass of clear ice, in the form of a bee-hive, its dome-shaped top just touching the long icicles which depended from the jagged roof.

A small opening led into the centre of this wonderful ice-heap, which was divided into several compartments, presenting numerous fantastic forms. In some the glittering icicles hung like curtains from the roof, in others the whole compartment was as smooth as glass. The prismatic colours which presented themselves as the torches flashed on the surface of the ice were beautifully brilliant.

On every side they were surrounded by solid ice, and, scarcely able to keep their feet, they slid noiselessly over the glittering surface of the mysterious hall.

The icicles having reached the floor of one of the largest of the compartments, had the appearance of pillars supporting the roof.

In Italy and the South of France there are caverns with some distant aperture through which the wind enters, and being cooled in its subterraneous passage, sends forth a cold blast at the other end, such as the Aeolian Cavern, near Terni. It has been utilised by the proprietors of some of the neighbouring villages, who have conducted the cold air to their houses by means of leaden pipes, which on sultry summer days convey a pleasant coolness through plaster-of-paris masks, with wide distended mouths, fixed in the walls of the rooms.

Chapter Eight.Copper Mines.Next to England, Sweden is one of the chief copper-producing countries of Europe.The mine of Fahlun, in Dalecarlia, has been worked from times immemorial. In consequence of the careless way in which the excavations were propped up, in the year 1678 the surface of the ground fell in, forming a vast pit of above 180 feet in depth, 1200 feet long, and 600 feet broad, with precipitous and sometimes overhanging walls, so that the spectator appears to be standing on the brink of an enormous crater. The bottom is filled with masses of rubbish and the remnants of ancient shafts, and thick beams of wood are seen protruding in all directions. A broad and convenient wooden staircase has, however, been formed on the northern side of the pit, by which not only the miners, but even horses can descend to their work. Passing through the entrance, the mine gradually widens underground to a depth of 1062 feet. The chief mass of ore is 600 feet broad on its upper surface, greatly narrowing as it descends to a depth of 1200 feet. Round it are other similar deposits. As the copper pyrites are deposited generally on the circumference of the outer shell of these masses, which are of a very irregular outline, the mining operations are carried on in a perfect labyrinth of winding passages and galleries, situated at various depths, and supported either by pillars or walls. It at one time yielded 5000 tons of copper annually, but has of late years furnished no more than 600 tons.A romantic incident is connected with this mine. In the year 1719, while some miners were exploring an abandoned passage, they discovered a human body, preserved from corruption by the blue vitriol or sulphate of copper produced in the mine under the influence of the atmosphere and water. It was that of a handsome young man. On being brought to the surface, people from all directions flocked to see it, but nobody could recognise in its features a lost kinsman or friend. At length a woman, with tottering steps, upwards of eighty years of age, approached the corpse, when scarcely had she cast a glance at it than she uttered a piercing shriek, and exclaimed,—“It is he! It is Gustavus, for whom I have mourned so long, whom I accused of fickleness in deserting me.”She had in truth recognised her affianced lover, who had mysteriously disappeared more than sixty years previously, but whose image she still bore in her memory. As he was not employed in the mines, no one thought of searching for him underground. The surface is traversed by various crevices, some leading to the workings underground; and probably Gustavus, prompted by curiosity, had looked down one of them, and had either, losing his balance, fallen in, or been precipitated by some jealous rival in the good graces of the once blooming girl, now a tottering old woman, weighed down with a double burden of infirmity and age. She probably forgot how years had passed away, as she gazed once more on the face of her youthful and handsome lover.Besides copper, Sweden produces iron of great excellence, won from its celebrated mines of Dannemora, and largely imported into England for the manufacture of steel.Leaving the university town of Upsala, and passing through a natural barrier of forests and lakes, in which lie the iron-works of Oesterby, the travellers reached the place in which the pit of Dannemora is situated; not a sign announced the vicinity of the mine, until they saw the machines for lifting the ore, and a few huts scattered about, when they found themselves standing on the brink of a vast pit or crater, whose black and precipitous walls fence an abyss of a mile in circumference, and a depth of 450 feet. Here and there in that cold region they perceived patches of perennial snow and along the black walls, the dark entrance to labyrinthine caves fringed with long stalactites of ice. In some of these hollows flames were seen creeping along the cliff as they issued from piles of fir wood to soften the hard rock, while on every part of the deep gulf human beings were at work, the clang of their hammers sounding like the clicking of numberless clocks, mingled with the creaking of machinery, which brings to the surface the casks of ore. At length a bell tolled, and men, women, and children were seen ascending in the tubs, some standing on the edges, holding on with perfect confidence to the rope by which they were hoisted up.Silence now reigned below, except when the voices of overseers were heard summoning those who had lagged behind, to ascend in haste. Scarcely had they reached the upper surface when a loud thundering roar was heard, which echoed through the cavern. The ground trembled as if convulsed by an earthquake, while black masses of smoke with pieces of stone or ore ascended from the gulf, and the crashing sound of falling masses rent from the mother earth was heard. When all the charges had exploded, the miners again descended to their work.Although it cannot be classed among the wonders of the subterranean world, the famous Erzgebirge or iron mountain in the Styrian Alps deserves mention. It rises to the height of 3000 feet, the whole being coated with a thin mantle of the richest ore. In all directions it is covered with machines of various forms, horizontal and vertical galleries, tunnels and roads, and represents, as it were, a mine turned inside out. The whole of the operations are exposed to view, like those in the Carclaze tin mine in Cornwall, only in the former the ore is conveyed by tram-roads, galleries, and shafts to the bottom of the mountain, where they all unite in one main shaft, from which a tramway runs to the smelting-ovens of Eisenerz and Vordernberg.Among the beautiful productions of nature, rock-crystal may be classed, known as the false topaz when yellow, the morion when black, and the smoky quartz when brown. The colourless kinds are often called Bristol or Irish diamonds, and the violet the amethyst. Some few years ago, a party of tourists, led by a guide, Peter Sulzer, set out from Guttannew, in Switzerland. When descending the mountain they reached a dark cavity, out of which they extracted some pieces of black rock-crystal with the handles of their Alpine stocks. The following year, Sulzer and his son, with a few companions, made an attempt to force their way into the cave, by widening the entrance with gunpowder. In spite of hail, rain, and bitter cold, they persevered, remaining during the night close to the cavern, in order to renew their labours the next morning.Having widened the entrance, they penetrated to a considerable depth into the mountain, through a large cave piled up with débris, in which were embedded large planes of jet-black morions. These beautiful crystals had grown originally from the sides or roof, and had either fallen from their own weight, or been shaken out by some convulsion of nature. Their toil was rewarded by upwards of a thousand large crystals, varying from fifty pounds to more than three hundredweight.Their expedition and its result becoming known, the whole population of Guttannew turned out with hammers, spades, and baskets, to carry off what they had left. As it was reported that the Government intended to interfere, they laboured night and day for a week, until, by the time the authorities arrived from Ijri, the whole had been removed. Some of the finest specimens are still to be seen in the museum at Berne.Amber, about which all sorts of fabulous stories have passed current, is found more frequently in the depths of the sea than in those of the earth. There can be no doubt that it is the product of several conifers, or cone-bearing trees, overwhelmed by the waves. Although the gum which exuded from them has remained concealed for ages, until washed up from the bottom of the ocean, flies and spiders, which must have been caught when it was in a semi-fluid state, have been found embedded in it. The insects now appear as perfect as they were thousands of years ago.The naturalist, Dr Berndt, has discovered 800 different species of insects in amber.The famed cavern in Kentucky is as well worthy of a visit as any subterranean region. Of late years an hotel has been built near the entrance, detracting from its once romantic appearance. Visitors first descend a well-like pit, into which a stream falls, by a flight of steps, and then passing under a high archway, proceed along a level road, to what are called the vats, where saltpetre was once manufactured. Their blazing torches, numerous as they may be, hardly light up the vast subterranean region. From the large hall they make their way through a low narrow passage, known as the “Vale of Humility,” into another hall of enormous extent, the roof so lofty that the torches scarcely illuminate either the walls or roof. At their feet can be seen the glitter of water, extending far away into the interior, a bright stream flowing over a rocky bed into it. Moving on, they in a short time reach Echo River, on the shore of which a boat is found. When looking upwards, it appears as if a canopy of black clouds hung over their heads. On either side can be seen precipitous cliffs, rising apparently into the sky. Silence and darkness reign around, the smooth sluggish water alone reflecting the glare of the torches. The visitors are not disposed to utter a word, until the voice of one of the native guides suddenly bursts forth into a melancholy chant, which seems as if echoed by the spirit of his departed brethren. Now the notes rise, now they fall, as he gives them forth with the full force of his lungs, or warbles softly, finishing with a melancholy wail, which produces a most mournful effect. When a pistol is fired off, there comes a succession of crashing thundering sounds, echoed from every angle of this enormous vault; backwards and forwards they rush, roaring and reverberating from wall to wall with terrific crashes. The guides say it is perfectly safe at all times of the year to traverse the cavern, but there have been occasions when the waters, rising suddenly, have prevented the return of explorers. A way, however, was at length discovered through a narrow passage, the course evidently, at one time, of a stream, up which they can climb over the mud, and save themselves from being drowned or starved. This passage has appropriately been called “Purgatory.” In one part the river expands into a lake, the gloomy effect of whose dark waters, lost in the darkness, is indescribable. Leaving Echo River, they enter another cavern, known as Cleveland Cabin—a fairy region. Above their heads, and on either side, the roof and walls are adorned with delicate flowers, of snowy whiteness, and domes, turrets, spires, shrubs, and trees, as well as with the forms of birds and beasts of all descriptions; indeed, figures of every shape which imagination, without any great exertion, can picture, appear around. The representations of some are so perfect, that it is difficult to believe that they have not been carved by the hand of man, and yet all of them have been produced by the dripping of water from the gypsum rock. The cavern is not destitute of inhabitants. Huge crickets and spiders of an almost white colour crawl along over the ground, and rats as big as leverets run by, exhibiting sharp teeth and long tails. Another cavern is called “Martha’s Vineyard.” It appears as if a vine had climbed up the sides and spread its branches over the roof, from which hang suspended what look like clusters of grapes, but all of the same stony nature. In another cave it seems to the visitor that he is standing in a wintry scene, ice above and ice on the ground, with here and there patches of snow, the appearance being caused by the excessive whiteness of the gypsum. Farther on, there is a beautiful grotto, called “Serena’s Arbour,” the walls of which are covered with a drapery resembling yellow satin, falling in graceful folds, while through it murmurs a rivulet, which makes its way to one of the many rivers running through the cavern. In another, on the torches being extinguished it appears as if stars innumerable were glittering in the sky. On a stone being thrown upwards, it quickly strikes the roof, and it is soon seen that these seeming stars are produced by pieces of mica embedded in the roof, on which the light of a lantern being thrown in a peculiar way is brightly reflected. Although the caverns seem to be of immense height, the ceiling in most parts is not more than thirty feet from the ground. In the centre of one cavern, a regular hill rises from the ground, with a stream running at its base. Several rivers are crossed in this vast cavern, one is called the Echo River, another the Styx, and a third the Lethe. They are inhabited by fish and crawfish, sightless and perfectly white.This vast cavern, the ramifications of which are said to measure nine miles, was not known to white men until 1802. For many years no one advanced beyond three miles from the entrance, further progress being stopped by a deep cavern called the “Bottomless Pit,” 1000 feet deep. At length, however, a daring guide threw a ladder over it, and crossing by this means, he was able to explore six more miles of this subterranean region.A bridge has now been constructed by which people can pass over in perfect safety. It is said that no dog will willingly enter the cavern; indeed, few persons can pass along its passages without a sensation of awe, although with a guide it may be traversed without danger.

Next to England, Sweden is one of the chief copper-producing countries of Europe.

The mine of Fahlun, in Dalecarlia, has been worked from times immemorial. In consequence of the careless way in which the excavations were propped up, in the year 1678 the surface of the ground fell in, forming a vast pit of above 180 feet in depth, 1200 feet long, and 600 feet broad, with precipitous and sometimes overhanging walls, so that the spectator appears to be standing on the brink of an enormous crater. The bottom is filled with masses of rubbish and the remnants of ancient shafts, and thick beams of wood are seen protruding in all directions. A broad and convenient wooden staircase has, however, been formed on the northern side of the pit, by which not only the miners, but even horses can descend to their work. Passing through the entrance, the mine gradually widens underground to a depth of 1062 feet. The chief mass of ore is 600 feet broad on its upper surface, greatly narrowing as it descends to a depth of 1200 feet. Round it are other similar deposits. As the copper pyrites are deposited generally on the circumference of the outer shell of these masses, which are of a very irregular outline, the mining operations are carried on in a perfect labyrinth of winding passages and galleries, situated at various depths, and supported either by pillars or walls. It at one time yielded 5000 tons of copper annually, but has of late years furnished no more than 600 tons.

A romantic incident is connected with this mine. In the year 1719, while some miners were exploring an abandoned passage, they discovered a human body, preserved from corruption by the blue vitriol or sulphate of copper produced in the mine under the influence of the atmosphere and water. It was that of a handsome young man. On being brought to the surface, people from all directions flocked to see it, but nobody could recognise in its features a lost kinsman or friend. At length a woman, with tottering steps, upwards of eighty years of age, approached the corpse, when scarcely had she cast a glance at it than she uttered a piercing shriek, and exclaimed,—“It is he! It is Gustavus, for whom I have mourned so long, whom I accused of fickleness in deserting me.”

She had in truth recognised her affianced lover, who had mysteriously disappeared more than sixty years previously, but whose image she still bore in her memory. As he was not employed in the mines, no one thought of searching for him underground. The surface is traversed by various crevices, some leading to the workings underground; and probably Gustavus, prompted by curiosity, had looked down one of them, and had either, losing his balance, fallen in, or been precipitated by some jealous rival in the good graces of the once blooming girl, now a tottering old woman, weighed down with a double burden of infirmity and age. She probably forgot how years had passed away, as she gazed once more on the face of her youthful and handsome lover.

Besides copper, Sweden produces iron of great excellence, won from its celebrated mines of Dannemora, and largely imported into England for the manufacture of steel.

Leaving the university town of Upsala, and passing through a natural barrier of forests and lakes, in which lie the iron-works of Oesterby, the travellers reached the place in which the pit of Dannemora is situated; not a sign announced the vicinity of the mine, until they saw the machines for lifting the ore, and a few huts scattered about, when they found themselves standing on the brink of a vast pit or crater, whose black and precipitous walls fence an abyss of a mile in circumference, and a depth of 450 feet. Here and there in that cold region they perceived patches of perennial snow and along the black walls, the dark entrance to labyrinthine caves fringed with long stalactites of ice. In some of these hollows flames were seen creeping along the cliff as they issued from piles of fir wood to soften the hard rock, while on every part of the deep gulf human beings were at work, the clang of their hammers sounding like the clicking of numberless clocks, mingled with the creaking of machinery, which brings to the surface the casks of ore. At length a bell tolled, and men, women, and children were seen ascending in the tubs, some standing on the edges, holding on with perfect confidence to the rope by which they were hoisted up.

Silence now reigned below, except when the voices of overseers were heard summoning those who had lagged behind, to ascend in haste. Scarcely had they reached the upper surface when a loud thundering roar was heard, which echoed through the cavern. The ground trembled as if convulsed by an earthquake, while black masses of smoke with pieces of stone or ore ascended from the gulf, and the crashing sound of falling masses rent from the mother earth was heard. When all the charges had exploded, the miners again descended to their work.

Although it cannot be classed among the wonders of the subterranean world, the famous Erzgebirge or iron mountain in the Styrian Alps deserves mention. It rises to the height of 3000 feet, the whole being coated with a thin mantle of the richest ore. In all directions it is covered with machines of various forms, horizontal and vertical galleries, tunnels and roads, and represents, as it were, a mine turned inside out. The whole of the operations are exposed to view, like those in the Carclaze tin mine in Cornwall, only in the former the ore is conveyed by tram-roads, galleries, and shafts to the bottom of the mountain, where they all unite in one main shaft, from which a tramway runs to the smelting-ovens of Eisenerz and Vordernberg.

Among the beautiful productions of nature, rock-crystal may be classed, known as the false topaz when yellow, the morion when black, and the smoky quartz when brown. The colourless kinds are often called Bristol or Irish diamonds, and the violet the amethyst. Some few years ago, a party of tourists, led by a guide, Peter Sulzer, set out from Guttannew, in Switzerland. When descending the mountain they reached a dark cavity, out of which they extracted some pieces of black rock-crystal with the handles of their Alpine stocks. The following year, Sulzer and his son, with a few companions, made an attempt to force their way into the cave, by widening the entrance with gunpowder. In spite of hail, rain, and bitter cold, they persevered, remaining during the night close to the cavern, in order to renew their labours the next morning.

Having widened the entrance, they penetrated to a considerable depth into the mountain, through a large cave piled up with débris, in which were embedded large planes of jet-black morions. These beautiful crystals had grown originally from the sides or roof, and had either fallen from their own weight, or been shaken out by some convulsion of nature. Their toil was rewarded by upwards of a thousand large crystals, varying from fifty pounds to more than three hundredweight.

Their expedition and its result becoming known, the whole population of Guttannew turned out with hammers, spades, and baskets, to carry off what they had left. As it was reported that the Government intended to interfere, they laboured night and day for a week, until, by the time the authorities arrived from Ijri, the whole had been removed. Some of the finest specimens are still to be seen in the museum at Berne.

Amber, about which all sorts of fabulous stories have passed current, is found more frequently in the depths of the sea than in those of the earth. There can be no doubt that it is the product of several conifers, or cone-bearing trees, overwhelmed by the waves. Although the gum which exuded from them has remained concealed for ages, until washed up from the bottom of the ocean, flies and spiders, which must have been caught when it was in a semi-fluid state, have been found embedded in it. The insects now appear as perfect as they were thousands of years ago.

The naturalist, Dr Berndt, has discovered 800 different species of insects in amber.

The famed cavern in Kentucky is as well worthy of a visit as any subterranean region. Of late years an hotel has been built near the entrance, detracting from its once romantic appearance. Visitors first descend a well-like pit, into which a stream falls, by a flight of steps, and then passing under a high archway, proceed along a level road, to what are called the vats, where saltpetre was once manufactured. Their blazing torches, numerous as they may be, hardly light up the vast subterranean region. From the large hall they make their way through a low narrow passage, known as the “Vale of Humility,” into another hall of enormous extent, the roof so lofty that the torches scarcely illuminate either the walls or roof. At their feet can be seen the glitter of water, extending far away into the interior, a bright stream flowing over a rocky bed into it. Moving on, they in a short time reach Echo River, on the shore of which a boat is found. When looking upwards, it appears as if a canopy of black clouds hung over their heads. On either side can be seen precipitous cliffs, rising apparently into the sky. Silence and darkness reign around, the smooth sluggish water alone reflecting the glare of the torches. The visitors are not disposed to utter a word, until the voice of one of the native guides suddenly bursts forth into a melancholy chant, which seems as if echoed by the spirit of his departed brethren. Now the notes rise, now they fall, as he gives them forth with the full force of his lungs, or warbles softly, finishing with a melancholy wail, which produces a most mournful effect. When a pistol is fired off, there comes a succession of crashing thundering sounds, echoed from every angle of this enormous vault; backwards and forwards they rush, roaring and reverberating from wall to wall with terrific crashes. The guides say it is perfectly safe at all times of the year to traverse the cavern, but there have been occasions when the waters, rising suddenly, have prevented the return of explorers. A way, however, was at length discovered through a narrow passage, the course evidently, at one time, of a stream, up which they can climb over the mud, and save themselves from being drowned or starved. This passage has appropriately been called “Purgatory.” In one part the river expands into a lake, the gloomy effect of whose dark waters, lost in the darkness, is indescribable. Leaving Echo River, they enter another cavern, known as Cleveland Cabin—a fairy region. Above their heads, and on either side, the roof and walls are adorned with delicate flowers, of snowy whiteness, and domes, turrets, spires, shrubs, and trees, as well as with the forms of birds and beasts of all descriptions; indeed, figures of every shape which imagination, without any great exertion, can picture, appear around. The representations of some are so perfect, that it is difficult to believe that they have not been carved by the hand of man, and yet all of them have been produced by the dripping of water from the gypsum rock. The cavern is not destitute of inhabitants. Huge crickets and spiders of an almost white colour crawl along over the ground, and rats as big as leverets run by, exhibiting sharp teeth and long tails. Another cavern is called “Martha’s Vineyard.” It appears as if a vine had climbed up the sides and spread its branches over the roof, from which hang suspended what look like clusters of grapes, but all of the same stony nature. In another cave it seems to the visitor that he is standing in a wintry scene, ice above and ice on the ground, with here and there patches of snow, the appearance being caused by the excessive whiteness of the gypsum. Farther on, there is a beautiful grotto, called “Serena’s Arbour,” the walls of which are covered with a drapery resembling yellow satin, falling in graceful folds, while through it murmurs a rivulet, which makes its way to one of the many rivers running through the cavern. In another, on the torches being extinguished it appears as if stars innumerable were glittering in the sky. On a stone being thrown upwards, it quickly strikes the roof, and it is soon seen that these seeming stars are produced by pieces of mica embedded in the roof, on which the light of a lantern being thrown in a peculiar way is brightly reflected. Although the caverns seem to be of immense height, the ceiling in most parts is not more than thirty feet from the ground. In the centre of one cavern, a regular hill rises from the ground, with a stream running at its base. Several rivers are crossed in this vast cavern, one is called the Echo River, another the Styx, and a third the Lethe. They are inhabited by fish and crawfish, sightless and perfectly white.

This vast cavern, the ramifications of which are said to measure nine miles, was not known to white men until 1802. For many years no one advanced beyond three miles from the entrance, further progress being stopped by a deep cavern called the “Bottomless Pit,” 1000 feet deep. At length, however, a daring guide threw a ladder over it, and crossing by this means, he was able to explore six more miles of this subterranean region.

A bridge has now been constructed by which people can pass over in perfect safety. It is said that no dog will willingly enter the cavern; indeed, few persons can pass along its passages without a sensation of awe, although with a guide it may be traversed without danger.

Back to IndexNext