Account of the Lake of Zirknitz. 223 



cavern of Planhia be an outlet of the lake of Zirknitz, its 

 waters ought to disappear when the lake is dry ; but the wa- 

 ters of the Laybach never fail entirely. — RusselVs Tour in 

 Germany, vol. ii. 



6. Account of the Lake of Zirknitz supplied by Subterranean 



Streams. 



The lake of Zirknitz lies in a higher ridge of eminences, 

 about eight miles to the eastward of Planina. It is not remark- 

 able either for its size or beauty. When full, it is just like 

 any other large piece of water ; and the rocks which surround 

 it are too bare and uniform to be picturesque. Its celebrity 

 is due solely to the periodical flux and reflux of its waters from 

 and into the breach of the mountain. It is scarcely worth vi- 

 siting except when the departure of its waters has left unco- 

 vered the orifices of the conduits from which they issue, and 

 through which they disappear ; for it is only then that any 

 idea can be formed of the natural machinery by which its phe- 

 nomena are produced. It is about six English miles long, 

 and three broad. It is imbedded among ridges of limestone, 

 the predominating fossil in the mountains of this part of Car- 

 niola. On the approach of midsummer, in ordinarily dry sea- 

 sons, when the snow has disappeared from the neighbouring 

 mountains, its waters begin to decrease. If the weather con- 

 tinues dry, the diminution proceeds rapidly, and in a few weeks 

 the whole mass is drained off. A rank vegetation springs up from 

 the mud which remains behind. The peasants, if the summer 

 promises well, sow grass, or perhaps rye, on the exterior part 

 of the abandoned bed. In a couple of months they are mow- 

 ing grass where the dark waters of the lake were formerly 

 spread out ; and the sportsman shoots game where, but a short 

 time before, he was fishing pike. When the lake is entirely 

 gone, the caverns through which it has fled become visible, 

 sinking into the mountains, some on the side, and others in the 

 bottom of its bed. They all lie towards the northern bank ; 

 they vary in size. Though some of them can be entered, they 

 are not practicable to any extent. Water, or the narrowness 

 and lowness of the passage, uniformly arrests your progress* 

 So far as they have been traced, they all descend. 



