34 



SALT WORKS. 



tivated. — ''■Gentlemen, will you please to walk in and dress yourselves," 

 said a rough looking miner, whose business we found was to see us 

 safely through the works. "Dress ourselves ! Why L. I think we are 

 dressed well enough to go into such company as we shall be apt to find 

 below ground." "Too well, is probably the meaning of it." And so 

 it was. It was a capacious linen dress that we were to put on over all, 

 with a stiff leather apron tied on behind to sit upon, a stout cap to pro- 

 tect the head from blows against the rocks and beams in the low galle- 

 ries, and a buckskin glove for the right hand. Thus equipped and fur- 

 nished with a light, we were prepared for a descent into the lower re- 

 gions. Before setting out I purchased select specimens of the various 

 forms under which the salt appears in this mine, crystalized in beauti- 

 ful transparent laminae, in granular masses of a bright pink color, com- 

 bined with a dark grey argillaceous rock and with the carbonate of lime, 

 &c.* And we supplied ourselves with sets of pictures, illustrating the 

 descent and the labyrinths of the mine itself. Through a handsome 

 portal, embedded in the mountain side, we entered a horizontal shaft a- 

 bout four feet wide and six high. This led us right towards the heart 

 of the mountain. Wooden pipes along both sides convey fresh water 

 into the mines. At first we found this tunnel lined with masonry, but 

 presently we were walking through the solid limestone rock, and then, 

 a few rods further on, we reached the salt. This first shaft carried us 

 in a straight line four hundred and ninety-three Salzberg fathoms into 

 the mountain. "Now, gentlemen," said the miner, who was conduct- 

 ing us, as we reached the end of this shaft, "I have the honor to inform 

 you that you are in Bavaria." We had in fact left the dominions of his 

 Imperial Majesty and passed from Austria into (under) Bavaria during 

 our progress through this tunnel. We found ourselves now at the 

 mouth of a pit, descending through the rock at an angle of 41^°, called 

 Freudenbergrolle. Our guide at once set about preparing for the de- 

 scent. Two stout poles, made very smooth and laid upon the rock a- 

 bout a foot apart, formed the inclined plane upon which we were to slide 

 doton. The guide adjusted his apron, threw one leg over each pole, 

 seized a rope that was stretched tightly alongside, and holding up the 

 light in his left hand, slid down a few yards to show us how the thing 

 worked. We were convulsed with laughter. I was half afraid to try 

 the experiment, for it seemed to me I would surely roll down heels over 

 head. "Never mind," said the guide, "only hold fast to the rope, and 

 if you roll, I am in your way and can hold you back." We took it 



* These specimens are now in the possession of the Linnaean Society of Penn- 

 sylvania College. 



