ISC3.] 



New Account of I he Sali-fllines of Sulzbuf^ 



of-ainis, liis l.iflce-bcaicr, his siniiro, 

 became gciillcnien. 'J'hcy were noble 

 and illiisdious by llic side of the hu- 

 miliated Snxon, — liiinscU'rich, himself 

 noble, before, — if wc may apply to him 

 tlie laiigiiiige of his iHsolcnt coii- 

 qiierois, — the Saxoii no\v trembling 

 beneath tlic sword of a foreigner, 

 tliiven from the dwelling of his ture- 

 fathcrs, Mithout a S|)ot on which to 

 rest his head. This factidons distinc- 

 tion, this nobility, the natural and uni- 

 versal consequence of victory, spread 

 through the ranks of the triumphant 

 army, in proportion to the conse(|iicncc 

 of its diflerent individuals. Alter the 

 nobility of Ihekini;-, ranked that of the 

 governor of a county or pnivincc, call- 

 ed a conite in te.e Norman tongue. 

 Mexttothis followed that of his de- 

 puty, vice-comte or vicomte. Then came 

 the diH'erent gradations: baron, knight 

 (chevalier), squire (ecut/er), men de 

 i/rniid or dc pr/it service, — all alike no- 

 bles, though dilfcrently distinguished, 

 — nobUs by the common right of vic- 

 tory, and of foreign birth. 



For the Monthly Magasine. 



SOME ACCOUNT of the SALT MINES of 

 SALZnURG,t/ie WORKS orPRAU NSTEI N, 

 iVr. ill HUNGARY, as noticed bif a late 

 TRAVliLLl R, M. REUDANP, Sub-di- 



rector of the French King's Cabinet 

 of Mineralogy. 



AFTI2K crossing the plains of Ea- 

 varia, I proceeded towards Salz- 

 burg, intending to take a view of the 

 >;alt-niincs, which constitute the riches 

 of that district. Jn passing from I'o- 

 {lenhcinito Traunstein, we coast along 

 the Ijake of Chiem, which is not less 

 than ten leagues in circumference. As 

 surveyed, with the hills that surroand 

 it, it has a fine cfl'ect. 



At Traunstein, the town on the top 

 of a hill pretty lofty, and the immense 

 buildings of ^alt-works at the foot of 

 it, conmiunicating with the town by 

 covered escaliers vr stair-cases, erect- 

 ed on the slope of the hill, exhibit a 

 coup d'ail not a little striking ; and 

 which, from the heights that border 

 the Lake of Chiem, appear truly i)ic- 

 turesque. The buildings for the 

 works, and the large toll-house on 

 the Trauii, by which wood is conveyed 

 into the timber-yards, must necessa- 

 rily arrest the attention of every tra- 

 veller who would investigate the na- 

 ture of great commercial establish- 

 ni-cnts. There is an admirable order 



13 



in the managemcMt : the salt water is 

 brought from Reicheidiall and Ironi 

 Eerchtesgaden, ten leagues distant, 

 over two chains of very high moun- 

 tains, by machinery and pum|)s, at 

 regular distances. The water is finally 

 brought into an immense reservoir, in 

 the centre of the buildings for evapo- 

 ration by liie. Hound the reservoir 

 are eight large cop|)crs, and immense 

 warehouses over them. The furnaces 

 are well constructed, and the combus- 

 tible materials arc husbanded with 

 strict economy. 



Along the road across the moun- 

 tains, between Itzcl and Keicheiihall, 

 we meet with a number of aqueducts, 

 that convey the salt water to Traun- 

 stein, as also conveyances of fresh 

 water, passing in an opposite direction. 

 The machines and pumps, which oc- 

 cur frequently, are workeil with sin- 

 gular precision. A machine does not 

 occupy a space of more than four feet 

 square ; but the movements a.e exe- 

 cuted with such punctuality and fa- 

 cility, that you scarcely hear the noise 

 of the piston and suckers in the putui> 

 within it. At the distance of a few 

 feet, a person outside can form no 

 idea of the enormous ellort that is 

 exerted. The engineer that construct- 

 ed these works is M. Keiclienbach, of 

 Munich, the author of various inge- 

 nious inventions. 



The object of my excursion to 

 IJcrchtesg iden was to visit the salt- 

 mines. Tjie director could not accom- 

 pany mc himself, but .sent me his 

 secretary as a guide. The entrance 

 to the galleries is at a little distance 

 from the town. I was rather surprised 

 to see the miners bring me a white 

 cassock, like a combing cloth ; having 

 been accustomed, in my former visits 

 to mints, to throw a black cloth over 

 mc: a lari^e bougie was put into my 

 hand, in lieu of a miner's lanthern. 

 Those who accompanied me had the 

 same costume. Thus accoutred, each 

 M ith a bougie in his hand, and his 

 tunic on his back, we marched, in the 

 manner of a procession, into the mines. 

 They led mo to all the windings, re- 

 marking on every interesting particu- 

 lar, and attending with infinite com- 

 plaisance to all my goings and com- 

 ings, so that I h.nd every opportunity 

 of studying the nature and variations 

 of this salt magazine that I could 

 desire. 



My lirst views encountered an argil- 

 lous matter, replete with fissures in- 

 terlarded 



