1823.] Journal of recent 



their pits l)y ladders, &c. they redou- 

 ble their ell'orts to oblii^c and inform. 



Alter sliding thus a long time, from 

 top to bottom, we arrive at a large 

 gallery, whence tlicrc is a way to get 

 out. There we find miners witli little 

 wlieel-barrows, that bring us up to 

 day-ligiit in a quarter of au hour, 

 though to pass ou foot would take up 

 tliirty-five minutes. 



Tins long gallery, partly dug or hol- 

 lowed in tlie saliferous mass, and 

 partly in l!ic calcareous, exhibited a 

 lihenomenoii not usual in such re- 

 cesses. We should naturally look 

 for moisture, as an attendant on the 

 saline substances, aud, if dryness 

 could be supposed any where, should 

 ox|)ect to find it in marbles, or com- 

 jiact calcareous masses ; but here th.e 

 eilects arc directly the reverse. In 

 the interior of the labours it is cpaite 

 dry, where the congeries of salt is; 

 but the c ilcareous masses are found 

 to be cvery-where dropping. There 

 are two caases to account for this: 

 one is, tiiat the argillous mass, which 

 in some measure encloses the s;ilt, is 

 not easy to be (wnciratcd by water, 

 which slides over it, till it finds ano- 

 ther vent; another, that what little of 

 moisture penetrates into these masses 

 is firmly retained by the argile, as 

 well as by the salt, and cannot leak 

 or filter out. But a calcareous mass, 

 even the most compact, will easily 

 let water filter through it, and, be- 

 sides, it is sure to contain a great num- 

 ber of fissures. 



For the Monthly Magazine. 

 ITALY ; //ojn a traveller's journal. 

 •' W SHALL be nothing until I have 



JL visited Italy," said my friend to 

 me in the year 1818 ; and, contempla- 

 ting him with the eye of an (dd tourist, 

 " I fear much, (I replied,) you will be 

 nothing, rJso, when you return." Not 

 tiiatthis remark arose from an ill-tem- 

 pered sarcastic criticism upon the want 

 of abilities in my friend, but that I 

 beheld before nie a confused and undi- 

 g('sted heap of plans, intermixed and 

 interwoven wi'.h contradictory j)ur- 

 suits, which alike belied the achieve- 

 ment of the object forAvhich they were 

 intended, aud frustrated infallibly that 

 general ailvantage which travel should 

 be destined toaliord. 



I had long resided beyond the Alps, 

 had often auniscd my wandering 

 thoughts with the imagery of the 

 blissful hours passed upon the various 



Travels in Tlali/. 15 



banks of Italia's silent streams ; an in- 

 timate knowledge of her language, of 

 her beautiful i>rovinccs so distracted, 

 — however splendid as a whole, — of 

 the endless diversity of character in 

 her inhabitants, of her systems of so- 

 cial life, of her maimers and cu.-tonts, 

 the accpuiinlatiee I nundjercd amongNt 

 every class of Italians, — were induce- 

 ments too powerful to be resisted ; and 

 1 shook my friend warmly by the hand 

 wIh-u I assured him I woidd be his 

 companion. 



Our journey was performed in tlie 

 nutunni of 1818; aud we entered Italy 

 by Geneva, over the superb road of 

 the Simplon. 'J'lie view that bursts 

 upon the astonished eye, at the first 

 sight of that celebrated city (Geneva), 

 when desceuditig the Jura mountains, 

 I f'^el almost unable to describe. He- 

 fore us was an immense and well-cul- 

 livated jdain, at the end of which is 

 situated the tov.n itself. The superb 

 lake opens in all its b:'auty, — -the Alps 

 in front, with their proud leader Mont 

 liianc, one-half lost in the clouds, 

 whilst the upper region i ; eternally 

 covered with snow. In the rear are 

 the Jura mountains, which we were 

 descending, covered with woods, and 

 forming an agreeable contrast to the 

 rugged Alpine scenery on the oppo- 

 site side. In the plain are several 

 towns and villages ; and at Gex our 

 passports were again visited. The 

 road continues goo<l till we impercep- 

 tibly arrive at the gates of Geneva. 



The portion of I'rance we had tra- 

 velled from Paris to Geneva is de- 

 serving 6f but little remark. The 

 only towns which merit the na^nc, iti 

 a tract of 130 leagues, were Tro3'cs 

 and Bcsaii^on ; but even these convey 

 to an English mind butverj' faint ideas 

 either of comfort or opalence. The 

 road was an execrable pm-c, or, where 

 not pavi, almost impassable, from the 

 large and numerous ruts ; the misery 

 of the accommodations, and the sorry 

 condition of the people, add nothing to 

 c^eer the traveller, were it not for the 

 constant rhecrfnlncss and politeness 

 whic'.), in some mc;isure, coi!:|;ens!ite 

 in t!ic i'coplc for the comforts of life. 

 The country, indeed, was almost uni- 

 versally of a beautifully picturesque, 

 sometimes ronii;ntic, aiul the soil good, 

 whilst the villages were of a wretc'icd 

 and forbidding aspect. Sonieliines an 

 old neglected broken-down chateau 

 stands in the midst of the Iioa e!s, de- 

 noting, by its filth, want of doors and 

 1 windows, 



