Journey from Vienna. 87 



After three or four hours' further march, (for the naturalist 

 cannot always reckon distances rigorously) we came to the 

 Green Lake, ^Griiue See) so named, as, from the hills that sur- 

 round it, green spots are seen here arid there on the black sur- 

 face that covers the rest of its waters. Approaching near, I 

 remarked these spots, as arising in places whence issue the 

 little springs that feed the waters, and where the bottom is a 

 white sand, composed of little portions of mica. This lake is 

 at the northern foot of the Peak of Lomnitz; from this point 

 that acute cimex appears quite as high as from the plain. It 

 exhibits a pyramid rising to a peak, and at length, almost 

 vertically above us. It stands in a spacious basin, surrounded 

 with rocks perpendicularly steep, at the foot of which lie, n 

 heaps, the blocks and fragments that are constantly falling 

 from the heights. We heard several avalanches, or down- 

 falls, while we were traversing this part. Very near the Green 

 Lake, at the foot of a rock almost perpendicular, in the shape 

 of a needle, is another lake very deep, but much smaller, called 

 the Black Lake, from its waters reflecting a blackish hue. 

 Snow, I am told, never rests on the summits of Tatra, but it is 

 found in the valleys, where, sheltered from the winds, it does 

 not entirely melt throughout the summer. I should have ob- 

 served, that the White Lake is so named from the waters that 

 roll from the surrounding mountains, being often impregnated 

 with a white calcareous matter. 



We were descending very quietly, without any signs of bad 

 weather, but, in this region, naturalists must, it seems, endure 

 the shock of the elements. M. Wahlenburg complains of it, 

 and prefers the climate of Lapland to that of Hungary. M. 

 Townsori was unlucky here, also j and just when I was felici- 

 tating myself on my better fortune, a clap of thunder, in the 

 mountain, was harbinger to an assemblage of clouds, and the 

 rain fell in torrents. It did not last above half an hour, and 

 our clothes, though well soaked, had time to get dry, so that 

 we returned safe to Lomnitz. I was inured to these sinister 

 adventures, and concerned to find M. Fabritzi, who had ac- 

 companied me from complaisance, riot a little incommoded. 



There are several mines in the mountainous groupe of, or 

 about, Tatra, and especially mines of copper. There is an 

 auriferous vein, inclosed within quartz, towards the summit of 

 the Krivan, but the mines of Botza are in the greatest repute ; 

 these are of argentiferous and auriferous copper, and have been 

 worked a very long time. The surrounding mountains give 

 numerous indications of similar materials. 



Parallel to the groupe of Tatra, is another mountainous 

 range, rich also in mines. In the valley of Lipto, which is in 



