ET, 28.] JOURNAL. 227 
venient opportunity of going on to Ischl, I was obliged 
to bid farewell to Gmiindensee. Loveliest, wildest of 
lakes, I shall not soon forget thee. 
I had not time at Ebensee to look at the works 
where the brine is evaporated, which seem to be on a 
large scale. The brine is brought here in aqueducts, 
some fifteen or twenty-four miles, since fuel is more 
plenty here, and it is found more economical to bring 
the brine to the fuel than the fuel to the brine. The 
stellwagen was ready, and I took my seat. <A ride of 
ten or eleven miles up the valley of the Traun, a nar- 
row defile bordered by lofty mountains, brought us 
before noon to Ischl. It is a pretty village, lying in a 
green valley formed by the junction of the little river 
Ischl with the Traun; it contains extensive salt-works 
and is a favorite bathing-place, people of all degrees 
coming here in the summer to pickle themselves in the 
salt water. “Three immense ridges of mountains come 
down almost into the village, leaving a triangular 
space for the village, with just three ways of getting in 
or out, viz., by ascending the river as we came, or by 
either the Ischl or the Traun as they enter the valley. 
I took a hasty dinner, and left the hotel at one 
o’clock, determined to enjoy the satisfaction of climb- 
ing a real mountain. The Zeimitz, the highest in the 
neighborhood, is said to command the finest prospect, 
and it looked as if I could ascend it in an hour or two 
with the greatest ease, although the guide-book says 
that ten to twelve hours are necessary for going and 
returning. I have accomplished the task; I climbed 
the mountain, 5000 feet high, traveled over the snow 
from one to the other of its four peaks at considerable 
distance from each other; enjoyed the most magnifi- 
cent prospect; filled my portfolio with alpine plants, 
