Visit to the Quicksilver Mines of Idria. 219 



the bay. It lasted about half an hour, and during this time the 

 ships rigging, and the clothing of the persons on deck, were covered 

 with fine cob-webs : the wind was then blowing from the southward. 

 He tells me that he has seen the same while lying in Hampton 

 Roads, Virginia, at a time when the wind had suddenly changed from 

 the N. W. to the N. Eastward. 



You will recollect the incident in the early history of New Haven, 

 when the colony v\'ere expecting a vessel with provisions from Mas- 

 sachusetts Bay : the phenomena of to-day seem to afford an expla- 

 nation. Very respectfully, &;c. 



Art. ni. — Visit to the Quicksilver Mines of Idria ; in a letter 

 from an officer in the American Navy. 



You know I travelled through Germany as a pedestrian — a mode 

 of travelling which I would recommend to others through that in- 

 teresting country. You must imagine me then on the second day 

 of my journey, from Trieste to Vienna, in a region thickly settled 

 and well cultivated, and with a mixture of hill and dale sufficient to 

 make it highly picturesque. An old countryman with whom I stop- 

 ped to converse about noon, informed me that by taking a cross-cut 

 over the country, I should make my road to Idria much shorter than 

 by following the high way, and as I am fond of by-ways I received 

 his information with pleasure, and soon after struck into a wagon 

 track, to point out which to me, he kindly left his work. The wag- 

 on track, after leading me through some retired villages, dwindled 

 into a foot-path, and even this soon after disappeared and left me 

 alone among the hills : but a lover of nature is never solitary, and 

 particularly with such varied and beautiful scenery as almost every step 

 opened to view. I am strongly tempted to describe some parts of it, 

 and also the simple and hospitable manners of the people — but this 

 would not be exactly suited to a Journal of Science. The country 

 towards evening, became a constant succession of steep rounded em- 

 inences, generally of considerable height, and just before sunset, 

 reaching the summit of one of the highest, I had just under my 

 feet the pretty little town of Idria. It is situated at the bottom of a 

 deep valley or green, the houses were white, and as the streets have 

 to follow the windings of the green ravines, it has a simple and very 

 pleasing appearance. Near the center, is a conical hill with a 



