740 



AUSTRIA. 



fertile, and in some parts marshy ; in the east and south, it is highly productive. In the de< 

 partment of minerals, this region is distinguished for its fossil salt, 'i'he mines of Wieliczka 

 are the most celebrated in the world. They extend above a mile under ground, and are be- 

 tween 700 and 800 feet in depth.* They employ 900 miners, and yield annually 300,000 cwt. 

 of salt. There are also mines of silver, iron, copper, lead, and sulphur. 



Lemberg, the capital of iVustrian Poland, or the kingdom of Galicia, is a large and well-built 

 city, with a population of 52,000 souls, arpong whom are 20,000 Jews. It contains a uni- 

 versity and other literary institutions, and is the residence of Roman Catholic, Armenian, and 

 Greek archbishops, and of a superior Rabbi. Its woolen and cotton manufactures are im- 

 portant, and it carries on an active trade with Russia, Turkey, &c. Brodrj^ the second city, 

 and the most important commercial town of Galicia, has 20,000 inhabitants, of whom 16,000 

 are Jews. Jaroslav has some manufactures belonging to the government. Population, 7,000. 

 Bochnia has salt mines, furnishing nearly 250,000 cwt. of salt. Population, 3,100. 



Agriculture is much neglected. The articles cultivated are corn, flax, tobacco, and vegeta- 

 bles. The forests furnish abundance of wood and potash. The Jews commonly buy the har- 

 vest of the farmer while growing in the field. The manufactures consist of broadcloth and 

 cordage. There is little trade except in the natural productions of the country. Galicia formed 

 a part of the ancient kingdom of Poland, and was acquired by Austria at the partitioning of that 

 country, as related in the history of Poland. 



Inhabitants, Manners, &c., of Austria. The Austrians are of a German stock, but darker 



Peasant of Galicia. Woman of Galicia. Gentleman of Galicia. 



in complexion, and more animated, than the Northern Germans ; they are somewhat mixed with 

 Hungarians, Bohemians, and Italians. The Bohemians have a resemblance both to the Ger- 



* At the fool of the last ladder, the stranger is received 

 in a small, dark cavern, walled up perfectly close on all 

 sides. To increase the terror of the scene, it is usual for 

 the guide to pretend the utmost alarm on the apprehension 

 of his lamp going out, declaring that such an accident 

 must he attended with the most fatal consequences. When 

 arrived in this dreary chamber, he puts out his light, as if 

 by accident; but, after some time, catches the stranger by 

 the hand, and drags him through a narrow creek into the 

 body of the mine, when there bursts at once upon his view 

 a little world, tlie lustre of which is scarcely to be ima- 

 gined. It is a spacious plain, containing a whole people, 

 a kind of subterranean republic, with houses, carriages, 

 roads, &c. This is scooped out of one vast bed of salt, 

 •which is all a hard rock, as bright and glittering as crys- 



tal ; and the whole space before him is formed of lofty, 

 arched vaults, supported by columns of salt, and roofed 

 and floored with the same, so that the columns, and indeed 

 the whole fabric, seem composed of the purest crystal. 

 There are several lights in this place continually burning, 

 for the general use; and the blaze of those, reflected from 

 every part of the mine, gives a more glittering prospect 

 than anything above ground can possibly exhibit. 



Were this the whole beauty of the spot, it were suffi- 

 cient to excite astonishment and admiration ; but this is 

 only a small part. The salt (though generally clear and 

 bright as crystal) is, in some places tinged with all the 

 colors of precious stones, as blue, yellow, purple, and 

 green ; there are numerous columns, wholly composed of 

 these kinds, and they look like masses of rubies, emeralds 



