\ 
784 Dr. B rowne'j Travels Book II. 
certain Holes at the Bottom, under Ground i and in the 
Month of September returns by the fame Ways, with a 
very fpeedy Afcenc, rifing up to the Height of a Pike, 
and fo covering the Ground again. Whiift the Water 
remains under Ground, the Earth produces very fpeedily 
great Plenty of Grafs, yielding Food for Cattle in the 
Winter ; and, during that Time, you may fee the Hares, 
De er, and other Wild Beads, refort thither from the ad- 
jacent Forrefts, of which great Numbers are then taken 
by the Country People. 
The Lake affords vaft Plenty of Fifli, though that 
as well as Part of the adjacent Country being a Lord- 
fhip belonging to the Prince of Eckenberg, the Country 
are not allow’d the Liberty of F'ifhing, except upon 
the retiring of the Water, when they take vaft Numbers 
of them, by intercepting their Paffage as they are go- 
ing under Ground. As far as I was able to learn, this 
Lake brings not up any unknown Filh at the Return 
of the Waters, but only fuch as went down, and are 
found in moft other Lakes, fuch as Carp, Tench, Eels, 
the which having fpawn’d before they go down, the Fry 
has about three Months Growth, when they are brought 
up again through the fame fubterraneous Paffiiges. 
The Water in this Lake is of a very different Depth, 
in fome Places not above four Foot, and not far thence 
perhaps twenty Yards ; fo that the Ground being as it 
were divided into fmall Hills and Valleys, the Fifher- 
rnen have given peculiar Names to feven of them, which 
in the Sclavoman (this Country Language) are, Vodanas, 
Rejhetu., Sitarza., Ribifhhama., Naknijhu., Levipe., Kot- 
teL I myfelf pafs’d over five of the aforementioned 
Valleys, and faw a remarkable Stone call’d the Fipers 
Stone., becaufe, by its Appearance, they guefs when 
the Water will begin to retreat under Ground ; as 
alfo by a peculiar Hill, which being higher than the 
reft, becomes a pleafant Ifland at the Return of the 
Water, 
LFpon the moft exa£l Enquiry I could make, I could 
not find that this Lake had fail’d one Year to defcend 
and afcend again or how long it was fince this Property 
had firft been obferved ; fo that it feems more than 
probable, that this Lake does not owe its Rife to any 
Earthquake, but has been the fame from all Antiquity, 
and, if my Gonjedure fails ms not, is the Lvgea Palus 
of Strabo^ who, notwithftanding this, as well as all the 
other ancient Geographers, make not the leaft Mention 
of this furprifing (^ality. 
The neareft Parc of the Sea unto this Lake is the Si- 
nus Tergejiinus., and Sinus Flanaticus., or the Gulph of 
Triejle., and the Gulph of ^evero ; at within a few 
Miles Diftance, divers confiderable Rivers have their 
Sources, as the Lahach, the Corkoras or Gurk, the Cola- 
pis or Culp., which falls into the Save, and the Fipao or 
jlrnnis Frigidus, which runs into Lyjonfo by Goritia, be- 
fides divers others. I obferved the Ground about this 
Lake very hollow, and full of Caverns : The like I 
took Notice of in feveral other Parts of Carniola, not un- 
like unto Elden Hole in Derbyfhire ; and, if we may 
give Credit to what feveral of the beft Perfons at Zirch- 
nitz affured us, the Prince of Eckenherg had the Curiofity 
to go into one of thofe Caverns, and came out again 
upon the Side of a Hill. 
8. Being upon my Departure, I was in fome Doubt, 
■whether I fhould go to Tkrejle, {Eergeftum) a Sea-port 
in the Adriatick Sea, belonging to the Emperor, and 
thence by Ship to Venice but having a great Curiofity 
to fee the famous Quickfilver Mine at Idria in the Coun- 
try of Goritia, I went from Zirchmtz to Lovec, and paf- 
fing through the mountainous Parrs of that Country, 
came to Idria, enclofed with Hills on all Sides, a River 
■of the lame Name running juft by it; which is ftiled 
by Leandro Alberti, fuperhiffimo fiu?ne d’ Idria, though it 
was very fmall and fhallow then, and after great Rains, 
fcarce has W ater enough to carry down the Fir-trees, 
and other W^ood made ufe of in the Mines, for Building 
and rue], which^ being caft into the Water above this 
Place, are ftop d by fome Piles fet crofs the River, as 
we obferved in die River Gran near Erewfol. 
The only Thing that makes this Town worth taking 
Notice of, are the adjacent Quickfilver Mines ; the En- 
trance into which being fomewhat lower than the Town 
itfelf, this makes them fomewhat fuliged to Water- 
floods, to empty which, they are provided with excel- 
lent Engines, and other Devices : The deepeft Parc of 
the Mine, from its Entrance, is betwixt 120 and 130 
Fathoms.’ This Mine affords two Sorts of Quickfilver j 
one call’d the Virgin Quickfilver, the other plain Quick- 
filver. They call Virgin (^ickfilver chat which difco- 
Vers itfelf without the Afliftance of Fire, and is either 
found in the Earth or Ore naturally as it is, or falls in 
fmall Drops, or fometimes ftreams out in a confiderable 
Quantity down into the Mine. Thus feven Years be- 
fore I faw it, they had fuch a Stream coming from the 
Earth, which at firft was as fmall as a common Thread, 
and afterwards as big as a good Pack-thread, but did 
not continue for above two or three Days. They alfo 
reckon that Sort of Quickfilver, Virgin Mercury, which 
is feparated by Water in a Sieve firft, and afterwards in 
a long Trough with fmall Holes at one End, without 
the Help of any Fire. 
Plain Quickfilver, or Mercury Pimply fo called, is 
that, which being not at firft perceivable to the Eye, 
is forced by Fire either out of the Ore or native Cin- 
nabar of Mercury, which they dig out of this Mine. 
The Ore \s of a dark brown Colour, mix’d with red, 
but the beft is a hard Stone, which before they put into 
the Fire, is firft grofly powder’d and work’d by the 
Sieve, to feparate the Virgin Quickfilver, if any be found 
in it. The Quickfilver Ore of this Mine is the richeft 
cf all that ever I faw, for it generally contains half 
Quickfilver, or in two Parts of Ore one Part of Quick- 
filver, and fometimes, in three Parts of Ore two Parts 
of Qiiickfilver. I defcended this Mine by the Pit of 
St. Agatha, by Ladders, and came up again by that of 
St. Barbara ; an Afcent of 639 Staves or 89 Fathoms, 
I faw in the Laboratory, where the Quickfilver is fepa- 
rated by the Force of Fire, 16,000 Retorts of Iron, 
each of which cofts a Crown at the Iron Furnaces in 
Carinthia. They employ at once 8coo Retorts, with 
as many Recipients, for the drawing over the (^ick- 
filver in fixteen Furnaces, fifty Retorts in eachfwz. 
twenty-five on a Side, twelve above and thirteen below 
of each Side. 
June the 12th, 1669, When I was there I faw them 
carry av/ay into Foreign Parts forty Saumes of Quick- 
filver, each Saume containing 315 Pounds Weight, to 
the Value of 40CO Ducats : It is carried upon Horfes 
Backs, two fmall Barrels upon each Horfe. In the 
Caftle I faw 3000 Saumes of Quickfilver at once, all 
made up in double Leather, and in another Houfe as 
much of the beft Ore as could be feparated in two Years 
Time, unlefs they fhould have more than ordinary 
Plenty of Wood coming down by the Rains ; though, 
by reafon of the high Hills about them, it fnows oftner 
here than it rains. 
It is a Cuftom for all the Strangers who come into the 
Caftle of Idria, to have their Names fet down in a Re- 
gifter-Book kept for that Purpofe, with the Names of 
their Native Country. In the large Catalogue thereof, 
we met with but few Englip Mens Names, and of late 
Years only with Mr. Evelyn and Mr. Pope*s Names, 
with their Companies, who after their Return, had their 
Obfervations inferted in the Philofophical PranfaSiions^ 
As the better Sort of the Inhabitants of this Town ge- 
nerally fpeak five Languages, viz. the Friulian, Sclavo- 
nian, German, Latin and Italian, (befides that fome allb 
fpeak French) fo it is very fit for the Reception of 
Strangers. 
9. From Idria we paflTed the Swartzenberg or Black- 
Mountain, and defcending ten Miles through a ftony 
Country, came to Adepini, and fo to Goritia (the old 
Noreja) the chief City of the Country of Goritia, plea- 
fantly feated, over-looking a fair Plain to the South. 
The Imperial Governor refide^ in the Caftle, having a 
Guard to attend his Perfon. As we were travelling in 
the Night-time, we had fometimes about us a great 
Number of large Glow-worms, which put in Papers, 
gave a dim Light, and in fome Places in the Plains the 
Air was full of flaming Flies. There is Abundance of 
that neat kind of Acer, whereof Violins and ocher Mu- 
fical 
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