MINES OF SCHEMNITZ. 393 
accompany Mr. Charles Pistl, by his appoint- chap. 
ment, into the Paquer-sLohln ; one of the largest ' y i 
and deepest mines of Schemnitz, situate precisely sillhl" 
beneath the dwelling of one of its principal ^^'"^' 
inhabitants. We descended one hundred and 
eighty yards ; and were then conducted, by 
levels as airy and spacious as the corridors of 
a fine theatre, to different parts of the mine, 
where labourers were working the ore. Here 
they shewed to us an inscription, containing 
the names of the Emperors Maximflian and 
Joseph the Second; with the dates of their 
respective visits to the interior of this mine. 
The Emperor Maximilian descended into the 
Paquer-stohln, a.d. 1779- ^^1 ^^^ Imperial mines 
have a connection with each other; offering, 
in their whole extent, a subterraneous passage, 
which reaches to the astonishing length of 
three thousand fathoms, nearly three miles and 
a half. The sight of the interior of the Paquer- 
stohln convinced us that there are no mines 
in the world like those of Hungary. How 
wretched in comparison appear the mines of 
Cornwall and of fVales ! where it is sometimes 
necessary to creep upon the hands and knees, 
wet through, over all sorts of rubbish, in 
order to pass along a level from one shajl 
to another. Even the antient mines of Sweden 
