and in Caffraria, rock-salt is less common; but there 
are lakes to the east .of the Cape, on the frontiers of Caf¬ 
fraria, which contain at the bottom beds of salt variously 
coloured. 
Salt lakes exist in the Cape Verde islands, and natural 
salt-marshes, particularly in Bona Vista. 
Spain is the only country in the south of Europe which 
contains extensive repositories of rock-salt in considerable 
masses above the surface. It is found there in elevated situa 
tions, forming entire hills: brine-springs also issue from the 
feet of the mountains which traverse that country. Ac¬ 
cording to the description of Mr. Bowles, the repository of 
rock-salt which lies between Caparoso and the river Ebro, 
is in a chain of hills which extend from east to west. These 
hills are composed of limestone, mingled with gypsum, the 
chain extending more than two leagues. In the most ele¬ 
vated part is situated the village of Valtierra, on a slope 
towards the middle of which is found a bed of rock-salt. It 
may be about 400 paces long, and 80 wide. The salt is 
contained in a bed of about five feet in thickness. 
“ I examined,” he adds, “ with attention those beds of 
salt; I compared them with the layers of earth and gypsum in 
which they are imbedded; 1 found the outside layer to be com¬ 
posed of gypsum ; and, immediately afterwards, I met with 
two inches of white salt, succeeded by two inches of stony 
salt, and a layer of earth. I found others alternately com¬ 
posed of earth and salt to the very bottom of the mine, 
which is of gypsum, undulated like' the other layers. The 
layers of saline rock are of a dusky blue, those of salt are 
white. 
“ This mine is considerably elevated above the sea, for you 
ascend continually all the way from Bayonne. 
“ The second hill is that of Cardona, in Catalonia, near 
the Mountain of Montserrat, sixteen leagues to the north¬ 
west of Barcelona, and a few leagues from the Pyre¬ 
nees. 
“The village of Cardona is situated at the foot of a rock 
of salt, which, from the sides of the river Cardonere, seems 
nearly mural. This rock is a block of massive salt, which 
rises from the earth about four or five hundred feet, without 
crevices, chasms, or layers. No gypsum is found near it. 
This block is about a league in circumference; and its eleva¬ 
tion is equal to that of the surrounding mountains: as its 
depth is not known, it is impossible to say on what it rests. 
“ In general, the salt, from the top to the bottom, is white, 
though some parts are red; some is also found of a fine blue. 
There are also in Spain other repositories of rock-salt and 
saline springs. In La Mancha, at Almengranilla, there is a 
mass of salt similar to that of Cardona; it is seventy yards 
in diameter, mixed with sulphate of lime, and covered with 
the same stone, including crystals of red quartz; above which 
are siliceous pudding-stones, and a stratum of carbonate of 
lime." 
The mines of rock-salt that are wrought at Poza, near 
Burgos, in Castille, are remarkably situated, being placed 
in a vast crater. A French traveller, M. Fernandez, found 
pumice-stones, puzzolana, and other volcanic productions 
there. 
Rock-salt is likewise found near Aranjuez and Ocanna, in 
the transition hills between Sierra Morena and Madrid. 
On the north side of the Pyrenees no beds of rock-salt 
have been discovered, but numerous brine-springs occur, 
particularly at Salies: in the department of the lower Pyre¬ 
nees the soil is calcareous, and sulphate of lime is found in 
the neighbourhood of the spring. 
There are salt-springs at Salies, to the south of Thoulouse, 
also at Salins and Montmorat, in the department of the Jura; 
in the first of these the water contains fifteen per cent, of 
salt. 
There are about twenty brine-springs in the department of 
La Meurthe, which contain, on the average, thirteen per 
cent, of salt. These springs are at no great distance from 
each other; some are at the foot of the chain of Jura, the 
others at the foot of the Vosges: the product of these brine- 
springs supplies Switzerland with sa\t. There are salt-springs 
in the department of Mont Blanc, in the midst of the 
Higher Alps. In the same department, near St. Maurice, 
there is a salt-rock near the region of perpetual snow, whicfc 
is probably the highest situation in Europe where this mine¬ 
ral occurs. The rock consists of gypsum, intermixed or im¬ 
pregnated with salt, which is extracted by solution in water; 
the insoluble part remains porous and light. Various brine- 
springs also occur in other parts of France. 
Though there are numerous brine-springs in the north of 
Germany, no beds of rock-salt appear on the surface, until 
we approach the circle of Austria and the neighbouring- 
countries. The range of salt-rocks commences at Halle, in 
the Tyrol, passes through Reichenthal in Bavaria, and con¬ 
tinues to Hallein in Salzburgh, Halstadt, Ischel, and Eben- 
sel, in Austria, and terminates at Ausse in Styria. The salt 
at Halle is worked in a particular manner: parallel galleries 
are run into the rock, in these dykes are formed, and water 
is let into them, where it remains from five to twelve months. 
When the water is saturated, it is drawn off in pipes, and 
the solution is evaporated. 
On comparing the geological situation of the greater part 
of the beds of rock-salt and brine-springs, it will be seen 
that they occur most frequently at the foot of high moun¬ 
tainous chains. The mines of rock-salt in Transylvania, 
Upper Hungary, Moldavia, and Poland, may be cited in 
further proof of this. These mines are numerous, and very 
important from their extent, and the vast masses of salt they 
contain. They are found along the chain of the Carpathian 
mountains, and spread nearly in an equal degree on each 
side of the chain accompanying these mountains to the ex¬ 
tent of more than two hundred leagues, from Wieliczka in 
Poland, towards the north, to Fokszian or Rymnick in Mol¬ 
davia, to the south. 
The strip of land that contains the salt-rock or brine- 
springs, is near forty leagues broad in some parts. In it 
may be reckoned about sixteen mines, that are worked for 
salt; forty-three indications of mines that have never been 
wrought; and four hundred and twenty, or four hundred 
and thirty brine-springs. 
The most remarkable of these commence in the north-east, 
and extend in a southerly direction, including those of Wie¬ 
liczka, Bochnia, and Samber, in Poland; and some brine- 
springs in Buchovina and Moldavia, particularly near Ockna'. 
On the south-west of the chain, following the same direction, 
are those of Sowar, near Eperies, in Upper Hungary; of 
Marmarosch, in Hungary; of Dees, Torda, Paraid, and 
Visackno, near Hermanstadt, in Transylvania, &c. 
The salt-mines of Wieliczka, near Cracow, and those of 
Bothnia, which appear to be a branch of them, have become 
celebrated from the accounts given of them by almost eyery 
traveller who has visited that country; many of their de¬ 
scriptions are too highly coloured. They are, indeed, very 
ancient, having been worked ever since the year 125] ; but 
have nothing to distinguish them above others, except the 
extent of the works in the beds of rock-salt, the dimensions 
of which still remain unknown. The ground that covers 
the rock-salt is composed like that over most other salt-mines, 
of alternate strata of sand, pebbles, and marie, including 
large blocks of salt. You go down to these mines by six 
shafts, of four or five yards in diameter. Various structures 
have been formed in the body of the salt itself. We find 
there a stable, chambers, and chapels, all the parts of which, 
as pillars, altars, and statues are of salt. The shafts and 
galleries are perfectly dry, so that you are more incommoded 
by dust than dirt. There are springs, however, both of salt 
water and of fresh in these mines. It appears that the air is 
not so foul in them as in most salt mines; but the workmen 
do not reside in them, as some have asserted. In certain 
parts of the mine, hydrogen gas sometimes collects and 
explodes. 
The salt is cut out in little ascending steps. It is formed 
into parallelopipedons, weighing about eighty or a hun¬ 
dred pounds, or into cylinders, which are put into casks,. 
This 
