pertschachtricht, a long cavern of the
extent of five hundred and sixty feet, through which we toiled with a
growing sense of weariness. We had now come to the top of the last and
longest "slide" in the whole Durrnberg. It is called the
Wolfdietrichberg-rolle, and is four hundred and sixty-eight feet long,
carrying us two hundred and forty feet lower down into the mountain. We
went down this "slide" with the alacrity of school-boys, one after
another keeping the pot boiling, and all regulating our movements with
great circumspection, for we knew that we had far to go and we could
never see more than a few yards before us.

Having gained the ground beneath in safety, our attention was drawn to a
fresh water well or spring, sunk in this spot at great cost by order of
the Archduke, and blessed among miners. Amid all the stone and salt and
brine, a gush of pure fresh water at our feet was very welcome to us all.
The well was sunk, however, to get water that was necessary for the
mining operations. We did not see any of those operations underground,
for they are not exhibited; the show-trip underground is only among the
ventilating shafts and galleries. Through the dark openings by which we
had passed, we should have found our way (had we been permitted) to the
miners. I have seen them working in the Tyrol, and their labours are
extremely simple. Some of the rock-salt is quarried in transparent
crystals, which undergo only the process of crushing before they are sent
into the market as an article of commerce. Very little of this grain
salt is seen in England, but on the continent it may be found in some of
the first hotels, and on the table of most families. It is cheaper than
the loaf salt, and is known in Germany under the title of _salzkorn_, and
in France, as _selle de cuisine_. In order to obtain a finer grained and
better salt, it is necessary that the original salt-crystals should be
dissolved, and for this purpose parallel galleries are run into the rock,
and there is dug in each of them a dyke or cistern. These dykes are then
flushed with water, which is allowed to remain in them undisturbed for
the space of from five to twelve months, according to the richness of the
soil; and, being then thoroughly saturated with the salt that it has
taken up, the brine is drawn off through wooden pipes from Hallein over
hill and dale into the evaporating pans.

We had traversed the last level, and had reached what is