ears in the possession
of the Emperor, and all the Inhabitants speak the _Sclavonian_ Tongue. In
going thither, we travell'd several hours in the best Wood I ever saw
before or since, being very full of _Firrs_, _Oakes_, and _Beeches_, of an
extraordinary thickness, straitness, and height. The Town is built, as
usually Towns in the _Alps_ are, all of wood, the Church only excepted, and
another House wherein the Overseer liveth. When I was there, in _August_
last, the Valley, and the Mountains too, out of which the _Mercury_ was
dug, were of as pleasant a verdure, as if it had been in the midst of
Spring, which they there attribute to the moistness of the _Mercury_; how
truly, I dispute not. That Mine, which we went into, the best and greatest
of them all, was dedicated to Saint _Barbara_, as the other Mines are to
other Saints, the depth of it was 125. paces, every pace of that Country
being, as they inform'd us, more than 5 of our Feet. There are two ways
down to it; the shortest perpendicular way is that, whereby they bring up
the Mineral in great Buckets, and {22} by which oftentimes some of the
workmen come up and down. The other, which is the usual way, is at the
beginning not difficult, the descent not being much; the greatest trouble
is, that in several places you cannot stand upright: but this holds not
long, before you come to descend in earnest by perpendicular Ladders, where
the weight of on's body is found very sensible. At the end of each Ladder,
there are boards a-cross, where we may breath a little. The Ladders, as we
said, are perpendicular, but being imagined produced, do not make one
Ladder, but several parallel ones. Being at the bottom, we saw no more than
we saw before, only the place, whence the Mineral came. All the way down,
and the bottom, where there are several lanes cut out in the Mountain, is
lined and propt with great pieces of Firr-trees, as thick as they can be
set. They dig the Mineral with Pick-axes, following the veins: 'tis for the
most part hard as a stone, but more weighty; of a Liver-colour, or that of
_Crocus Metallorum_. I hope shortly to shew you some of it. There is also
some soft Earth, in which you plainly see the _Mercury_ in little
particles. Besides this, there are oftentimes found in the Mines round
stones like Flints, of several bignesses, very like those Globes of Hair,
which I have often seen in _England_, taken out of Oxes bellies. There are
also several _Marcasites_ and