Next to England, Sweden is one of the chief copper-producing countries
of Europe.

The mine of Fahlun, in Dalecarlia, has been worked from times
immemorial. In consequence of the careless way in which the excavations
were propped up, in the year 1678 the surface of the ground fell in,
forming a vast pit of above 180 feet in depth, 1200 feet long, and 600
feet broad, with precipitous and sometimes overhanging walls, so that
the spectator appears to be standing on the brink of an enormous crater.
The bottom is filled with masses of rubbish and the remnants of ancient
shafts, and thick beams of wood are seen protruding in all directions.
A broad and convenient wooden staircase has, however, been formed on the
northern side of the pit, by which not only the miners, but even horses
can descend to their work. Passing through the entrance, the mine
gradually widens underground to a depth of 1062 feet. The chief mass of
ore is 600 feet broad on its upper surface, greatly narrowing as it
descends to a depth of 1200 feet. Round it are other similar deposits.
As the copper pyrites are deposited generally on the circumference of
the outer shell of these masses, which are of a very irregular outline,
the mining operations are carried on in a perfect labyrinth of winding
passages and galleries, situated at various depths, and supported either
by pillars or walls. It at one time yielded 5000 tons of copper
annually, but has of late years furnished no more than 600 tons.

A romantic incident is connected with this mine. In the year 1719,
while some miners were exploring an abandoned passage, they discovered a
human body, preserved from corruption by the blue vitriol or sulphate of
copper produced in the mine under the influence of the atmosphere and
water. It was that of a handsome young man. On being brought to the
surface, people from all directions flocked to see it, but nobody could
recognise in its features a lost kinsman or friend. At length a woman,
with tottering steps, upwards of eighty years of age, approached the
corpse, when scarcely had she cast a glance at it than she uttered a
piercing shriek, and exclaimed,--"It is he! It is Gustavus, for whom I
have mourned so long, whom I accused of fickleness in deserting me."

She had in truth recognised her affianced lover, who had mysteriously
disappeared more than sixty years previously, but whose image she still
bore in her memory. As he was not employed in the m