to light this strange temple; then, as
the flame burnt out, the whole vanished as if by magic. Passing across
a wooden bridge, resting on piers of salt, they entered a vast irregular
vault in which were two obelisks of salt, to commemorate the visit of
Francis the First and his empress. As they reached the floor, a boy ran
along the bridge above with a burning Bengal light, which threw flashes
of blue lustre on the obelisks, the scarred walls, the vast arches, the
entrance to the deeper halls, and the lofty roof, fretted with the picks
of the workmen. Another hall was entered, with cavernous tunnels at the
farther end, passing through one of which, they embarked upon a lake in
a heavy, square boat, and entered a gloomy passage, over the entrance to
which was inscribed, in salt letters, "Good luck to you." Midway in the
tunnel the halls at either end were suddenly illuminated, and a crash,
as of a hundred cannon bellowing through the vaults, shook the air in
such a way that the boat had not ceased to tremble when they landed in
the farther hall. The noise was produced by a single gun.

A tablet, on which was inscribed, "A hearty welcome," greeted them on
landing. At a depth of 450 feet their journey ceased, although they
were but half-way to the bottom. About 1500 men are employed in the
mines, who labour only six hours at a time, and live in the upper world.
The blocks are first marked out on the surface by a series of grooves.
One side is then deepened to the required thickness, and wedges being
inserted under the block it is soon split off. This salt bed occupies a
space of 9000 feet in length and 4000 in width, and consists of five
successive stages, separated from each other by intervening strata of
from 100 to 150 feet in thickness, and reaching to the depth of 1500
feet.

More than ten years ago a serious accident, which threatened the
destruction of the mine, occurred. While boring, to obtain some potash
salts, through an aquiferous stratum, a spring was tapped, which poured
an immense quantity of water into the lower galleries. The inhabitants
feared not only the ruin of the mine, but the falling in of their houses
from the melting of the salt pillars; but fortunately the inundation was
confined to the lower galleries, and a powerful steam-engine being set
to work, the water was again pumped out, and the spring blocked up.
However, so vast are the excavations that it would have taken many years
to fil