s if an earthquake had taken place. The
huts near the opening were blown to pieces, and even the stone houses on
the slopes of the hill, fell with tremendous crashes. Water, however,
gained the victory. Gradually the vapour dispersed, and after a few
weeks the workmen were able to descend into the pit. They found,
however, the galleries torn up, the vaulted roofs burst, and the stairs
destroyed. It took two years to pump out the water, which, it is said,
poisoned all the fish in the Idriza.

High pay being offered to any who would venture in to collect the
quicksilver, which had accumulated in considerable quantities, many,
tempted by the bribe, made their way into the workings, but overcome by
the mercurial vapours, several perished.

The galleries have now been formed of stone, seven feet high and six
feet broad, though some are still propped up with wood. They are of
immense extent, amounting to no less than fifty miles. As late as 1846
another fire occurred in the wooden galleries, which was quenched by
putting that part under water. The workmen labour in a tropical heat
and an atmosphere full of deadly vapours. It is no wonder that a
premature age overtakes many of them, and that young men are seen
trembling in every limb, though it is said that those who survive their
forty-fifth year may live on until they are sixty or seventy. To
transport mercury, the greatest care is required. It is first packed in
sacks of sheepskin, tanned with alum. The sack, being pressed and
punched to ascertain if it is sound, is enclosed in a second skin.
These are then placed in a small cask, and the cask again in a square
box. Notwithstanding these precautions, as the sacks sometimes burst,
the loss of the metal is great, and the mercury is now generally
transported in large iron bottles, the stoppers being screwed down by
means of a machine; in this condition, it is exported to England.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

STALACTITE AND ICE-CAVERNS.

Numberless and varied are the cavernous regions below the earth,
presenting the strangest and often awe-inspiring sights to the
spectator. In some rivers flow hundreds of feet beneath the green
fields and widespreading trees.

Through the caverns of Adolsberg, Planina, and Upper Laibach flows a
river known as the Poik, which then assumes other denominations,
according to its locality. In some places it forms cataracts, leaping
over the most picturesquely grouped rocks. In others