Part 7

Having wandered through these gloomy abodes of silence and night for some time, we ascended the stairs, the ladies resumed their seats in the barrows, and the procession returned as it had entered. To save my head from additional thumps to the many it had received on entering, I took the place of one of the pushers, and after a merry drive of about twenty minutes we again saw daylight, like a distant star, increasing in size till we reached the entrance of the mine. We here unspectred ourselves, and returned home in our usual terrestrial appearance, and a merry party we were.

_24th._ We left Ischl this morning in a little cabriolet for Aussee, leaving the travelling carriage packed and ready for starting at Ischl, for Sir Humphry wished, before he quitted this part of the country, to have a day or two's more fishing in the Gründtl-See; but the weather proving very warm, and a thunderstorm coming on in the evening, he determined not to remain at Aussee beyond to-morrow.

_26th._ We returned this morning to Ischl, and after an early dinner bade adieu to it, and set off for Ebensee. We here again crossed the magnificent Traun-See, and after a row of two hours and a half, and seeing Gmünden, as it were, rise out of the lake, we found ourselves in our old quarters at the Ship.

_27th, 28th._ These were wet days, and Sir Humphry chiefly occupied himself in dictating "The Vision," and reading. In the afternoon of the latter, his coachman arrived from Vienna, and brought with him "Salmonia," which had just been published, and was forwarded to him through the Embassy at Vienna. Sir Humphry had engaged this man, who is an Englishman, at Ischl, whilst in the service of the Polish Princess L----, which he left, not wishing to go to Poland. Sir Humphry now intends buying three additional horses, and thus rendering himself independent of the poste.

_29th._ Sir Humphry this morning finished his "Vision," which, he tells me, is really founded on a dream that he had some years ago, in which he found himself borne through the firmament from planet to planet. Of this dream, which he introduces as the consequence of a highly interesting and animated conversation that he holds with two friends in the Colosæum at Rome, on the grandeur and decay of nations, and the mutability of religions, the general outline, he says, has alone remained in his mind; but it has been his pleasure and delight during his mornings at Ischl, and when he was not engaged in his favourite pursuit of fishing, to work upon this foundation, and to build up a tale, alike redundant with highly beautiful imagery, fine thoughts, and philosophical ideas; and the hours thus passed with Sir Humphry have afforded me high mental gratification and advantage, for I have then marked his mind wandering, as it were, with the associates of his early days; those days, in which he was evidently, by the exercise of his extraordinary powers and quick perception, exciting not only his own mind to dive into, and to unfold to clearer view, the mysteries of creation, but that too of other congenial spirits; thus most naturally collecting around him a constellation of shining lights, the remembrance of whom often awakens vivid thoughts of the past, and rouses his whole soul to action.

In the afternoon I read to him "Salmonia," in which he immediately began to make corrections and additions in preparation for a second edition.

_31st._ Sir Humphry this morning went to look at a pair of horses which he thought of buying. The price demanded was 800 florins, (paper money,) about 32_l._; but Sir Humphry thought them too dear, and did not buy them. In the afternoon we paid another and a last visit to the Falls of the Traun. This grand and striking scene appeared now even more beautiful than when I saw it for the first time. The body of water in the river was considerably less, thus rendering the different cascades more diversified and picturesque. Sir Humphry amused himself for an hour or two with fishing, and we afterwards returned to Gmünden, which we quitted on the 3rd of August, and drove over to Vocklabrück, where we remained the rest of the day, for Sir Humphry to fish in the Vöckla, and went on the next morning across the country for some leagues to Schörfling, a little village on the Atter, or Kammer-See. This lake, the largest of those in Upper Austria, is about fifteen miles in length; the shores on this side are low, but at the opposite end they are formed by the Zimitz Alp, the Schaafberg, and the chain of mountains which separate this lake on the one side from the Wolfgang-See, and on the other from Ischl and the valley of the Traun. Its depth is not very considerable, but the colour of the water is a beautiful green. On a promontory which stretches far out into the lake, stands the castle of Kammer, a fine large building, belonging to a noble family of the same name. The most striking view of the lake is from the little village of See-Walchen, about a mile from Schörfling. We remained at Schörfling in a miserable inn, without having one single fine day till the 9th. Sir Humphry did so, finding there were some quails in the neighbouring fields, and he went out shooting and fishing every day, in spite of the weather, with considerable success.

_9th._ We quitted Schörfling at nine o'clock and went to Frankenmarkt, a long drive chiefly over bad and cross roads. Before arriving at this little town, we beheld on our left a fine and magnificent view of the Schneeberg, and the Alps of Hallstadt and Aussee, and on quitting it we caught the first glimpse of the Salzburg chain, which we continued to behold increasing in grandeur and beauty the nearer we approached it. The next poste from Frankenmarkt is Neumarkt, and from hence we drove through many villages and hamlets, the road being now and then rather hilly, till, at about half-past one, we saw Salzburg lying before us in the broad valley of the Salza, backed by a gigantic rampart of Alps. On the right side of the road we passed by a small lake of no great beauty or extent. The situation of Salzburg is strikingly grand and beautiful, and probably no town in Europe can boast of a finer. Lying as it were close at the foot of the lofty pyramid of the Watzmann, a mountain more than ten thousand feet in height, the town extends along the right and left bank of the Salza or Salzache, which separates it into two parts, the old and new town, which are united by a strong wooden bridge. On a hill on the right bank of the river, considerably elevated above the town, stands the fortress or mountain castle, a very strong and imposing fortification. Both parts of the town are strongly fortified, and that on the right bank of the river is provided by nature with a lofty wall of rock, superior to any means of defence that could be formed by art.

_10th._ The first thing I did this morning was to call upon Count W---- for Sir Humphry, in order to obtain permission for him to shoot in the neighbourhood. The Count was not in Salzburg, but I easily obtained leave from the person who acted for him during his absence. Sir Humphry accordingly immediately started for the neighbouring marshes, and I occupied the morning in seeing the town. The most remarkable object is the _Neu Thor_, the New Gate, a stupendous undertaking, which may stand comparison with any of the works of the ancient Romans. It is formed of one long arch, or rather tunnel, some hundred feet in length, between twenty to thirty in breadth, and thirty to forty feet in height, cut through the wall of rock, which surrounds the town on the Bavarian side. On the outside the rock is handsomely sculptured, and forms a very elegant entrance into this long passage. This work was commenced at the beginning of the last century, and forty years elapsed ere it was completed. Another work of a similar kind is the summer riding school, a large amphitheatre, the galleries of which are cut out of the solid rock. From hence I crossed over the Salzache into the new town, to visit the church of St. Sebastian, which contains the monument of the celebrated Theophrastus Paracelsus. It is very simple, and formed of the red brown marble of the country. It bears his head in relief, and the following inscription, which is a proof of the great esteem in which the memory of this famous quack was held even till the middle of the eighteenth century.

"Philippi Theophrasti Paracelsi qui tantam orbis famam ex auro chymico adeptus est effigia et ossa donec rursus circumdabuntur pelle sua sub reparatione ecclesiæ MDCCLII. ex sepulchrali tabe eruta heic locata sunt.

"Conditur hic Philippus Theophrastus insignis medicinæ doctor, qui dira illa vulnera, lepram, podagram, hydropsin, aliaque insanabilia corporis contagia mirifica arte sustulit, ac bona sua in pauperes distribuenda collocandaque honoravit.

"Anno MDXXI. die XXIII Septembris vitam cum morte mutavit."

On my return I passed by the house in which he died, and on the outside of it there is still a painting of him, and a nearly obliterated inscription. From hence I went to the church of St. Peter, in the old town, to see the tomb of Haydn; but unfortunately found the church closed, and could not see the monument.

The cathedral church of St. Rupert is a fine building in the Italian style of architecture. It is built partly of free-stone and partly of marble. The streets of Salzburg, with the exception of the chief street, are narrow and generally ill paved, but the houses are clean and neat, and of a great height. The palace of the former archbishop is a spacious and magnificent building, and before it is a beautiful fountain. Besides its public buildings, Salzburg has many large and elegant private houses.

On my return to the inn I found Sir Humphry already there, and that he had dined; and he asked me to accompany him to Aigen, a beautiful villa, about two miles from Salzburg, the seat of Prince Schwarzenberg. From the gardens of this villa the view of Salzburg and the whole chain of Alps is most magnificent, but we could not enjoy it completely, as the summits of the mountains were mostly veiled in cloud, thus mingling as it were with the heavens, and only here and there a dark brown peak was seen piercing through the white shroud, which every now and then passed over it like the foaming wave over a rock, leaving it for some moments invisible. We strolled for some time through the gardens, Sir Humphry on his pony, and then returned to the city.

_11th, 12th._ Were cloudy and rainy days, but in spite of the weather Sir Humphry has been out shooting the greater part of them, with, however, very little good fortune; and on the 13th, we left Salzburg in the morning, and drove through a long avenue of fine beech-trees to Hallein, passing by the Untersberg, where there are large quarries of white marble, belonging to Bavaria. To the right, the view of the snowy Watzmann, and the nearer and finely wooded mountains was exceedingly striking. Above Hallein two enormous brown rocks rise out of the woods, bearing a very striking resemblance to artificial walls. Hallein is a dirty town, celebrated only for its extensive salt mines. The scenery between it and Golling is fine, but cannot be compared with that beyond Golling. At this latter place we stopped for two or three hours, and whilst Sir Humphry took his dinner, I went to see the Falls of the Schwartzbach, about two miles distant. After crossing the Salza, I came in about half an hour to the first or lower fall, where, in the very midst of dark pines, some of which seemed even to grow out of the falling water, the _Schwartzbach_, or _dark stream_, dashes over the rocks, and divides itself into two branches, one of which makes but one single leap to the pool below, whilst the other descends in innumerable small cascatelles, and the black rocks, peeping here and there through the white and curling foam, give a very beautiful effect to this part of the scene. I then ascended with my young guide, a little boy whom I had taken with me from Golling, to the upper fall, of which nothing is visible from below but the rising spray, and the beautiful iris playing upon it. The pathway leads immediately to the front of this fall, which, in point of singularity of situation, is perhaps unrivalled.

At this spot the rocks form a wide and massive arch, on which the tall pines and other trees stand firmly rooted. Beneath this arch, rude blocks are tumbled one upon another in wild confusion, through which the water of the upper fall forces its way to the lower one. Above the arch which nature has thus formed, a slight wooden bridge is built, so that two openings are thus formed, the one above the other, through which the water is seen descending in a broad sheet of foam. Standing at the foot of this cascade, it is first seen gushing forth from the rock amongst the trees immediately above the wooden bridge; between this and the natural arch it again appears, and is for the third time seen below the arch, closing the opening between it and the rocks beneath like a white curtain. The rainbow was seen beautifully shadowing the spray wafted from the fall, which was itself in a dark recess of the mountain, and the sun tipped the tops of the surrounding trees with a brilliant light, whilst now and then a single ray shot through the leaves and fell upon the white fall. It was a scene before which a painter might have sat for hours.

We afterwards went upon the bridge, from whence we had a view of the whole fall, looking down into the basin which receives it. A little footpath leads from the bridge to the spot where the water issues as clear as crystal from the rock, in the same manner as that of the Savitza in Wochain. After taking one or two rapid sketches, I returned with my little guide to Golling, which Sir Humphry soon after left for Werfen, and we turned into the mountains, passing through a magnificent defile where the Salza is quite hemmed in by rocks, through which this foaming river forces its way with irresistible violence.

The Salza in its whole course is a muddy river, which considerably detracts from the beauty of the scene. Towards evening we arrived at Werfen, a small insignificant town with an ancient fort on the hill above it, and passed the night at a tolerable inn.

_14th._ Rising early this morning and looking from my window before sunrise, I beheld one of the finest scenes imaginable. The distant snowy Watzmann appeared quite near, and was encircled by beautiful rose-coloured clouds, though not so dense as to hide the mountain which glimmered through them, tinged with the same beautiful hue. These clouds, which kept ascending and descending, and now and then breaking and leaving the mountain quite clear, became gradually fainter and fainter, till the sun rose, bringing with him the mists of morning, when the whole scene vanished from my eyes, and this so quickly, that I was almost tempted to fancy it a dream.

At nine o'clock we left Werfen, and crossing the Salza drove on through some very pretty villages to Itan, a little hamlet, where we had to wait a considerable time for horses, the Archduke John having passed through but a few hours before, on his road from the baths of Gastein to Grätz. From Itan we proceeded to Radstadt, and from thence along our former road to Unter-Tauern.

_15th._ This morning was rainy, but in spite of this I preferred walking up the mountain, to the slow pace at which the carriage ascended with four horses and two oxen. The rain ceased in about an hour, but the distant views, on our former descent so beautiful, were now all veiled in mist and cloud. We passed two very fine falls, one of them a little out of the road, which Sir Humphry got out to see. It is called Prince John's Fall, and is a cascade of from three to four hundred feet high, and is well worth seeing.

On arriving at Auf-dem-Tauern, the little village near the summit of the pass, we found the fields and the greater part of the surrounding Alps, which when we passed the first time were hidden as far as the eye could reach in snow, now richly clad with fine grass and alpine flowers. The road descending to Tweng is formed of white primary marble, mixed with mica-schist. At Tweng we struck into a cross road to Tamsweg, a large village lying in a fine broad valley, in the middle of which runs a branch of the Murr, which we have followed from the very peak of the Tauern. The inn here was very bad. In the evening I went to the village doctor for some medicine for Sir Humphry, who told me that this valley was one of the highest in Austria, the village itself lying three thousand and twenty-two Paris feet above the level of the sea, and that the pass of the Tauern was rather more than two thousand feet higher.

_16th._ We left Tamsweg this morning, and drove on, over abominable roads, to Murrau, a dirty little town on the Murr. Sir Humphry said he should stay a day here to see if he could shoot some quails, or catch any huchos[D] in the river, and he went out immediately after we arrived, about two o'clock, but found no quails. The Murr forms a very pretty cascade about a mile below the town.

_17th._ Sir Humphry went this morning to the river and fished for some hours, but in vain. This, added to an exorbitant bill brought in by the host, determined him to proceed, and we left Murrau at four in the afternoon. The scenery of the valley of the Murr is always of the same kind; mountains clad with fine woods diversified with fields and villages, and the river winding through the valley. We passed on our road two old feudal castles, rearing their grey walls out of the wood. At the next station, Neumarkt, we found ourselves on the same road which we had traversed on our way to Carniola. There being no tolerable inn here, we proceeded a post further, to Friesach, and had a very pleasant moonlight drive along the banks of a foaming brook, and through some dark and shady glens.

_18th._ Sir Humphry spent the whole of this day in the fields round Friesach, in the hope of finding a good many quails, but returned late in the afternoon with only one or two, and complaining terribly of the heat.

_19th._ We left Friesach early this morning, and drove on, over our old road, to St. Veit and Klagenfurth, where we turned off to the right, and proceeded along the banks of the Lake of Klagenfurth to Velden. The length of this lake is about fifteen miles, its greatest breadth three or four. The scenery of its banks near Klagenfurth is rather flat and uninteresting, but towards Velden it becomes more diversified and beautiful. Sir Humphry intended passing the night at Velden, but the old ruined chateau, which now serves as the post-house, was better adapted for the habitation of bats and owls than the accommodation of a sickly and susceptible traveller; and accordingly he ordered horses for Villach, in spite of the approaching night. Whilst they were being put to, we enjoyed a fine view of the lake through the arched windows of the earth-floored hall of the chateau. Some time before we arrived at Villach it was quite dark, but the road being very good and perfectly safe, Sir Humphry, notwithstanding his reluctance to travel after nightfall, said that he was glad that he had gone on to Villach, where he would stay to try the shooting.

_20th._ This morning he changed his mind, and we went on to Wurzen, crossing over the same mountain which we had passed on our road to Ischl. The ascent on this side is much longer than that from Wurzen. At the foot of the mountain are some hot baths, much used by the inhabitants of Villach. We tried their temperature and found it to be 85° Fahrenheit. The proprietor said that the water contained principally sulphur and magnesia.

_21st-25th._ These days were chiefly wet and rainy, but when it did not pour Sir Humphry was out shooting in the marshes. Two mornings, when the rain kept him at home, he occupied himself with the additions to "Salmonia," and in dictating _an ancient Irish Tale_; a fairy fiction, or a tale of enchantment, founded on the supposed adventures of a Norwegian hero in Ireland.

_26th._ A fine day at last, and we see the Alps unveiled for the first time since we have been here. I thought I should have seen them quite free from snow, and was not a little surprised, on the clearing away of the clouds, to find them covered with a newly fallen crest, which was brilliantly white, for I believed that the temperature of the air would be too high to allow the snow, which falls on the heights when it rains in the valleys, to remain unmelted even for the shortest time. In the afternoon I took a ramble with the postmaster, as a guide, to see a waterfall in the neighbourhood, which I suspected from what he told me was the feeder of the pond from which the Wurzen-Save rises. After a long walk through the woods in one of the smaller side valleys, at the opening of which the pond or source of the Save is situated, we arrived at the end of the valley, where all progress was put an end to by the lofty and rocky mountains which shut it in on all sides; mountains, through which there is hardly a path for the most adventurous chamois hunter. In the centre of this vale is a hut, or, as it is called by the peasants, an _Alpe_, (a hut on the mountains,) built with the trunks of trees, in which a few cowherds were employed in making cheese. Opposite this hut, high up in the rocks, is a considerable cascade, which without doubt is the source of the Save. The water issues in a considerable stream from an opening in the side of the mountain, and rushes down into the valley foaming and dashing over the rocks; it then flows on for a short time in a bed of limestone pebbles, where it suddenly disappears, sinking into the ground, and in all probability continues its subterraneous course through the whole length of the valley, till it rises in the pond near Wurzen. We ascended with considerable difficulty to the top of the fall, and in order to examine the hole, I was obliged to take off my shoes to prevent my slipping over the rocks. The water flowed perfectly clear and intensely cold from a reservoir in the interior of the mountain, but the opening in the rocks was not sufficiently large to enable me to look in. Having descended safely, and drank some curds and whey in the _Alpe_, we returned home; and I determined, if the weather should be fine to-morrow, to cross over the Alps to Trenta, and see the source of the Isonzo, to seek which we made such a long trip in vain the last time we were here.