owing in a great degree to the richest veins being worked out, or to the shafts being driven so deep, that it is impossible to drain off the water from them. A project of clearing them, by digging a tunnel through the mountains to the Eibe at Meissen, is talked of, with little prospect of its being carried into execution. It has been calculated by Breithaupt, that the Freiberg mines have produced in the 640 years during which they have been worked, down to 1825, 82,000 ewt. of silver, or the worth of 240 Millions of dollars. The amount of silver gained in 1833 equalled 523,952 dollars.

Freiberg was long the residence of the Saxon princes, who bestowed on it many immunities and privileges, and several of whom are entered in the Dom Kirche (Cathedral), a handsome gothic building. Behind the altar is the tomb of Maurice of Saxony, a lofty sarcophagus, richly adorned with sculpture by an artist of Antwerp, named Florus. Above it, in a niche, is placed the armour worn by Maurice at the battle of Sievershausen, where he was killed after gaining the victory, by a shot from behind; the hole made by the bullet is still visible.

The standards taken in the battle were hung over his grave: they have dropped to pieces with age, and the worm-eaten staves will not long survive. In an adjoining chapel are buried Henry the Pious, and his successors down to Christian I., by whom it was built. It is enriched with Saxon marble and serpentine, and contains bronze statues of those who rest beneath.

Other curiosities of this church are, two pulpits of gothic workmanship, curiously carved in stone; one is supported by figures of the master mason and his apprentice who executed it. The Golden Gate is a richly ornamented round portal, well worth notice. Beside it is the tomb of the celebrated geologist, Werner, who died here in 1817. Once a quarter, a sermon is preached in this church

to the miners, who all attend in a body.

In the market-place, opposite the guard-house, a flat, round stone in the pavement marks the spot where Kunz of Kaufungen, the robberknight, who stole the two young Saxon princes, Albert and Ernest, was beheaded.

The School of Mines (Berg Academie) is the most renowned in the world, and students repair hither for instruction in the art of mining, from all quarters of the globe. Humboldt, Werner, Jameson of Edinburgh, Mohs, and many other eminent mineralogists and geologists, were pupils in this institution. Instructions are given, by professors appointed for the purpose, both in the practice and theory of the art; in surveying, mining, and the prepa ration of ores, as well as in geology, mineralogy, &c.

The Museum of the School of Mines is very rich in remarkable specimens of all the mineral productions of Saxony, and includes the splendid and useful collection of Werner himself. It is not deficient in the geological department and in fossils. The collection of Models of the Mines, and the Machinery used in them, will give an uninitiated person a better idea than a visit to the mines themselves, of the nature of a miner's operations, or at least will prepare one who purposes visiting them for understanding them when on the spot. There is an office for the sale of minerals attached to this establishment.

There are said to be about 130 mines of silver, copper, lead, and cobalt, round Freiberg: the prevailing rock in which they are situated is a primary gneiss. To see a mine thoroughly will occupy about three hours. A permission must first be obtained from the Bergmeister in Freiberg. Strangers are provided with a miner's dress at the entrance. Most of the mines are distant a mile

or two from the town, and proper guides are appointed to conduct persons thither. The mine most conveniently visited, perhaps, is that called the Kurfurst (Elector), because it is large and dry; it lies near Gross Schirma. The Alt Mord Grube

(Old Murder Mine) has very remarkable hydraulic pumps for extracting the water. The principal ores of silver are, argentiferous sulphuret of lead, native silver, and red silver.

The Amalgamir Work at Halsbrucke, about three miles out of the town, where the pure silver is obtained from the less productive ores by amalgamation with quicksilver, is well worth seeing. The process is carried on here upon the most scientific principles. At Halsbrucke are also situated many smelting furnaces. What is called the Hebe-haus, a sort of crane by which boats are raised out of the Mulde into a canal, is a guide-book wonder, not worth the trouble of the walk.

The Miners of the Saxon Erzgebirge are a somewhat primitive class. Their form of salutation is by the words Glück-auf. They are enrolled in a sort of semi-military corps, of which the common workmen are the privates, and the superintendants and managers, the officers. They are called out several times a year for inspection, or parade, and in addition appear in a body at certain stated times to attend miners-prayers in the church, at the funeral of a superior officer, during the visit of a royal personage, and on days of rejoicing for the discovery of a rich vein. On these occasions they appear in uniform, their leather aprons fastened on behind, leather pockets in the place of cartouche-boxes, and a large knife stuck in the girdle. The Common miners march with their pickaxes shouldered, the carpenters with their axes, and the smiths with their hammers, borne in the same fashion. These processions have a martial appearance, are headed by a band

a

playing a miner's march, and accompanied by flying colours. The officers have similar uniforms, distinguished according to their rank. All, up to the chief, or Berg-Hauptman, whether in working costume or in full dress, wear the singular hinderapron, which, from its position, bears very significant name. Even the sovereign, were he to appear on the spot, as head miner of Saxony, could not dispense with this appendage. To be deprived of it is the greatest disgrace to which the miner can be subjected; he thereby loses his privileges, and the dishonour is equal to that of knocking off the spurs from a knight's heels.

After quitting Freiberg, the road leaves on the right the hamlet of Gros Schirma, and passes the mines of. Neu-Gottes-Segen (New blessing of God), and farther on, of Himmelsfurst (Prince of heaven), once the richest in the district, and one of the most productive mines in Europe, distant about two miles from Freiberg to the south-east.

2 Oederan. Inns: Post, Hirsch. A manufacturing town of 3100 inhabitants. On the right of the village of Flöhe rises the castle of Augustusberg, built 1572 by the Elector Augustus. It has a well 286 yards deep, cut in the rock; and a lime-tree, 400 years old, is still growing in its garden. The chapel contains two pictures by L. Cranach.

2 Chemnitz. Inns: Hotel de Saxe; Römischer Kaiser. Chemnitz is the principal manufacturing town in Saxony. The cotton goods, especially stockings, for which it is chiefly celebrated, and to which it owes its present prosperity, are said to rival even the English. Chemnitz is also famous for the manufactory of spinning-machinery, which supplies a large part of the continent. It has a population of 19,000 souls, and is situated in a beautiful and well watered valley. For 400 years it was a free imperial city, and still dis

2 Zwickau. Inn: Post; on the banks of the Mulde, has 5300 inhabitauts. St. Mary's church is distinguished by its tall tower, which Luther often ascended on account of the pleasing view it commands. Within the church are several very fine paintings by the old German master, Wohlgemuth. There are records existing which give the exact date of their execution.

Two brothers, named Schumann, in this remote town, reprint in a small and cheap form the works of Byron, Scott, and other popular English writers. There is a good road from Zwickau to Carlsbad, through Schneeberg and the Erzgebirge, Route XCI.

A hilly stage, through an agreeable country producing coal, brings the traveller to

- Das

2 Reichenbach. Inns: Lamm ;-Engel;-another thriving manufacturing town; it has 4500 inhabitants, who are chiefly employed in spinning and weaving cotton and wool into kerseymeres, merinos, flannel, and "English thread." A fire in 1833 destroyed a great part of the town.

2 Plauen. [Inns: Post;— Deutsches Haus; neither very good.] A town of 7000 inhabitants, also deriving prosperity from manufactures of linen, cotton, and muslin. It is irregularly built on uneven ground, and is traversed by the stream of the Elster, which waters a romantic valley, and produces pearls; a royal fishery is established at Oelsnitz, for collecting them.

The old Castle (called Rathschauer), rising high above the town, was in ancient times the residence of the Bailiff, or Voigt, from whom the surrounding district got the name of Voigtland; it is now converted into public offices.

1 Klein Zobern. About fourmiles beyond this station, the road crosses the frontier of Saxony into Bavaria. 12 Hof. Inns; Hirsch ;-Brandenburger Hof. This is the first Bavarian town; it contains 7000 inhabitants, and possesses important manufactures of cotton and woollen goods. Its situation is so elevated, that only the hardier kinds of fruit come to perfection. The country around is bleak and barren, the rock is primary limestone, abounding in fossils, and there are many iron mines in the district. The town of Hof was burnt down for the tenth time recorded in its annals, in 1832, and consequently a large part is newly built. A handsome church was erected in 1833. The frontiers of Saxony, Reuss, Prussia (the town of Gefäll is Prussian), and Bohemia, are not more than ten miles distant from Hof; an extensive smuggling trade is carried on with Bohemia.

Eilwagens go from hence to Leipsig, Dresden, Nuremberg, and Eger.

21 Münchberg. Inn, Post, situ

ated in the outskirts of this small town. The road now skirts along the western spurs of the mountain chain called Fichtelgebirge, which forms the wall of separation between Bavaria and Bohemia. The highest summits are the Schneeberg, 3680 feet, and the Ochsenkopf, 3623 feet high; they are situated a few miles on the east of Gefrees. At their roots lie the sources of the Main, Saale, and Eger.

2 Berneck. Inns: Post;-Löwe. A small town in the narrow valley of the White Main. On the heights above are seen the ruins of the once formidable castle of the Knights of Wallenrode, destroyed in the Hussite

war.

19 German miles=91 Eng. miles. An eilwagen goes as far as Zwickau. N. B. It is advisable to have the signature of an Austrian minister on the passport before commencing this journey. 3 Borna.-Inn, Post.

2 Altenburg.-Inns: Stadt Gotha; -Hirsch. The capital of the duchy of Saxe Altenburg, has 13,000 inhabitants. The Palace (Schloss), consists of 2 parts: the older was built in the XIIIth century: out of 1 of its apartments the Robber Knights, Kunz of Kaufungen, and William von Mosen, stole the 2 young Saxon princes, Ernest and Albert, in 1445. The Gothic church is worth notice. The ducal family reside in the modern part, built in the XVIIth century.

The inhabitants of Altenburg are distinguished by their very peculiar and old-fashioned costumes handed down to them by their ancestors. The petticoats of the women reach no further than the knee, and their heads are surmounted by a conical cap of portentous dimensions.

4 Zwickau, on the high road from Dresden to Nuremberg, p. 384.

2 Schneeberg. Inns: Sächsischer Hof; Der Ring; Goldene Sonne. An important mining town of 6000 inhabitants, chiefly engaged in the mines, and in preparing the ores of silver, cobalt, &c. obtained from them. There is also a considerable manufactory of smalt here. The Parish Church is a very fine building, and contains some ancient paintings. Schneeberg snuff, a preparation of herbs found on the mountains of the Erzgebirge, taken as common snuff, is said to be good for sore eyes, and to cure headaches. In the neighbourhood are the picturesque castles of Stein, Eisenberg, and Wiesenburg.

12 Eibenstock, A mining town of 4400 inhabitants; in and about it are furnaces, founderies, and tin mines.

12 Johann Georgenstadt (vulgarly called Hansgörgenstadt). Inns: Rathskeller;-Schiesshaus. A mining town, named after the Elector John George, in whose reign it was built as an asylum for the protestants driven out of Bohemia by Ferdinand II., 1654. It has about 3400 inhabitants. It stands in a rough and very elevated district, a sort of Saxon Siberia, whose produce lies beneath the barren surface, and consists of silver, tin, lead, iron, cobalt, bismuth, uranium, &c. The men are chiefly miners, the women employ themselves in making bobbinet. The distance from this to the Bohemian frontier is not more than a mile.

4 Carlsbad is described under the head. Bohemia, in the 2d Part of the Handbook. The nearest road from Carlsbad to Dresden is by Joachimsthal, Annaberg, and Freiberg.