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page 9 ---advisors---Ferdinand Bauer's paintings
of South Seas----
Among these were the venerable Baron von Jacquin, the leader of German
botanists, who had himself passed many years in the West India islands,
and on the Terra Firma, with great advantage to science, and whose counsels
were extremely welcome to us; his worthy son; Messrs. Prohaska, Trattinik,
Host, Portenschlag, Bredemeyer, Prechtl, Meissner, etc; all of whom testified
great interest in our enterprise. But what particularly animated our courage
and enthusiasm was the personal acquaintance of Ferdinand Bauer, the painter,
who had accompanied Captain Flinders on his voyage to the South
Sea and to New Holland,
and was then actually engaged in portraying the strange forms of plants
and animals of those remote regions.
We left Vienna on the 4th of March to repair to Triest.
At Gratz we visited the Johanneum, founded by His Imperial Highness the Archduke John of Austria.
This excellent institution is chiefly designed for the propagation of
practical knowledge in the departments of natural history and the arts,
and is a noble monument to the esteem of its princely founder for the
sciences. On this occasion we became acquainted with the professors Christian
V. Vest and M.F.Mohs, and if our time had permitted, would willingly have
explored the beautiful environs of the capital of Styria, in
company with those able enquirers; but circumstances were imperious, and
we hastened away to visit the quicksilver mines of Idria. We
thought it would be very interesting to obtain by personal inspection,
a knowledge of those mines, the produce of which must prove of incalculable
benefit to Brazil, rich as it is in gold, when the importance of amalgamation shall be understood
as well as it is in Peru and Mexico.
page 10 ---silver mines of Austria---
From Laibach, the residence of the aged and venerable Baron von Zoys, who is still ardent in the study of natural history, and in possession
of an admirable collection of the minerals of the country, we proceed
to Indria, which lies
two posts to the side of the high road. The way, after many windings,
leads to an extremely deep valley, in which the little town is situated.
We passed some days there, in examining the curious formation of the slate
clay, which forms an extensive bed in compact limestone, of the rich hepatic
mercurial ores, especially the coral ores, which represents concentric
lamellar, roundish concretions, resembling petrified bivalves, and lastly,
of the extensive smelting-houses, which for many years have furnished
annually three thousand quintals of quicksilver. Returning to the high
road, we visited near Adelsburg, the caves in what is called
the cavern limestone, in which are found not only loose skulls and other
human bones, together with rosaries, but the object of our journey required
haste, and we set out immediately, after having by fortunate chance obtained
eighteen living specimens of the Proteus
anguinus which is found here.
 
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