FORTIa’s TRAVELS IN SWEDEN.

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fibocr'e is favu-hmcs found; mountain leather (cuir de montagne); mountain flefli(chair do montagne) ; mountain cork ; amianthus, occafionally blended with galena ;/reen, yellow, and black Terpentine ; red garnets in galena ; folid black trapp ; ftea-tites ; potter’s ftone ; and brown mica.

From Sahla to Afvcftad, four miles and a half, by Brodbo and Viggarne. At the firffcftnge you have a charming profpect of a lake, which you crofs over a raifed way : theroads were-good enough the two firft. ftages, at the third they were bad. Near Sahlayou crofs a i’malL river which furniihes water for the works of the mine. A Quarter ofa mile before you reach Viggarne is a barrier , with a cuftcm-houfe, belonging to theproprietors of Sablbcrg mine; after which, on the left, you pafs over a bad bye road,leaving the highway to Afveftad on the right. As you leave Viggarne you return af-ter a long courie to the highway. r l he froft was entirely gone at Stockholm , yet atSahla we found the lakes were hill frozen over, and in different parts the lnow yet laid.On this road we did not meet with fo many gates as between Stockholm and Sahla;and thefe are very incommodious, as they fo frequently oblige you to defeend in orderto open them. Dalecarlia begins at about the middle of the laft ftage.

Afveftad. The refinery of copper is the only interefiing object in this little town ; forwhich eftabliihment there is a-quarter fet apart of pretty large extent. You cannotleave the town without prefenting at the gate the infpeftor’s ticket (the infpe&or is Mr.Stokenftrceum, who conduced us every where, but who underftands the Swedifh lan-guage alone). The firft refiner of /this eftabliihment was Marcus Koch , born in 1585 ,he died 16^9, as is feen by his portrait at the infpeclor’s houfe ; he was born at Liege ,and was ennobled by Guftavus Adolphus. We were firft fliewn the furnaces in whichthe copper is melted, which comes from Fahlun ; each furnace melts from five to fixfhippunds, when put in it is called rokoppar , and becomes garkoppar ; that which is notpure copper pafles again into another furnace ; this firft procefs generally takes up fixhours ; it is however of longer or fliorter time according to the purity of the copper.The copper is laid in bars, with the coal above, in crucibles fhaped like an invertedcone ; at the bottom is a bed made of charcoal and clay, mixed together as at Sahla.There are fix crucibles and furnaces for this operation in three (hops, each of which hasfour workmen. When the copper is in a ftate of fulion, the firft Iheet or layer is lufferedto cool in the open air, afterwards on the others water is thrown, and the whole is with-drawn by layers, which become fmailer and fmaller on account of the Ihape of the cru-cible ; thefe are laid in piles one above another; the crucibles contain about 40 layersmore or lefs: the fineft particles of copper rife and adhere to iron bars placed infidethe chimney, from which they are afterwards withdrawn. Each furnace has an im-menfe bellows worked by water. Nothing but charcoal is ufed, of which there arelarge warehoufes full; the annual confumption is twelve thoufand lafts, each of twelvetons. There is another building, in which are two machines that work eight peftlesfor pounding the clay and charcoal, of which the bed of the crucible is made, and towhich many particles of copper adhere; afterwards this duft is wafhed the fame asat Sahla. Between thefe two pounding machines you pafs under a vault, whence fallsa very pretty fmall cafcade. In another building are fix hammers for flattening thecopper into fheets : there are befides fmaller hammers for thofe fheets of which copper-pans and other utenfils are made. In the fame place with the hammers for flatteningare alfo two furnaces, one contains a veffel in which the metal is fufed, whence it is la-dled out and poured into moulds made of charcoal, clay, and iron mixed together ; inthefe it cools, and while yet red, it is withdrawn from the moulds and placed beneaththe hammers. It is afterwards heated anew feveral times until it be fufflciently flattened :