for dead, was obliged to seek refuge in one of the forestsof Istria, where he was apprehended, and afterwardsrescued by a band of robbers who had long infested thatquarter. With these banditti he spent nine months, until,by a close investiture of the place in which they were con-cealed, and after a very obstinate resistance, in which thegreater part of them were killed, he was taken and carriedto Vienna , to be broken alive on the wheel. This punish-ment was, by the intercession of his friends, changed intothat of perpetual confinement and labour in the mines ofIdria—a sentence which, to a noble mind, was worse thandeath. To these mines he was accompanied by the Countess,his lady, who belonged to one of the first families in Ger many , and who, having tried evety means to procure herhusband’s pardon without effect, resolved at length toshare his miseries, as she could not relieve them. Theywere terminated, however, by his pardon being procuredby the general with whom he had fought the duel, on thelatter bfeing recovered from his wounds; and this noble-man, on his return to Vienna , was again taken into favour,and restored to his fortune and rank.
Native iron, the existence of which was formerlyquestioned, has been found in several places .• it is, how-ever, far from being common, and occurs in several mines.A. mass of this description of iron was discovered in thedistrict of Santiago del Estero , in South America , bya party of Indians, in the midst of a wide extended plain.It projected about a foot above the ground, nearly thewhole of its upper surface being visible ; and the news ofits having been found in a country where there are not anymountains, nor even the smallest stone, within the circum-ference of a hundred leagues, was considered as truly sur-prising. Although the journey was attended with great“anger, on account of the want of water, and abundance? wild beasts in these deserts, several individuals, in theQpe of gain, undertook to visit this mass; and, havingaccomplished their journey, sent a specimen of the metalto Lima and Madrid, where it was found to be very puremft iron.
As it was reported that this mass was the extremity ofW 3 ,