1816: the Grandest Tour

Italy: Chapter 3

With Salzburg's major sites examined and a suitable guide found, George felt it was high time they press on for Italy. Part of this was the familiar urge for dear Susan. Not knowing her whereabouts he hadn't been able to post a letter in weeks, and he was still much put out at what he could only assume was that wretched French governess's perfidy at getting Susan to leave Munich before they arrived. But that was only part of it. In fact a strange longing had emerged in him for the South in general: for an end to this gloomy weather, to his uncertain worries, for answers about poor Dr. Boxborough, and simply to catch his breath – to take in and consider all he'd seen and would see. Perhaps this leisure would never come. Yet such a tour as they'd had thus far, even before reaching Italy, could not be called anything but Grand.

They spent a final day re-packing, writing letters home, and resting for the journey ahead. Another practical task was finding a new driver, as Florian could take them no further. He'd been their best conductor by far, yet the more distant he drew from home the more it would cost him to return. George and Tobias understood perfectly well, sorry as they were to see him go. So after rewarding the flaxen-haired Teuton with his full pay and a good bonus, they released him and spent the afternoon in search of a replacement. Tobias initially suggested they find an Italian, who might be able to last them through the Austrian Alps and at least a portion of his native country. They soon found this proposition to be as actionable as setting out in a dinghy to rescue Napoleon from Saint Helena.

Despairing of an Italian driver, they settled on a solid-looking man named Georg. George had always been amused by the Germanic version of his own name, and this may have played a part in the selection. In any event, Georg seemed genuine and reliable enough for the next couple of weeks.

The three-night stay at an end they ventured south, setting their course through the Alpine passes for the border-town of Villach. Several towns of some interest lay on the way, the first of which was hardly an hour's drive out of Salzburg. This was Hallein, which Tobias read in his guide was renowned for its production of salt. At first George and Isaac found the idea of salt hardly prepossessing. But when their companion read the vivid description of its most famous mine, which allowed the occasional visitor, both felt the spark of curiosity starting to return. They inquired of Otto if he knew much of the place, but he demurred that he'd rarely visited.

Despite their guide's puzzling ignorance, it took little time to locate the mine in question. Following road signs they wended up a steep road to near the top of a modest mountain, where they found the mine shaft's entrance. It happened to be the feast day of an important saint, so no work was underway and the guards were happy to take the curious foreigners down for a tour. The party of four crowded onto a little platform with only a wooden frame and roof for structural integrity. One of the guards gave a blast on his whistle, and another began moving an ingenious rope system. The pulleys lowered them, with only a few jumps and jerks, down into an abyss of total darkness.

The three young men gripped the sides tightly as sound and light slowly faded to nothing. George felt as if he might be descending into hell – but a curious circle of it that lacked the standard inferno. Lower and lower they glided, with the hole above them shrinking to a pocket-size, and then a pinprick-size, then hardly there at all. None spoke, but everyone sensed when the narrow shaft opened to an immense cavern. The space wasn't high, but a clear echo from the pulleys and rails suggested the mine stretched out for miles.

At long last they hit bottom, and a guard carrying a lantern helped them off the platform. His eyes adjusting slowly to the cavern, George now saw a few more sources of light in covered torches lining the walls. They numbered only a dozen or so, but gave off enough light to show off a vast subterranean world like nothing they'd ever encountered. The guard, clearly grateful to have some company, began a tour of the most accessible highlights, assuring them that certain tunnels stretched all the way off to pass under the border with Bavaria.