The famous mines of Wieliezka, in the lower Carpathians, about eight miles from the city of Cracow--with their underground roads, houses, and monuments; their churches, ball-rooms, and restaurants; their lakes, bridges, and railway stations--constitute a city commemorative of the art and industry of bygone periods, and present a spectacle, weird and splendid, that reminds one of the marvels of the Thousand-and-One Nights. The Wieliezka system, which has been in operation since the thirteenth century, extends over an area of about twelve square miles, and reaches a maximum depth of some 12,000 ft. The various galleries at present accessible have an aggregate length of 65 miles, and the total length of mining railways is about thirty miles. Each mine consists of five storeys. The first storey is about 200 ft. below the surface, and between the different storeys a body of earth or salt from 80 ft. to 100 ft. thick is left. As in Northwich, many of the old workings in Wieliezka have fallen in, and whole chambers and streets have been engulfed in the holes. Broad staircases connect the various storeys, each of which boasts its distinctive chambers and thoroughfares. The air in the upper levels is much more moist than in the lower excavations, with the result that the salt statues in these apartments are gradually losing their shape. The head of one is nearly gone, the arms of another are wasted; while the deeper furrows, which are observable upon the sculptured bodies, give them a grotesque appearance. The smoke of lamps and wicks adds to the moisture of the air and darkens the surface of the statues, which might be carved in black marble. Onward and downward one proceeds, the stairways appear to be innumerable; the visitor loses all sense of depth, distance, and direction; chambers and passages lead to further chambers and passages, until the tour of the workings leaves one with a dominating impression of limitless repetition. Everything is of solid salt, except where some insecure roof is supported by huge timbers or a wooden bridge is thrown over some vast chasm. As depth is attained the air grows drier and purer, and the points and faces of the rock become more crystalline and beautiful. Onward and downward still, through labyrinths of shafts, galleries, and chambers, up crooked passages, and under vaulted archways, that lead into innumerable, unnamed smaller apartments. [Illustration: WIELIEZKA SALT MINES, GALICIA. THE BEAUTIFUL FRANCIS JOSEPH BALL ROOM, MADE OF SALT. THE CHANDELIERS ARE MADE OF POLISHED SALT CRYSTALS]