The natural beauties of the part of the country where Chopin now was have gained for it the name of Polish Switzerland.

The principal sights are the Black Cave, in which during the bloody wars with the Turks and Tartars the women and children used to hide themselves; the Royal Cave, in which, about the year 1300, King Wladyslaw Lokietek sought refuge when he was hardly pressed by the usurper Wenceslas of Bohemia; and the beautifully-situated ruins of Ojcow Castle, once embowered in thick forests.

Having enjoyed to the full the beauties of Polish Switzerland, Chopin continued his journey merrily and in favourable weather through the picturesque countries of Galicia, Upper Silesia, and Moravia, arriving in Vienna on July 31.
Chopin's letters tell us very little of his sight-seeing in the Austrian capital, but a great deal of matters that interest us far more deeply.
He brought, of course, a number of letters of introduction with him.
Among the first which he delivered was one from Elsner to the publisher Hashnger, to whom Chopin had sent a considerable time before some of his compositions, which, however, still remained in manuscript.

Haslinger treated Elsner's pupil with an almost embarrassing politeness, and, without being reminded of the MSS.

in question, informed his visitor that one of them, the variations on La ci darem la mano, would before long appear in the Odeon series.