RTH SlA , ; .... THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID _:\ - Front. A. COBNISH TIN MINE. THE TREASURES OF THE EARTH OR, MINES, MINERALS, AND METALS. BY WILLIAM JONES, F.S.A. AUTHOR OF "THE BROAD BROAD OCEAN," ETC. WITH ORIGINAL LLUSTRATIONS. LONDON : FREDERICK WARNE AND CO BEDFORD STREET STRAND. LONDON : BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. TO MY CHILDREN, IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. BROADGATE, NEAR BARNSTAPJ.B. M37S728 PREFACE. WHEN Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, wished to descend into the copper mines at Falun, his courtiers begged him not to risk his life. " A king," he replied, " is not worth a straw, who does not look into his treasury'' On arriving at a freshly-hewn chamber, where the copper ore shone bright and glittering, he exclaimed, "What should such a potentate be who possesses a palace like this ! " These were the wise words of a great monarch who could appreciate the bounty of Providence in storing up the " treasures of the earth " for the welfare of his people. I have endeavoured, in the following pages, to blend amusement with instruction, and thus initiate the youth- ful reader into the " mysteries " of mining ; for to many persons, irrespective of age, such pursuits have this cha- racter. The subject is interesting from every point of view, especially when we consider that upon our mining resources, and the progress of our manufactures, depends, in a great measure, the commercial superiority of our country. In relating visits to mines, the treatment of metals and minerals, and the various uses to which they are applied, I have avoided, as much as possible, all techni- calities, or I have simplified them so as to be readily understood by the uninformed reader. PREFACE. I have added some brief sketches of remarkable persons, who have been connected with mining pursuits, as examples to the rising generation of what steadiness, perseverance, and talent can achieve in the walks of industry : " What simple Nature yields (And Nature does her part) are only rude Materials, cumbers on the thorny ground : 'Tis toil that makes them wealth." PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. THE following work, originally intended for a limited circle of young readers, has received, within a few months, the honour of a second edition. I have been, conse- quently, enabled to insert three additional chapters, viz., " On Precious Stones, and Superstitions connected with them," " Crowns," and " Common Stones." I have also added to the sketches of " Eminent Men who have been connected with Mining," a few other names, conspicuous in the annals of science for their valuable assistance to mining interests. W. J. BROADGATE, BARNSTAPLE, CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE PRECIOUS METALS. Geld and silver mentioned in the Scriptures Mining operations of the ancients Abundance of the precious metals Story of Croesus Story of Midas Story of Olaf Eager The hermit and the robbers -Alchemy The Philosopher's stone Story of an Italian alchemist Boyle and the alchemist Impostures How tricks were performed Verses, the true philosopher's stone I CHAPTER II. WHERE THE PRECIOUS METALS ARE FOUND. No metal more widely diffused throughout nature than gold Found in rocku and the beds of rivers and torrents Ural district of Russia Mexico Hungary Transylvania Gipsy gold-seekers Spain Chili Brazil- England How the Wicklow gold mines in Ireland were discovered California Description of the gold regions The first discovery Stories about the early diggers Australia First discoveries The gold-searchers New Zealand Nova Scotia How the mines in Guiana were found British Columbia How discovered Canada Gold found in a pullet -Silver in mules after death in the claws of pigeons, &c. . 2O CHAPTER III. THE SILVER MINES OF SOUTH AMERICA. Forms in which silver is found Native silver Mexico and Peru The great silver-yielding countries Mines of Mexico and Peru Pasco How the mines were discovered Story of the shepherd Tricks of the Indian miners Story of the Salcedo mine Riches of the San Jos6 mines Present to a Viceroy Secrecy of the Indians with regard to mines Story in corroboration Story of a Franciscan monk and a silver mine The mines of Potosi Reverse of fortune by mine-seekers Consumption of silver ........ .... 37 CHAPTER IV. A CHAT ABOUT COALS. Comparison between coal and gold Benefitsderived from coal Discomforts in former days from the want of coal London : how lighted Coal known in early times Royal edicts against the use of coal What is coal ? Its origin Singular study of coal in the mines of Bohemia The composition of coal Dangerous gases in coal . . . . viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. A GLANCE AT A COAL MINE. PAGE Analogy between the mole and the human miner Ball given in a coal mine The miners at Wolverhampton on the Queen's visit A Newcastle coal pit Depths of mines Descent Galleries Boys and horses Extent of passages Pillars Women and children severely worked formerly The hewer of coal Putters Various employments of the miners Ventilation Workmen on the surface Dress of the coal diggers Dangers in the mine Falling in of the roof Explosions of gas Fire-damp Great loss of life Safety-lamps Anecdote of George Stephenson The " Davy Lamp " explained Coal mines set on fire by accident or purposely Gurney's system of extinguishing fire Mines overflowed by water Accident at Newcastle Singular discovery of a coal mine near Liverpool 57 CHAPTER VI. THE COPPER AND TIN MINES OF CORNWALL AND DEVONSHIRE. Copper mentioned in the Holy Scriptures Copper mining in England Copper one of the most abundant of the metals The Burra-Burra mine in Australia Native copper, where found Copper springs of Wicklow how discovered Uses of copper Singular figure of an eagle in copper Tin Probable mention of tin in the Bible Produced in Cornwall from the earliest periods Found in other countries Descriptions of tin Uses of tin Tin plates Tin streaming Description of a metal mine Mines discovered by accident Divining-rod formerly used True indications of metallic deposits Operations in opening a mine Working of a mine Man- - Engines for conveying miners to their work Tools of the miners Blasting the rocks with gunpowder Safety fuse Treatment of the metal ores Stamping, smelting, &c. Captain of a mine. 74 CHAPTER VII. ANECDOTES OF MINERS. Difference between minii.g in ancient times and modern Fearful condition of the slaves in mines Character of the modern miner Cornwall Influence of the Rev. John Wesley on the Cornish miners Mode of life Good sailors in time of war Honesty of a Cornish miner Excep- tion to good qualities Staffordshire colliers Their appearance Singular habits Northern colliers Their appearance Mode of living Going home from the mine Pit villages JtSoy miners Occupation after work Cottages of the colliers Customs of the pitmen of Sunder- land Celebration of Christmas Habits of the miners in the lead districts Biography of an aged miner 9 2 CHAPTER VIII. SUPERSTITIONS OF MINERS. Superstitions of miners in the Middle Ages Spirits in the Welsh mines Belief in pixies Noises in mines accounted for Goblin miners in Staffordshire The imp Gathon Incident in the South Devon Wharf mine How accounted for- Sprights, or " small people " in mines Fairy-butter in mines Superstitions connected with vegetables grow- CONTENTS. 5x PACK ing in mines Dragons Superstitions of the Arabian miners Evil spirits in the shape of spiders The corpse-candle Incident in the Cyfartha works Belief in apparitions The Dean miners The Corn- ish mines The pixies in the mines at Christmas Eve Superstitions connected with the divining-rod In what manner used Discovery of mines through dreams . . . . . . . . . IO7 CHAPTER IX. PERILS AND ESCAPES OF MINERS. Escape of a miner buried under a fall of earth in Hucklow mine, Derbyshire Incident to two miners in the Godbeheres Founder mine, Derbyshire Dangerous explosion inHuycliff mine Escape of a miner Earthquakes in mines Shock in the lead mines near Eyam Shock in the Marien- berg mines Falling in of the earth in one of the Staffordshire collieries Escape of the miners Overflowing of water in Quarrelton coal mine Escape of the miners Accident at Irvine Escape of seventy-four miners in a coal mine at Liege .. . . . . . 1 1 7 CHAPTER X. CURIOUS DISCOVERIES IN MINES. Discovery of remarkable caverns by the Yorkshire Mining Company Caverns in Iceland Peak cavern in Derbyshire Speedwell Mine Old Tor Mine Caverns at Huttpn Bone caverns Dream Cave, near Wirksworth Bauman's Hole in the Hartz Mountains Dudley Castle mines Discovery of ancient mining tools in Spanish mines Altar and statues Relics of ancient miners in the mines of Lake Superior Ditto in Cornwall Discovery of the Emerald mines of Mount Zebarah, in Egypt Account of the explorations Limestone cavern of Ale Burn in Cumberland described Cavern found in the mines of Hodgill Burn, Cumberland 139 CHAPTER XL MINES UNDER THE SEA. The St. Just Cornish mining district The Crown mines Sensation in a submarine mine during a storm The Levant mines Threatened breaking in of the sea Visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to the Botallack mine Enthusiastic reception Visit of James the Sixth to the submarine collieries of Culross Terror of the king The " Wherry " mine at Penzance Worked at one time by a single miner Attempts to keep the sea out of the shaft Extraordinary perseverance and ultimate success Destruction of the mine Submarine coal mines at Whitehaven Two instances recorded in ancient history of mines under the sea . 1 53 CHAPTER XII. IRON AND ITS USES. Plentiful distribution of iron by nature Purposes to which iron is applied Iron known from the earlier ages The smith much esteemed in former times Iron forging and the Turks Iron mines of England Native iron Meteorites Reason of the superiority of the British iron- works Coal-fields produce iron ore Smelting the iron ore Varieties of iron ore Description Explanation of aerolites Masses of native iron, where found Banks of iron made by animalcules Steel, how made Manufacture of bars and rods Anecdote of Foley, the fiddler Origin of cast steel Story of a Sheffield iron founder Nasmyth's sUam hammer ......,... iuj CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. MINING ADVENTURE IN RUSSIA. PAGE Mineral resources of Russia Siberia Visit of the Emperor Alexander to a gold mine Skill of the Russian engineers Mines in the Ural Mountains Story of Major His eccentricities Singular cleverness Assassinated by miners Discovery of the murderers by a Russian police officer Miners' Training college at St. Petersburg Visit to the Museum Rare and valuable metals System at the college Inspection of a counterfeit mine constructed for the use of the mining pupils Io2 CHAPTER XIV. THE LEAD. MINES OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. Visit to a lead factory Manufacture of sheet lead Uses Lead mentioned in Scripture Lead pipes Abundance of the ore of lead Description Mode of extracting the metal Visit to a lead mine in Cumberland The lead works at Nent Lead districts in England Ancient mode of smelt- ing the ore General uses of lead Pewter Chinese mode of making tinfoil Manufacture of shot Origin of the process Curious dream of the inventor Litharge described White lead Process of making Separation of silver from lead Lead mines of Spain Hungary Danger from the fumes of lead Poisonous properties of lead Lead pencils Graphite the mines of Borrovvdale in Cumberland . . . . 1 94 CHAPTER XV. DIAMOND MINES AND CELEBRATED DIAMONDS. Stories about diamond-finding The adventures of Sindbad the sailor in the valley of jewels, founded upon a statement of Marco Polo Position of diamond mines or districts Golconda, the mine discovered by an accident Tavernier's visit to the mines of Golconda in the seventeenth century Account of the mines at that period Raolconde Diamonds purchased by Indian boys Singular discovery of the Brazilian diamond mines Diamonds mistaken for pebbles Account of the diamond-seekers in Brazil Sincora diamond mine in Bahia How discovered Amusing story of a presumed diamond A diamond described Rough diamonds How the diamond is cut and polished Diamond mill Explanation of the term " carat " Celebrated diamonds The Mattan Koh-i-noor Singular history of the Koh-i-noor Diamonds of the Emperors of Russia and Austria The Regent Curious story connected with the Sanci diamond The Hastings diamond Superstitions connected with the diamond Uses of diamonds independent of ornament Description of the State Crown of Great Britain 213 CHAPTER XVI. PRECIOUS STONES, AND SUPERSTITIONS CONNECTED WITH THEM. Chemical value of precious stones Mention of them in the Bible Amulets Strange notions of the Jews Superstitions of the Greeks and Romans Orpheus on precious stones Cave of Hermes The ring of Prometheus Jewel of Polycrates Ring of Gyges Sympathy between seven planets and seven precious stones Natal stones of the Poles Similes from CONTENTS. xl PACK Jewels Eastern fables Aladdin's adventures Origin of fables in the "Arabian Nights" Ceylon famous for its jewels Gems in granite rocks Cingalese method of searching for precious stones Ratnapoora the city of jewels Ruby and sapphire mines of Pegu and Ava Pliny on precious stones Roman love of jewellery Precious stones offered to the gods Shrines adorned with gems Tomb of Thomas a Becket Precious stones in the Abbey of St. Denis The Oriental ruby- Wonders of crystallization Large rubies Fabulous accounts of rubies Super- stitions connected with the ruby The noble opal Finest specimens of the opal The Cat's-eye, a variety of the noble opal Curious specimen in the Marlborough collection Opal of the Empress Josephine Super- stitions connected with the opal Oriental Sapphire Where found Largest known Emerald Worshipped by the ancient Peruvians Re- markable stories and superstitions connected with the emerald Clever imitations of the emerald Amethyst Where found Superstitions con- nected with the amethyst Beryl Where found Fine specimens in the British Museum Superstitions Turqupis Wonderful properties Where found Agates An impure variety of chalcedony First engraved gem mentioned by Pliny Curious natural figures on agates Superstitious belief in the Middle Ages respecting engraved gems Fanciful delusions of the ancients concerning agates Queen Elizabeth's agate Shakspere's allusion to the agate Topaz Where found Fabu- lous stories of the ancients respecting the topaz Supposed virtues of the Chrysolite Jasper Talismanic properties of the jasper Garnet Whence obtained Carnelian Derivation of the name Wonderful virtues Lapis-lazuli Highly esteemed by the ancients Fabrication of ferns Collection of false gems by the Regent Orleans, of France ignet-rings of Mithridates Poniatowski's modern gems French col- lections of camei . 235 CHAPTER XVII. CROWNS. Crowns Types of the Redemption Mentioned in Scripture Origin of crowns Diadems Ancient Gothic crowns in the Cluny Museum at Paris Account of some British crowns Crown pledged by Henry III. Crown jewels of James I. State crown of Charles I. St. Edward's crown Blood's attempt to steal the regalia in the Tower Robbery of state jewels in France State crowns of George IV. and Queen Victoria Coronet of the Prince of Wales Origin of the ostrich feathers Coro- nets of the royal family Crown of Charlemagne Crown of Hungary Superstition connected with it Iron crown of Italy Legendary account of it Coronation of the Emperor Napoleon I. at Milan Russian Impe- rial treasury in the Kremlin Sumptuous crown regalia in it Anecdote connected with the state crown of Alexander I. of Russia . . .270 CHAPTER XVIII. COMMON STONES. Common stones Sermons in stones Geology A piece of granite Mont Blanc Beautiful shapes of granite rocks Value of granite in the arts Fine specimens of Egyptian granite in the British Museum Lime Composition, and great importance Chalk Microscopic wonders in a lump of chalk Ehrenberg's experiment Chalk cliffs of old England Marble Primary formation of rocks Secondary formation Tertiary strata Fossil remains Value of fossils Revelations afforded by them ! CONTENTS. Lyme Regis rich in fossils Conflagrations of the cliffs First disco- verers of fossils, or "curiosities' Mary Anning, and the skeleton of the ichthyosaurus Description of the fossil plesiosairus found at Lyme Regis The animal described by the late Dean Buckland The mega- losaurus The pterodactyl in the British Museum Cuvier's account of the fossils in the lime quarries at Paris Dangerous state of the quarries Converted into catacombs Flint Description and value of it Uses to which flint is applied Manufacture of glass Composition of earths Asbestos Use of Asbestos in ancient times Fossils in flints Coprolites Extensive beds of, in Cambridge and Suffolk Uses to which they are applied 295 CHAPTER XIX. THE QUICKSILVER MINES OF ALMADEN, CALIFORNIA, AND IDRIA. Great value of mercury or quicksilver Important uses in the arts Ho\r applied to the manufacture of looking-glasses Percussion caps De. scription of quicksilver State in which it is found Native amalgam o! mercury explained Cinnabar or vermilion Dangerous powers of quicksilver in a state of vapour Description of the quicksilver mines at Almaden California Peru Idria How the mines of Idria were discovered 319 CHAPTER XX. THE SALT MINES OF WIELICZKA AND HALLE. Invaluable properties of salt Salt frequently mentioned in the Bible Symbol of friendship in ancient times Supply of salt exhaustless State in which it is found Scarcity in former times Monopolized by the Venetians Salt mines Rock-salt described Northwich, in Cheshire, the principal of the salt mines Visit to the mines Salt dis- trict of Cordona, in Spain Countries where salt is found Visit to the salt mines of Wieliczka Account of the salt mines at Halle Natural brine Droitwich, Stoke, and Nantwich Salt-works at Droitwich Brine springs of Cheshire Salt gardens in France, Spain, and Portugal Process of obtaining salt described Story of a Maltese clockmaker and his salt-works Curious results of his attempts Boiling of sea water Process described- Description of the Salt Lake at Utah Immense consumption of salt Uses to which salt is applied Concluding remarks. 3 2 7 CHAPTER XXI. EMINENT MEN WHO HAVE BEEN CONNECTED WITH MINING. Martin Luther, son of a miner George Stephenson Richard Trevithick Thomas Bewick William Symington William Fairbairn James Beaumont Neilson Dr. Charles Hutton Alexander Von Humboldt William Llewellyn Demidoff Hugh Miller Edmund Hammond Hargraves Sir Roderick Impey Murchison Robert Hunt Sir Hugh Middleton Sir Humphry Davy 356 THE TREASURES OF THE EARTH, CHAPTER I. THE PRECIOUS METALS. ALL records point to GOLD and SILVER as the earliest metals known. The Scriptures, the most ancient writings we possess, abound with notices of them. You will remember that gold is mentioned in the second chapter of Genesis as in use, and familiarly known before the flood : " The name of the first is Pison, that is it which encompasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good." The Hebrew word for gold is zeb, signifying to be clear, to shine ; alluding, doubtless, to the brilliancy of that metal. The term gold occurs frequently in the writings of Moses, and that metal must have been in common use among the Egyptians when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, which is generally believed to have been one thousand six hundred and forty-eight years before the commencement of the Christian era. Silver, also, was not only familiarly known to the Egyptians in the timeu>f Moses, but, as we learn in the Book of Genesis, it was coined into money before Joseph p, THE PRECIOUS METALS. was set over the land of Egypt by Pharaoh, which happened eight hundred and seventy-two years before Christ, and consequently two hundred and twenty-four years before the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt. If you refer to the forty-seventh chapter of Genesis, you will find that "Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house." The Hebrew word kemep, translated money, signifies silver, and was so called from its pale colour. You will recollect that after the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt the gold ear-rings of the females were sufficient to form the golden calf which was impiously worshipped, and that the contributions levied on the males, for ornament- ing the temporary tabernacles in the wilderness, amounted to a large sum, equal, in our days, to two hundred thou- sand pounds. Again, when Gideon defeated the Midianites, we find that he collected the ear-rings of the conquered, which amounted in value to nearly five thousand pounds of our money. In the wars which the Jews sustained with the nations that lay between the desert and the land of Canaan, they were very careful in preserving the gold and silver found among their heathen opponents. At Jericho the precious metals were deposited in the public treasury. The " Book of Kings " contains frequent mention of the gold of Ophir, a region from which the ships of Solomon (fitted out in the harbours of Edom) brought gold. The voyage occupied three years. Where Ophir was situated has been much debated; Josephus, the THE PHCENICIANS. Jewish historian, places it in the peninsula of Malacca. Solomon employed the gold thus obtained in ornament- ing the interior of the temple at Jerusalem, and a wonderful building this must have been, unequalled for beauty and richness. It is said that this great king " overlaid the house within with pure gold, and made a partition by the chains of gold before the 'oracle ;' and he overlaid the oracle with gold, and the whole house he overlaid with gold, till he had furnished the whole house; also the whole altar, that was by the oracle, he overlaid with gold." We also learn from the Bible that all the utensils of Solomon were of goJd, which was nothing accounted of in those days. I will now relate to you through what source the precious metals were chiefly distributed. Phoenicia (so called from its abounding in date trees) and in the time of Solomon had risen into great power and opulence, comprehended but a very narrow tract of land between Mount Libanus and the sea, bounded by the Mediter- ranean on the west, by Syria to the north and east, and Judaea to the south. Its length may be said to have been two hundred miles, whilst its breadth never exceeded twenty miles. Phoenicia did not constitute one single state, but consisted of several cities, con- nected by a federation, at the head of which stood Sidon, the greatest maritime city in the ancient world, frequently mentioned in the histories of Moses and Joshua; and Tyre, its rival, styled in Joshua the " strong city." The Phoenicians, the great trading people in the early ages, were famous for their knowledge ot metals. Their mining operations in the Lebanon and Cyprus, where they dug for copper; in Thasos, one of the Thracian Islands, where, according to Herodotus, they overturned THE PRECIOUS METALS. a whole mountain in searching for gold ; but more par- ticularly in Iberia or Spain, where at first silver was so abundant that scarcely any labour was required to obtain it, were stupendous. The minute description of the mining process contained in the Book of Job (xxviii. i n) was probably derived from a sight of their work. The artists sent by Hiram from Sidon to Solomon were, we are told, skilful workers in gold and silver. The abundance of the precious metals among the Phoenicians was so great that the account reads more like a fable than a reality. When the mines of Spain were first discovered by them, not having room to store away all the silver in their vessels, they are said to have made even their anchors of that metal. The great wealth of these mines is clear, from the fact that even in the time of the Romans forty thousand men were con- tinually employed upon them. It has been observed, from the relics of the ancient inhabitants of Spain and other countries as shown in the Museum at Copenhagen, for instance that in many tools and weapons gold is profusely employed, and iron seems to have been scantily used. In that museum are swords, daggers, and knives, the blades of which are gold, whilst an edge of iron is formed for the purpose of cutting. So immense in ancient times was the quantity of gold and silver, that it is difficult to credit what is related by some historians. The total value of the precious metals and other treasures contained in the Temple of Belus at Babylon has been computed to exceed ;i 20,000,000,000 sterling of our own money. The gold and silver taken by Cyrus in the conquest of Asia was ^126,224,000. We are also told that the treasures collected by the kings of Persia were enormous, and that Alexander, having STORY OF CRCESUS. conquered that empire, drew from it annually to the amount of ^67, 500,000 ; probably this was not all gold, though, no doubt, there was a great quantity of this metal. Gold and silver would thus appear to have been plen- tiful in ancient times, and were probably accumulated in greater quantities in certain localities than at present. " Rich as Croesus" has become a proverb. It does not prove however, that the acquisition of wealth, for money's sake, can, in any manner, make us happier or more con- tented, but, on the contrary, it often proves a source of misery and anxiety, and is more frequently a curse than a blessing. In the case of Croesus, his riches (which are said to have amounted in value to a million and a half sterling of our money) were the cause of his misfortunes. He was the last king of Lydia, in Asia Minor (560 years before Christ), and became a powerful monarch. By his conquests, his mines, and the golden sands of the river Pac- tolus (which flowed through his lands), he accumulated vast treasures, and gave himself up to sumptuous extrava- gance. Having everything to gratify his desires, he is said to have considered himself the happiest man in the world, and to have been displeased when Solon, one of the wise men of Greece, told him that no man should be called happy until his death. He soon found out how uncertain was such happiness as his, for his beloved son Atys was killed while hunting, and there was left to him only one son, who was dumb. Having engaged in war with Cyrus, the founder of the Persian monarchy, he was totally defeated, his kingdom conquered, and himself made prisoner, and condemned to be burnt. At the funereal pile his repeated exclamation of "Oh, Solon!" drew on him the attention of Cyrus, and the reason being explained, his life was spared. The story I have THE PRECIOUS METALS. related to you is true, and that which J now mention, although fabulous, will serve to show how vain are our aspirations for riches, and how little is our contentment in possessing them. How much better was the prayer of king Solomon for what is more precious than all the treasures of gold and silver, " an understanding heart " to judge rightly in the sight of God ! In the early part of the life of Midas, king of Phrygia, in Asia Minor, it is related that he found a large treasure, to which he owed his greatness and opulence. The hos- pitality he showed to Silenus, the preceptor of Bacchus, the heathen god of wine, who had been brought to him by some peasants, was liberally rewarded ; and Midas, when he conducted the old man back to the god, was permitted to choose whatever recompence he pleased. He had the imprudence and the avarice to demand of Bacchus that whatever he touched might be turned into gold His prayer was granted, but he was soon con- vinced of his unwise choice, and when the very meats which he attempted to eat became gold in his mouth he begged Bacchus to take back a present so fatal to the receiver. He was ordered to wash himself in the river Pactolus, whose sands, it is pretended, were turned into gold by the touch of Midas. " Gold, gold, money untold ! " Cried Midas to Bacchus, beseeching. Said the god, " I'm afraid, By the prayer you have made, You are vastly too overreaching. But the gold I will grant, Ay, more than you want." Said Midas, " My coffer Holds more than your offer, So grant me the treasure without stint or measure." STORY OF MIDAS. Gold, gold, money untold, King Midas fomd came to his wishes ; Wherever he trod, Rich gold was the sod, Gold covered his meat and his dishes ! No mint more prolific, His touch was specific, And turned all to ore that was gold to the core. Gold, gold, money untold ! "Alas !" cried the monarch, confounded, H I would rather, I think, Have good victuals and drink Than be with such metal surrounded. Mighty Bacchus, I pray Let your gift pass away, For gold, of itself, can no hunger allay !" "Gold, gold, money untold," Said the god to the penitent miser, " Is a gift of no worth To the children of earth, Nor makes them the better or wiser 1 But a way I'll unfold To wash off your gold, If you wish me to be your adviser." ' ' Gold, gold, money untold, To be rid of you I will endeavour." So the king laid aside Both his robes and his pride, And plunged into Pactolus river. From his skin fell away All the gold, strange to say, And is left in the sands there for ever I Few, comparatively speaking, have enriched them- selves by gold-finding : the very circumstance of getting money so easily excites to extravagance, and from this cause many, through whose hands much wealth has passed, have left off as poor as when they commenced. 8 THE PRECIOUS METALS. As you grow up and enter into the busy affairs of life, you will soon find out what an influence for good, but more frequently for evil, gold exercises over the mind, and how often the best affections of our nature are sacri- ficed to avarice. I remember a story in which this is strikingly exemplified, with the retribution that always overtakes sordid people. It is one instance, out of many thousands of a similar character, that mark the world's history. Olaf Eager was a rich merchant of Odense, in Den- mark, and a man of noble and generous sentiments. He lent money to his king, Frederick the Second, who, when he visited Odense, never failed to sup at the house of his friend and subject. One night, at supper, the king praised highly some conserves of apricots. " What a sweet smell they have too !" he added. " Wait, my liege," replied Eager, "until the dessert. I will give you some incense that will please you far better." When supper was over, an incense-burner was brought, laden with perfumed cedar chips, on the top of which was laid a mass of papers. "Will your Majesty deign to light the pile?" re- quested Eager, offering a match. The king did so most graciously, and with quiet satisfaction saw reduced to powder his own bonds for sums so enormous that he had little hope of paying the debt. Time rolled on, and Eager had a numerous family. He portioned his daughters, and established his sons in business. Through some inevitable misfortunes, how- ever, the merchant became ruined, and had like King Lear, mentioned in Shakspere, to go to his children for help and refuge, but they treated him badly. " He had much better," said they, " have kept his bonds instead of THE LEGACY OF STONES. ruining himself for his sovereign's sake, and becoming a burden to his family." Olaf, sick at heart, and in want of the common neces- saries of life, felt deeply grieved, as you may imagine, at this unnatural conduct of his children, but he thought of an expedient to punish them, and to provide himself at their expense with what he needed. He went round to his various friends, and to merchants with whom he had had dealings, and returned with a heavy coffer, which he deposited in a place of safety, well closed with wrought- iron lock and key. He gave out that he had received gifts from some, and had recovered various debts long due. The contents of the box he intended to leave to the son or the daughter who treated him best. It was wonderful to see now how ready and even zealous the children of Olaf Eager were to relieve their father. There was a constant rivalry between them who should receive him best and attend to his wants. The comforts of life were showered upon him, and he was the object of the most filial solicitude. Amidst this prodigality of affection old Eager at length ended his days in peace, but not before he had addressed his children on the treasures he was about to leave them. He could make no distinction among them; all his "dutiful" children had been kind to him, so the con- tents of the coffer were to be equally divided among them. There would be enough for all. Olaf Eager was conducted in pomp and honour to his last resting-place, followed by his sorrowing children. Afterwards the will was read, the coffer opened, and it was found to be full of stones. This, you will say, was a just requital for avarice and undutiful behaviour. A VAR1CE PUNISHED. i j pointed out to them the fatal place, beseeching them at the same time to abstain from looking at it. But the thieves, resolving to know what strange thing had alarmed him, bade him lead the way, which, being in terror of his life, the hermit quickly did. and showed them the heap of gold. " Here," he said, " is the death that was in pursuit of me ;" and the thieves, seizing upon the treasure, began to rejoice exceedingly. They afterwards permitted the good man to proceed on his way, amusing themselves by ridiculing his strange conduct. At length they began to consider what they should do with the gold. One of them observed, " We ought not to leave the place with- out taking this treasure with us." " No," replied another, " we had better not do so ; but let one of us take a sir 1 portion, and set out to buy wine and meat in the c , besides many other things we are in need of; " anc 5 this the other two consented. Now the evil spirit, ~v no is always busy on these occasions, directly began to tempt the robber who was to go into the city. " As soon," whispered the bad spirit to him, " as I shall have reached the city, I will eat and drink of the best of every- thing as much as I please, and then purchase what I want. Afterwards I will mix with the food intended for my companions something which I trust will settle their account ; thus becoming sole master of the whole of the treasure, which will make me one of the richest men in this part of the world ;" and as he purposed to do, so he did. He carried the poisoned food to his companions, who, on their part, while he had been away, had come to the conclusion of killing him on his return, in order that they might divide the money among themselves, saying, " Let us fall upon him the. moment he comes, and afterwards eat what he has brought, and divide the 12 THE PRECIOUS METALS. money between us in much larger shares than before." The robber who had been into the city now returned with the articles he had bought, and was immediately killed. They then began to feast upon the provisions prepared for them, and were seized with violent pains and soon died. In this manner all three fell victims to each other's avarice and cruelty, without obtaining their ill- gotten wealth, a striking proof of the judgment of Heaven upon crime. The poor hermit thus wisely fled from the gold, which remained without a single claimant. Among the many strange ideas formerly entertained respecting the origin of the precious metals, none is more curious than the belief that gold could be made by art. This pretended discovery was called ALCHEMY, or the transmutation of metals, and originated, it is said, in Egypt, and was revived by the Arabians about six hundred years after the birth of our Saviour, whence it spread throughout Europe. The opinions of these alchemists were that all the metals are compound, that is, formed of many ingredients ; that the baser metals contained the same elements as gold, mixed, indeed, with many impurities, but capable, when these were removed, of assuming all the properties of gold. The substance possessing this wonderful power was called the philosopher's stone, and they usually de- scribed it as a red powder, having a peculiar smell. This powder was not only supposed to have a trans- muting power, but would cure all diseases, and preserve human life to a wonderful age. It is impossible to tell the nature of the processes by which the alchemists endeavoured to manufacture the philosopher's stone, or the substances they worked upon. Men of great talents devoted their lives to the investi- GOLD-MAKING, 13 gation of this prodigy, and vast sums of money were consumed in fruitless endeavours to discover it. In some cases it was pretended that gold had been made. About the year 1650 an unknown Italian came to Geneva, and took lodgings at the sign of the " Green Cross." After remaining there a day or two, he requested De Luc, the landlord, to procure him a man acquainted with Italian, to accompany him through the town, and point out those things which were worth seeing. De Luc was acquainted with a Monsieur Gros, at that time about twenty years of age, and a student at Geneva; and knowing his proficiency in the Italian language, requested him to accompany the stranger. To this proposition he willingly acceded, and attended the Italian everywhere for about a fortnight. The stranger now began to com- plain of want of money, which alarmed M. Gros not a little for at that time he was very poor, and he became apprehensive that the stranger might wish to borrow money of him. But instead of this, the Italian asked him if he was acquainted with a goldsmith, whose bellows and other utensils they might be permitted to use, and who would not refuse to supply them with the different articles requisite for a particular process which he wanted to perform. M. Gros named a M. Bureau, to whom they immediately repaired. He readily furnished crucibles, pure tin, quicksilver, and the other things required by the Italian. The goldsmith lent also his own workshop, and one of his own men as an attendant. The Italian put a quantity of tin into one crucible, and a quantity of quicksilver into another. The tin was melted in the fire, and the quicksilver heated. It was then poured into the melted tin, and at the same time a red powder enclosed in wax was thrown into the mixture. An agitation took I 4 THE PRECIOUS METALS. place, and a great deal of smoke was exhaled from the crucible; but this soon subsided, and the whole being poured out, formed six heavy ingots or masses, having the colour of gold. The goldsmith was called in by the Italian, and requested to make a rigid examination of the smallest of these ingots, which he did, and declared that he had never seen gold so perfectly pure. The Italian presented him with the smallest ingot as a recom- pence, and then, accompanied by M. Gros, he repaired to the mint, where he received a quantity of Spanish gold coin equal in weight to the ingots he had brought. To M. Gros he made a present of twenty pieces, for the attention he had paid to him \ and after paying his bill at the inn, he added fifteen pieces more to entertain M. Gros and the goldsmith for some days, and in the meantime he ordered a supper, that he might, on his return, have the pleasure of supping with them. He went away, but never returned. Another story is told, on the authority of an English bishop, who communicated it to Mangetus in the year 1685, and at the same time gave him about half an ounce of the gold which an alchemist had made. A stranger, meanly dressed, went to Mr. Boyle, and after conversing some time about chemical processes, requested to be fur- nished with some antimony (a brittle metal, easily reduced to powder), and some other common metallic substances, which then fortunately happened to be in Mr. Boyle's house. These were put into a crucible, or melting-pot, which was then placed in a furnace. As soon as these metals were fused, the stranger showed a powder to the attendants, which he threw into the crucible, and in- stantly went out, directing the servants to allow the crucible to remain in the furnace until the fire went out STOR Y OF HEL VET1US. 1 5 of its own accord, and promising, at the same time, to return in a few hours. But as he never fulfilled this promise, Boyle ordered the cover to be taken off the crucible, and found that it contained a yellow-coloured metal, possessing all the properties of pure gold, and only a little lighter than the weight of the materials put into the crucible. The following strange account is related by Helvetius, physician to a Prince of Orange. In 1666 a stranger called upon him, and after talking for some time about a medicine that was considered a cure for all evils under the sun, showed a yellow powder, which he declared to be the philosopher's stone, and, at the same time, five large plates of gold which had been made by means of it. Helvetius earnestly entreated that he would give him a little of this powder, or, at least, that he would make a trial of its power ; but the stranger refused, promising to return in six weeks. He returned accordingly, and after much entreaty gave Helvetius a piece of the powdered cake or stone, not larger than the size of a rape-seed. When Helvetius expressed his doubt whether so small a portion would be sufficient to change four grains of lead into gold, the stranger broke off one half of it, and assured him that what remained was more than sufficient for the purpose. Helvetius, during the first interview, had concealed a little of the powder below his nail. This he threw into melted lead, but it was almost all driven off in smoke, leaving only a glazy kind of earth. When he mentioned this circumstance the stranger in- formed him that the powder must be enclosed in wax before it was thrown into the melted le;.d, lest it should be injured by the smoke of the lead. The stranger promised to return the next day, but having failed to 1 6 THE PRECIOUS METALS. make his appearance, Helvetius, in the presence of his wife and son, put six drams of lead into a crucible, and as soon as it was melted, he threw into it the fragment of philosopher's stone, previously covered over with wax. The crucible was now covered, and left for a quarter of an hour in the fire, at the end of which time he found the whole lead converted into gold. The colour was at first a deep green ; being poured into another vessel it assumed a blood-red colour ; but when cold it acquired the true tint of gold, and on close examination proved to be the precious metal. These, and many similar stories, are related of the philosopher's stone, but it is easy to perceive that they are exaggerations or misstatements. A little vanity might easily induce the narrators to suppress or alter some particulars, which, if known, would have stripped the statements of everything marvellous which they con- tain, and let us into the secret of the origin of the gold which these alchemists boasted that they had made. These stories are, in reality, very absurd ; but in olden times the believers in them were almost universal. Impostors went about pretending that they were in possession of the philosopher's stone, and offered to communicate the secret for a suitable reward. This alone ought to have been sufficient to prove the im- posture, for those who could make gold were scarcely likely to resort to this trade. Yet, strange as it may appear, they met with abundance of people who supplied them with money to perform their processes. The ob- ject of these impostors was either to pocket the money, or make use of it to purchase various substances, from which they extracted oils, acids, or similar products, which they were able to sell at a profit. To keep the "MORAL ALCHEMY." 17 persons duped in good spirits, t^ey showed them occa- sionally small quantities of the baser metals, which they pretended had been converted into gold. I will tell you one or two tricks of this kind which they practised : Sometimes they used a melting-pot with a false bottom ; at the real bottom they placed a quantity of oxide of gold or silver ; this was covered with a portion of powdered crucible, fastened together by a little gum- water or wax ; the materials being put into this crucible, and heat applied, the false bottom disappeared, the oxide of gold or silver was reduced, and at the end of the process would be found at the bottom of the crucible, and exhibited as the effect of the philosopher's stone. They had another plan, of making a hole in a piece of charcoal, and filling it with oxide of gold or silver; the opening was then stopped up with a little wax ; or they stirred the mixtures in the crucible with hollow rods, containing oxide of gold or silver, and the bottom closed with wax. By these means the gold or silver required was introduced during the process, and shown as the result of alchemic art. We may smile at these follies, but we must remember that in this, as in most concerns of life, good often springs out of evil. Although the alchemists could not succeed in making gold, or obtain the means of pro- longing life, yet as they were constantly engaged in mixing metals, salts, &c., in various ways with each other, their labours, in other respects, were by no means useless, for they invented many a valuable process, and discovered new substances, with which science was enriched. I have met with some striking verses, entitled " Moral Alchemy," by a clever writer (Horace Smith). I think c 1 8 THE PRECIOUS METALS. you will appreciate with me the faithful description given in this poem of the true philosopher's stone : "The toils of alchemists, whose vain pursuit Sought to transmute Dross into gold their secrets and their store Of mystic lore, What to the jibing modern do they seem ? An ignis fatuus chase, a phantasy, a dream ! " Yet for enlightened moral alchemists There still exists A philosophic stone, whose magic spell No tongue may tell, Which renovates the soul's decaying health, And what it touches turns to purest mental wealth. "This secret is revealed in every trace Of Nature's face, Whose seeming frown invariably tends To smiling ends, Transmuting ills into their opposite, And all that shocks the sense to subsequent delight. " Seems earth unlovely in her robe of snow ? Then look below, Where Nature in her subterranean ark, Silent and dark, Already has each floral germ unfurled, That shall revive, and clothe the dead and naked world. "Behold those perished flowers to earth consigned, They, like mankind, Seek in their grave new birth. By Nature's power Each in its hour Clothed in new beauty from its tomb shall spring, And from its tube and chalice heavenward incense fling. "AIORAL ALCHEMY." 19 " Laboratories of a wider fold I now behold, Where are prepared the harvests yet unborn, Of wine, oil, corn, In those mute rayless banquet halls I see Myriads of coming feasts with all their revelry. " Yon teeming and minuter cells enclose The embryos Of fruits and seeds, food of the feathered race, Whose chanted grace, Swelling in choral gratitude on high, Shall with thanksgiving anthems melodize the sky ! " And what materials, mystic alchemist, Dost thou enlist To fabricate this ever-varied feast, For man, bird, beast ? Whence the life, plenty, music, beauty, bloom ? From silence, languor, death, unsightliness, and gloom ! " From Nature's magic hand, whose touch makes sadness Eventual gladness, The reverent moral alchemist may learn The art to turn Fate's roughest, hardest, most forbidding dross Into the mental gold that knows not change nor loss. " Lose we a valued friend ? To soothe our woe Let us bestow On those who still survive an added love, So shall we prove, Howe'er the dear departed we deplore, In friendship's sum and substance no diminished store. ' ' Lose we our health ? Now may we fully know What thanks we owe For our sane years, perchance of lengthened scope ; Now does our hope Point to the day when sickness taking flight, Shall make us better feel health's exquisite delight 20 WHERE PRECIOUS METALS ARE FOUND. "In losing fortune, many a lucky elf Has found himself, As all our moral bitters are designed To brace the mind, And renovate its healthy tone, the wise Their sorest trials hail as blessings in disguise. " There is no gloom on earth, for God above Chastens in love ; Transmuting sorrows into golden joy Free from alloy, His dearest attribute is still to bless, And man's most welcome hymn is grateful cheerfulness. CHAPTER II. WHERE THE PRECIOUS METALS ARE FOUND. GOLD is now found in all quarters of the world, and, with the exception of iron, there is perhaps no other metal so widely diffused throughout nature. It is much more common in what are termed alluvial grounds that is, deposits left by the action of rivers, floods, and torrents than among the rocks. It is discovered in the form of spangles in the sands and mud, at the season of low water, and after storms and temporary floods. When gold is found in rocks, it is generally mixed in a greater or less degree with other metals, and usually with silver, copper, and iron. In the Ural district of Russia it is found in small fragments, embedded in coarse gravel. It has been supposed that the gold found in the beds of rivers, has been torn out by the action of the waters from the veins in rocks, but as this precious THE GOLD OF MEXICO. 21 metal in its native state is, as I have observed, mixed with other matters, you may wonder how the gold only is found, separated from the other ores. The reason is that the latter are liable to decomposition by exposure to air and moisture, and therefore, although they might have been originally in fragments, like the other materials of the rocks that were broken up, they would gradually disappear by decomposition ; while gold, from its inde- structible nature, remains unchanged except in form. In the same way stream tin has been preserved, because the oxides or rust of tin is not affected by air and mois- ture, that is, does not wear away. Gold may be exposed for ages to the atmosphere without undergoing any alteration. A quantity of this metal has been kept for half a year in a melted state in a glasshouse furnace without any change in its value. Previously to the great discovery of gold in California in 1847, Europe was, to a great extent, supplied with gold from Mexico, Brazil, New Granada, Chili, and Peru. A large quantity was also obtained from the Russian terri- tories in Asia, and the islands of the Indian Archipelago. Africa furnished a less, but still considerable quantity. Our old coin, the Guinea, which was first introduced in the reign of Charles the Second, was thus called, because it was made from gold brought from that part of the African coast. All these countries still produce gold, but the amount they yield, including what is obtained from Europe, is only one-fourth of that obtained from California and Australia. The gold of Mexico is in a great measure contained in the silver veins of the rocks, which are numerous in that country. The principal silver vein in the rich gold mine of Villalpardo, near Guanaxuato, is traversed by a 22 WHERE PRECIOUS METALS ARE FOUND. great number of small earthy veins so rich in. gold, although the metal is not visible, that, in order to pre- vent fraud, the miners are made to bathe in a large tub when they come out of the mine. Stream gold is also found in many of the river deposits in Mexico, and masses of rive and six pounds in weight have been met with. But all the gold of Mexico is not equal to a twentieth part of the silver it produces. In former times the natives used vessels of gold and silver, and such immense quantities of silver were poured into Europe in the sixteenth century, that the wooden bowls generally used in the houses of our rich ancestors were replaced by others of silver. During the next century, no person above the rank of a peasant drank his wine or beer from other than a silver tankard; so much so, that in 1696 the use of silver plate, spoons excepted, was prohibited in the public-houses of London. The Mexicans were famous for their gold and silver carvings : they mixed the metals so dexterously that the feathers of a bird, or the scales of a fish, were imitated to perfection. You may desire to know how this could be done, and it is easy of explanation, for gold and silver are so capable of spreading without breaking, that they, may be drawn into very fine wire, or beaten out into leaves thin enough to be carried away by the slightest wind. One ounce of gold may be drawn into two hun- dred and forty miles of wire, and a cubic foot of gold may be extended, under the goldbeater's hammer, into leaves sufficient to cover one hundred thousand square yards of surface. Silver can be drawn out into wire as fine as a hair without breaking ; that which is used by astronomers for delicate scientific operations is not more than half as thick as a human hair. FAMOUS GOLD MINES. 23 The most famous gold mines in Europe are those of Hungary and Transylvania, which are of great antiquity and richness. In the valuable Ambras collection of antiquities, at Vienna, may be seen some magnificent specimens of gold and silver from the Hungarian mines in the times of the Romans, and earlier. What is called the Siebenbiirgen, in Eastern Hungary, is a district that has, for a long period, produced large quantities of the precious metals; the chief supply of gold, however, is from the mud deposits in the beds of torrents and rivers. The gipsies, and Wallachians of the lower class in that country, are very skilful in wash- ing the soil, making use of a wooden tray covered with woollen cloth to catch the fine particles of gold, to pre- vent them from being carried away. Another method of gold-washing used to be very common, numerous pits being dug, over which the stream, with its golden gravel, was made to pass. The gold dust and small nuggets, or pieces of gold, were caught in the pits, and the rich deposits thus accumulated were carefully separated. Before the discovery of America, Spain was to the rest of Europe what her colonies have since become the source of mineral wealth. The Carthaginians and Romans drew from her large masses of the precious metals. Pliny, the Roman historian, who resided for some years in that country, relates that three provinces alone yielded annually a quantity of gold equal to ;6o,ooo of our money. The Arabs soon found out the sources of this wealth, and traces of their labours are to be met with along the barren ridge of mountains that cover the north of Andalusia. Upwards of five thousand of these excavations have been found in one district alone. The wealth which Spain derived during the last 24 WHERE PRECIOUS METALS ARE FOUND. century from the gold and silver mines of Chili then her colony, but now one of the republics of South America filled her coffers for many years. The Spaniards employed the native Indians in forced work at the mines. The wonderful ruby-silver mines of the district of Copiapo, in Chili, have been opened and carried on by English labour and capital. Brazil fur- nishes a large amount of the gold now brought into the European market, yet there is not in that country any gold mine properly so called, for the veins in the rocks containing the metal are seldom worked. When this country was first discovered, gold was so abundant that the inhabitants made their fish-hooks of that metal, but employed no iron, although the country abounds in it. The gravel and mud are washed, and the gold is separated by a process similar to that followed in the tin stream-works of Cornwall. Gold has been found in considerable quantities in the mountainous parts of the southern states of North America, especially in North Carolina. The gold mines of Russia have yielded, for some years past, a revenue of nearly four millions sterling; the working consists in mere stamping and washing. The number of localities in which gold has been found in England is above forty, besides numerous tin streams (that is, where tin is found in alluvial or bed deposits), in* which particles of gold are sometimes discovered. In Cornwall the miners collect these minute pieces in quills. It was for this county and Devonshire that most of the grants for gold and silver mines, and the privileges of working them, were make in the Middle Ages, so that the existence of gold in tin streams must have been as well known then as it was to the Romans. THE SCHOOLMASTER'S SECRET. 25 Gold, however, has been rarely found in England in sufficient quantities to repay the expense of working it. There are several gold districts in .Wales, and some fine specimens have been produced from them. In Scotland, the lead hills in Dumfriesshire, as well as the Highlands of Perthshire, have at various times produced gold. Tradition commonly attributes the original discovery of the Wicklow gold mines, in Ireland, to a poor school- master, who, while fishing in one of the small streams which descend from the Croghan mountains, picked up a piece of shining metal, and having ascertained that it was gold, he gradually enriched himself by the success of his researches in that and the neighbouring streams ; cautiously disposing of the produce of his labour to a gold- smith in Dublin. He is said to have preserved the secret for upwards of twenty years, but marrying a young wife, he imprudently confided his discovery to her, and she, believing her husband to be mad, immediately revealed the circumstance to her relations, through whose means it was made public. This was towards the close of the year 1795, and the effect it produced was remarkable. Thousands of every age and sex hurried to the spot from the labourer who could wield a spade or pickaxe to the child who scraped the rock with a rusty nail ; all were eagerly employed in the search after gold. The Irish are a people possessed of a rich and quick fancy, and the very name of a gold mine carried with it, to the ignorant mind ideas of inexhaustible wealth. During the interval which elapsed between the pub- licity of the gold discovery, and the Government taking possession of the mine a period of about two months it is supposed that upwards of two thousand five hun- dred ounces of gold were collected by the peasants, 26 WHERE PRECIOUS METALS ARE FOUND. principally from the mud and sand of Ballinvally stream, and disposed of for about ten thousand pounds, a sum far exceeding the produce of the mine during the Government operations, which amounted to little more than three thousand five hundred pounds. The gold was found in pieces of all forms and sizes, from the smallest per- ceptible particle to the extraordinary mass of twenty-two ounces, which sold for eighty guineas. This large piece was of an irregular form ; it measured four inches in its greatest length, and three in breadth ; and in thickness it varied from half an inch to an inch ; a gilt cast of it may be seen in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin. So pure was the gold generally found, that it was the custom of the Dublin goldsmiths to put gold coin in the opposite scale to it, and give weight for weight. The Government works were carried on until 1798, when all the machinery was destroyed in the insurrec- tion. The mining was renewed in 1801, but not being found sufficiently productive to pay the expenses, the search was abandoned. There prevails yet, however, a lingering belief among the peasants that there is still gold in Kinsella, and only the " lucky man " is wanting. It is to this mine that Moore alludes in one of his beau- tiful poems : "Where sparkles of golden splendour All over the surface shine ; But if in pursuit we go deeper, Allured by the gleam that shone, Ah ! false is the dream of the sleeper, Like love, the bright ore is gone !" Although the supply of gold from the various sources I have mentioned was, previously to 1848, very large, Russia alone producing an enormous quantity, still gold CALIFORNIA. 27 was comparatively rare, and some people began to have serious apprehensions about a future deficiency of the precious metal. It was therefore with feelings of wonder and satisfaction that the gold discoveries in California in 1848, and aftenvards in Australia, New Zealand, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia, were received by the world generally. I will briefly describe the region which first led the way to these golden results. The name of California was first applied to a peninsula on the west side of Mexico, in South America, but was gradually extended to a large portion of the adjoining continent. The original California, however, and its addition, were dis- tinguished from each other as Old and New, Lower and Upper. In 1848, partly by conquest and partly by purchase, the Government of the United States became possessed of the continent. After existing as a territory for two years, it was in 1850 subdivided, one portion becoming the state of California, and another portion eastward, the Utah, inhabited by that strange sect, the Mormons. Between the two Californias of the present day, the American and the Mexican, there is nothing in common but the name. Mexican California is the pe- ninsula I have mentioned, which, although considerably longer than Great Britain, is yet so narrow as to be very little larger than Scotland. The population does not exceed ten thousand. From end to end of the country is one ridge of mountains, which sometimes rise to about five thousand feet above the sea. American California attracted but little attention until the rumours of gold discoveries changed, as if by a miracle, the aspect of affairs. The harbour of San Francisco, one of the finest to be seen, became the 28 WHERE PRECIOUS METALS ARE FOUND. grand centre of attraction to gold-seekers from all parts of the world. Between 1850 and 1852 the population increased from 92,597 to 264,435, and in 1855 the number of inhabitants was 327,000. In 1852 the quantity of gold sent from these gold regions amounted to upwards of nine millions of pounds sterling; and between April, 1849, an d December, 1856, the gold exported averaged forty millions and a quarter of pounds sterling yearly. The discovery of this gold occurred in a singular manner. In September, 1847, Captain Suter, or Sutter, a Swiss by birth, and a settler in this part of California, contracted with a Mr. Marshall for the construction of a saw-mill in a pine forest. The supply of water to this mill was so situated as to wash down much mud and gravel from the higher course of the stream, and Mr. Marshall, while watching the progress of his works one day, observed some glittering particles in this mud. He felt satisfied in his own mind of the value of these shining spangles, and having shown some of them to the captain, it was agreed to keep the matter secret for a time. Somehow or other, however, it was reported that gold had been discovered at the American fork of the Sacramento river, and great excitement ensued. A few labourers collected some of the gold dust, and took it for sale to San Francisco, at which town the Sacra- mento river enters the Pacific Ocean. Hundreds flocked to the spot, Indian labourers were hired, soldiers and sailors deserted from their duty, tradesmen closed their shops and set off, so that San Francisco became almost abandoned. Stories are told of the manner in which the first dis- coveries of gold in California were turned to account by TRICKS OF THE DIGGERS. 29 some ingenious speculators ; among others, we may men- tion that in one district the gold dust was mixed with large quantities of fine black sand, which the miners most of whom were raw hands blew off from the gold in their anxiety to arrive at the ore itself. A keen old man turned their impatience to account by shamming lameness, and pretending that in his weakly state he was not equal to the toil of mining, and was thus compelled to resort to the poor and profitless branch of gathering the black sand, which he sold as a substitute for emery. He used to go about of an evening with a large bag and a tin tray, requesting the miners to blow their black sand upon it, and returning with it to his hut : by the aid of quicksilver he was able to extract the gold, double in quantity to that which was obtained by the hardest working miner at the washings. Tricks of every kind were played upon new comers in search of the gold treasures. One story is told of some American associates who had been working at an unprofitable spot, putting up a notice that their "valuable site " was for sale, as they were going elsewhere. A few Germans who had just arrived offered themselves as purchasers. The price asked was exorbitant, as the proprietors stated that the " diggings " returned a large amount of gold, and the following day was appointed for the Germans to come and see what could be produced in the course of a few hours' working. The sellers went during the night and secreted the gold dust in the banks, so that it would come to light, as a natural deposit, when the earth was turned up. The following morning the poor Germans were so delighted with the apparent richness of the place, that they gave a large sum of money and two valuable gold watches for the property. The Germans 50 WHERE PRECIOUS METALS AR FOUND. were laughed at, but like true sons of patience they went to work, and actually succeeded in raising a large amount of gold beneath the spot where the others had left off. The Americans were thus outwitted in turn, and endeavoured to get repossession of the place by force, but another company oi Germans arriving, they were obliged to decamp. Kelly, in his " Stroll through the Diggings," relates " that while working on Rock Creek, the weather being very hot, we always had near us a can of water, and close to it we put a teacup to hold the particles of gold as we collected them. One morning as we were at work a thirsty digger came by, who asked permission to take a draught of water, which being granted, he filled up the cup, and quaffed off the costly drink, without either drinking our healths, or leaving the least sediment at the bottom. I suspected at first that some trick had been played upon us, and he had secreted the gold, but from the evident distress of the man, and the earnest manner in which he promised to repay us when he got work, I firmly believe that he had swallowed the gold, not having noticed it in the cup !" Scarcely twenty years have elapsed since the gold yield in California became an undoubted fact, and within that brief period of time several millions of gold dust have been added to the wealth of the world. But even these extraordinary results have been eclipsed by the wonder- ful discoveries of gold in AUSTRALIA. So extensively are the gold deposits distributed throughout that great country, that Melbourne, the capital, has been said to be paved with the rich metal; the broken quartz rocks which have been used to make the streets being found to contain gold. GOLD FOUND IN A US TR ALIA. 31 It was in September, 1851, that news reached England of gold having been found in Australia, that is, gold in large quantities. Early in May the announcement was made at Sydney by letters from Bathurst, and the effect was electric. As we have before mentioned, gold may occur in quartz veins in pieces of various dimensions j one was found by an aboriginal Australian shepherd that weighed no less than one hundred and six pounds. The particulars of this discovery are related in the Bathurst, New South Wales, Free Press, of July i6th, i&5i. It appears that the fortunate discoverer was an educated aboriginal, formerly attached to the Wellington Mission, and in the employment of a Dr. Kerr, of Wallawa. This man returned home with the intelligence that he had seen a large mass of gold amongst a heap of quartz, whilst tending his sheep. Gold being the universal topic of conversation at that time (the first discovery of that metal having been made in the month of May preced- ing), the curiosity of the sable son of the forest had been excited, and being provided with a tomahawk, he had amused himself with exploring the country adjacent to the land belonging to his employer, and had thus made the discovery. His attention was first directed to the spot by observing some specks of a glittering yellow substance upon the surface of the quartz, upon which he applied his tomahawk and broke off a portion. The splendid prize was in a moment revealed to him. He started off to inform his master, to whom he gave over all claims to it. Dr. Kerr was soon on the ground, and three blocks of quartz, containing one hundred- weight of gold, were soon released from the bed where they had probably rested some thousands of years. The spot where the treasure was found is celebrated in the 32 WHERE PRECIOUS METALS ARE FOUND. annals of. gold districts ; it is situated about fifty-three miles from Bathurst. We must not forget to add, that in return for the services of the native, Dr. Kerr gave him and his brother two flocks of sheep, two saddle- horses, a quantity of rations, together with some land and a team of bullocks. The report of this discovery created great excitement, and a mining mania seemed to seize every one. Groups of people were to be seen at every corner of the streets debating upon the subject ; persons of all trades, callings, and pursuits set off in search of gold. The blacksmiths of the town could not manufacture the tools required fast enough or in sufficient quantities, and the roads to the diggings were filled with new-made miners from every quarter ; some armed with picks, others shoulder- ing crowbars and shovels, and some with wash-hand basins and tin-pots for cleaning and holding the gold; garden and agricultural implements, of every variety, either hung from the saddle-bow or dangled about the persons of the gold-searchers. Now and then a respect- able tradesman, who had just left his bench or counter, would appear with a huge load in front of his horse, and which he called a " cradle," for washing the gold. Many would rush from their homes, only provided with a blanket, and some iron bar or tool, to make their way to fortune. The centre of attraction to these gold-searchers is situated nearly due west of Sydney, separated from the sea-coast by the ridge of tl;.e Blue Mountains. Mr. Stutchbury, a geologist employed by the Government, and Mr. Hargraves, were the first to make the golden announcement. Sir Roderick I. Murchison had, how- ever, some time before, expressed an opinion that gold COAL AND GOLD. 33 could be found in Australia. Since this period many wonderful discoveries of the precious metal have been made, and, even should this supply fail, the good that would remain from the immense tide of emigration that has set in for that country would more than compensate, by turning the attention of the settlers to agriculture, and the development of -the vast resources of Australia. The gold discoveries in Australia had a powerful influence on the destinies of NEW ZEALAND. At first, we are told, the report was disbelieved, but when ships arrived with accounts of large masses of gold having been found by unskilled hands, fifteen hundred able- bodied settlers and fifty natives left for the gold regions ; but many came back, bringing stories of diggers dying for want of food, with their pockets full of gold ; that the New Zealanders began to see that if gold was not directly got in their own country, it was indirectly obtained by cultivating the soil, and sending provisions to Australia. Some attempts, however, were made to find the precious metal, and in 1852 it was discovered about forty miles from Auckland, in the bed of a mountain stream. The specimens were sufficiently large to show that metal lay in the ground, and a rush was made to the spot. Gold has since been detected at Nelson, Otago, and other places, in sufficient quantities to convince the most in- credulous, that the rocks in New Zealand are gold-bearing rocks. But more important for New Zealand than the dis- covery of gold was the finding of coal at Nelson, Otago, and Auckland, just when steam communication between the colony and Australia, and between the different pro- vinces, was on the eve of commencing. Gold has been discovered in NOVA SCOTIA, near D 34 WHERE PRECIOUS METALS ARE FOUND. Tangier Harbour, about forty or fifty miles east of Halifax, the capital. The lodes, which are in the quartz rock, extend for a very considerable distance, and are very rich. The gold mines of GUIANA, the El Dorado so fruitlessly sought by the unfortunate Sir Walter Raleigh, were discovered about 1857, by an Indian, while hunting in the woods for stray donkeys. He pulled up a bush and found a large piece of pure gold at the roots. He carried it to a German merchant for sale, and the trader endeavoured to obtain the secret of its discovery from the Indian. He refused to give the required information, and he was made drunk, and then cruelly beaten until the secret was wrung from him. The discovery of these mines corresponds with the description given by Sir Walter Raleigh of the manner in which the Indians obtained their gold, viz., " And 6eing asked how they got the same gold, they told us they went to a certain down or plain, and pulled and digged up the grass by the root, which done, they took off the earth, putting it into great buckets, which they carried to wash at the river." That these mines were known to the early Spaniards is proved. They are un- doubtedly exceedingly rich, and large quantities of gold have recently been discovered. In consequence, how- ever, of the labour required to obtain it, and the deadly nature of the climate, the work is slow. Many gold discoveries have been made at the same time, at several points, and by several individuals. One of the first miners who drove a pick into the gold-fields of BRITISH COLUMBIA was a Scotchman, of the name of Adams. He was travelling in the Hudson's Bay territory, and while stopping at one of the trading posts he learned from a friend that Indians living near Fraser River had ADAMS FINDS GOLD. 35 brought some gold-dust, which they offered for sale. This news made him excited, for Adams had been a miner in California, and he resolved to examine the facts for himself. He therefore set out on the track of these Indians, and eventually discovered them in their hut, occupied in washing gold in their baskets. Having himself proceeded to the banks of Fraser River, he per- ceived that the ground was rich in gold. He hired a couple of Indians, and worked with them for three months. Tired of living apart from the society of white men, and having in these three months collected upwards of one thousand dollars, he left the spot, and at a later date told his story to some American sailors, who accom- panied him next year to the scene of action. The rumour of this discovery, however, had been spread in Victoria, the capital of Vancouver's Island, and miners flocked to the place. Since 1858 the gold-fields of British Columbia have yielded considerable quantities of gold, especially at Cariboo, situated along Fraser River and opposite the Rocky Mountains. These last deposits were discovered by a young man named McDonnell. But more important than this is the production of coal, of which nearly thirty-three thousand tons were exported in 1865 by a single mining company. Copper, silver, lead, and other ores have also been found in consider- able quantities. In CANADA a gold district has been discovered, about thirty-five miles from Quebec, extending over forty miles. The mines of Chaudiere have yielded pieces of gold weighing nearly one ounce of the pure metal, and large lumps have been washed from the banks. Mr. Jonston, in his history of the " Wonderful Things of Nature," a work written in the seventeenth century, 36 WHERE PRECIOUS METALS ARE FOUND. gives a curious account of the swallowing of precious metals by animals ; and these are, in a measure, corrobo- rated by recent instances. The late Mr. Irton, member of Parliament for West Cumberland, found a piece of gold in carving a pullet, which was supposed to have been picked up in a rivulet on his estate. The mules employed in the Mexican mines are, after death, opened, and sometimes as much as seven pounds of silver is found in the stomach. Gold has been found in the coops of ducks in Australia and Brazil. Sir James Campbell, having stopped for a time at Zante, one of the Ionian Islands, noticed a small variety of Barbary pigeons, which, at a certain period of summer, arrive in swarms from the coasts of Africa. Some of these birds having been shot, he noticed that their claws were filled with a glistening sand. He col- lected this powder on a sheet of paper, and after carefully analyzing it, discovered that it contained a considerable quantity of gold. The probability is that these winged emigrants, upon setting out, settle down to drink on the banks of a stream whose sand is impregnated with gold- dust. But where are these fortunate shores ? This is what the pigeon messengers have not been able to tell, and travellers have not yet discovered. " But scarce observed, the knowing and the bold Fall in the general massacre of gold; Wide-wasting pest ! that rages unconfined, And crowds with crimes the records of mankind ; For gold, his sword the hireling ruffian draws ; For gold, the hireling judge distorts the laws ; Wealth heaped on wealth, nor truth nor safety buys, The dangers gather as the treasures rise." THE SILVER MINES OF SOUTH AMERICA. 37 CHAPTER III. THE SILVER MINES OF SOUTH AMERICA. IN the preceding pages I have confined my remarks more particularly to the first of the precious metals. I will now give you some information respecting SILVER, which ranks next in importance. Gold and silver, how- ever, approached each other nearer in value in early times than at present. An ounce of fine gold was worth from ten to twelve ounces of fine silver, the variation depending upon the accidental relation of the supply of both metals. But after the discovery of America, the quantity of silver found in that continent, particularly in Mexico, was so great compared with gold, that silver be- came considerably cheaper, so that an ounce of fine gold was equal to about fourteen ounces and a half of fine silver. These values, however, changed a little according to the abundance of silver. The forms in which silver is found in nature are nume- rous. Native silver occurs occasionally in all the places that yield silver ore, as in Mexico and Peru, Saxony, the Hartz Mountains in Germany, Norway, Siberia, Spain, and, in our own country, Cornwall and Devonshire. It appears in various forms, but usually in threads, or tree- like crystals, twining around small rocky fragments. There are some beautiful specimens of these from the Hartz Mountains in the British Museum. One fine piece found at Kongsberg, in. Denmark, is now in the Copenhagen Museum, and weighs five hundred pounds. But the quantity of silver found in nature in the metallic 38 THE SILVER MINES OF SOUTH AMERICA. state is comparatively small. Its principal ores are the different sulphurets, namely, sulphuret of silver, contain- ing, when pure, eighty-seven parts of silver and thirteen of sulphur; brittle silver ore, or sulphuret of silver and antimony; and red silver ore, called also ruby silver, of which there is a dark and a light kind, the former being similar to brittle silver ore, but a little less rich in silver, and the latter only differing in containing arsenic instead of antimony. A great portion of the silver obtained in Mexico and South America comes from these ores, as also Horn silver, or chloride of silver. Besides the ores mentioned, much of the silver of commerce is obtained from mixed ores, that is, the ores of other metals are frequently found to contain it. These are for the most part sulphurets of tin, arsenic, copper, iron, and lead. In Wales a considerable quantity of silver is produced from the lead mines, since the intro- duction of the " Pattinson" process, for separating silver from lead, and which you will find described in my remarks upon the latter metal. The Gogerddau mines, near Aberystwith, were very productive in silver extracted from lead, about two or three centuries ago, even under the old system. Sir Hugh Myddleton realized a profit from these mines of about twenty-five thousand pounds a year, which enabled him to pursue his great undertaking of bringing the New River from Ware to London. On his death, a Mir. Bushell, remarkable for his loyalty to King Charles the First, purchased these mines, and having obtained the privilege of coining money, he established forges, and clothed the king's army with a part of the silver which he extracted from his mines and coined himself. There are many indications at the present time to MEXICO AND PERU. 39 show that the progress of mining adventure is likely to be as rapid with regard to silver as gold. During the late American contest the accounts from California have attracted less attention than usual ; but it is known that the production of silver in that State is steadily increasing. It has also been ascertained that an extensive silver- yielding region exists in the Argentine Republic, in the province of San Juan, at the foot of the Andes, about seven hundred miles from Buenos Ayres, the production of which is likely to become as rich as any field heretofore worked. The silver deposits extend over a space of one hundred miles. At a place called St. Arnaud, in the colony of Victoria, a company are working some silver lodes of great richness. Some extraordinary discoveries of silver, in immense quantities, have been made in California. Silver Peak, situated east of St. Francisco, is described as the depository of the precious metal, and the locality is abundant in mineral riches. The wonderful accounts that have been related of the abundance of silver in MEXICO and PERU would appear almost fabulous, but for their confirmation by travellers of the highest reputation. The celebrated Humboldt informs us that, in the space of three hundred years, the mines in the countries we have mentioned furnished three hundred and sixteen million twenty-three thousand eight hundred and eighty-three pounds weight of pure silver, which would form a solid globe of that metal upwards of ninety-one feet in diameter. It is estimated that the annual produce of silver from the Mexican mines is now about one million six hundred thousand pounds weight. That which distinguishes the mines of Mexico from those of Peru, and from the greater part of the other mines 40 THE SILVER MINES OF SOUTH AMERICA. in America that possess silver veins, is the character of the situation in which they are found. The greater portion of the Mexican mines are in regions favourable fol working them. They are seldom situated at more than from 6,500 to 7,150 feet above the level of the sea. The famous silver mines of Valenciana and Rayas, near Guanaxuato, which, at the commencement of the present century, yielded more silver than Potosi, are in a charm- ing climate, and within reach of a district that yields abundantly whatever is needed for the comfortable sub- sistence of the miners, as well as fodder for the mules, which are employed in great numbers on the works. The mines of Peru, on the contrary, are in cold regions bordering on snow. Thus the Pasco mountains, from which an enormous amount of silver is obtained, are more than 13,000 feet high. Another mine, the Gual- gayoc, is 13,260 feet in height. The celebrated mine of Potosi has been worked to an altitude as great as the summit of Mont Blanc. The silver mines of Pasco, in Peru, were discovered about two hundred and fifty years ago, by an Indian shepherd named Huari Capcha. While watching his flock he lay down to rest himself on the side of a hill, and the weather being cold, he lit a fire. On the fol- lowing morning he was surprised to find the stone beneath the ashes of his fire covered with silver. The shepherd lost no time in informing his master of this discovery, and the result was that a very rich vein of silver ore was found, and preparations made at once for working it. In this mine, which is called the " Discovery," silver is still obtained. From the village of Pasco, about six miles distant, arrived several rich mine-owners, large works were erected, and at length a city was founded, INDIAN MINERS. 4 k which now contains a population of nearly twenty thousand. Indians are employed in working these mines, and some of them are very cunning in concealing pieces of silver ore on their persons. Although narrowly watched by overseers, they sometimes contrive to carry off large pieces. A very valuable mass was thus taken by a miner, who, pretending illness, fastened it on his back, and covering himself in his cloak, obtained permission to quit the mine. What is called the polvorilla, a dark powdery kind of ore, very full of silver, used to be abstracted from the mines by the following trick. The workmen would strip off their clothes, and having moist- ened the whole of their bodies with water, they would roll themselves in the polvorilla, which stuck to their skin. On their return home they would wash off the silver dust, and then sell it. This trick was, however, at length found out, and a stop was put to it, as the labourers before leaving the mine were required to strip in order to be searched. These Indian miners work with a patient industry which European labourers cannot equal. Content with insufficient and wretched food, the Indian goes through his hard day's work, with no refreshment but cocoa, and at the end of the week is satisfied with a payment equal to four or five shillings in our money. Among the richest silver mining districts in Peru are the provinces of Pataz, Huamanchucho, Caxamarca^ and Hualgayoc. In this last-named country are situated the mines of San Fernando, which have been celebrated by Alexander Von Humboldt. The chains of hills in the southern districts of Peru contain a multitude of very rich mines. The Salcedo mine is famous for the abun- 42 THE SILVER MINES OF SOUTH AMERICA. dance of silver it contained, and the tragical end of its original owner. Salcedo was a poor Spaniard, who lived at Pinno, and was attached to a young Indian girl. Her mother promised to show Salcedo a mine which she had dis- covered, and it proved a source of great wealth to her son-in-law ; for he had married the daughter, and by his industry and perseverance had worked the mine into a most thriving condition. The report of his riches excited the envy of the Spanish Governor or Viceroy of Peru, the Count de Lemos, who endeavoured to get possession of the mine. Salcedo, however, by his gene- rosity and benevolence had gained the good-will of the people among whom he lived, and especially the Indian population, and the Viceroy turned this circumstance to the disadvantage of Salcedo, by insinuating to the Spanish Government that the wealthy mine-owner was endeavouring to raise an insurrection among the Indians to throw off the Spanish yoke. Salcedo, on this accu- sation, was arrested, subjected to a mock trial, and sentenced to death. Whilst in prison he begged per- mission to send to Madrid the documents relating to his trial, and to appeal to the king for mercy. He offered, if the Viceroy would grant his request, to pay him the daily tribute of a bar of silver from the time that the ship left the port of Callao with the documents, until the day of her return. When it is considered that at the period of this occurrence, in 1669, the voyage from Callao to Spain occupied from twelve to sixteen months, some idea may be formed of the enormous wealth of Salcedo. The Viceroy rejected this offer, ordered Salcedo to be hanged, and set out for Pinno to take possession of the mine. THE SILVER PAVEMENT. 43 But this cruel and unjust proceeding failed, and the mercenary governor was defeated in his object. As soon as Salcedo's doom was pronounced, his mother-in- law, accompanied by his relations and friends, repaired to the mine, flooded it with water, destroyed the works, and closed up the entrance so completely that it was impossible to find it out. They then dispersed, but some of them who were afterwards captured could not be induced, either by promises or tortures, to reveal the position of the mine, which remains to this day unknown. Another instance of the richness of the Peruvian mines is found at San fose, in the department of Huan- cavalica. The proprietor of this mine requested the Viceroy, whose friend he was, to become godfather to his first child. The Viceroy consented, but at the time fixed for the christening, some important matters pre- vented him from quitting the capital, and he sent the vice-queen to officiate as his proxy. To render honour to his illustrious guest, the owner of the San Jose mine caused a triple row of silver bars to be laid down the whole way (and it was no short distance) from his house to the church. Over this silver pavement the vice-queen accompanied the infant to the church, where it was baptized. On returning her generous host pre- sented to her the whole of the silver road, in gratitude for the honour she had conferred upon him. The Indians are said to be aware of the existence of many rich silver mines in Peru, the situations of which they will not disclose to the whites. In the village of Huancayo there lived, some years ago, two brothers named Yriarte, who were the most prosperous mine- owners in Peru. Having obtained some information that in the neighbouring mountains there were silver A TRICK DETECTED. 45 mining districts. He got into great difficulties in money matters. The Indians in the neighbourhood of his dwell- ing were much attached to him, as he was of a kind and generous disposition, and they frequently sent him pre- sents of poultry, cheese, and butter. One day, after he had been a loser to a considerable amount at the gaming- table, he complained bitterly of his misfortunes to an Indian who was particularly attached to him. After some deliberation the Indian remarked that he might possibly be able to assist him, and on the following evening he brought him a large box full of silver ore. This present was several times repeated, and the monk was curious to find out where the treasure was obtained. He accordingly pressed the Indian so closely, that the latter consented to show him the mine from which the silver was produced, and on an appointed night he came with two of his friends to the house of the monk. They blindfolded him, and each of them, in turn, carried him on their shoulders a distance of several leagues into the moun- tain passes. At length they set him down, and the ban- dage being removed from his eyes, he discovered that he was in a small and somewhat shallow shaft, and was sur- rounded by bright masses of silver. He was allowed to take away as much as he could carry, and when laden with the rich prize, he was again blindfolded, and conveyed back in the same manner as he had been brought to the mine. Whilst the Indians were conducting him home he unfastened his rosary, and dropped the beads at intervals along the path, hoping by this means to find his way back to the mine on the following morning ; but in the course of an hour or two after reaching home, his Indian friend knocked at the door, and giving him a handful of beads, said, "You dropped your rosary on 46 THE SILVER MINES OF SOUTH AMERICA. the way, father, and I have picked it up." You may be sure after this attempt to cheat his generous friends that the monk got no more silver from them. When Peru was under the rule of Spain, the Peruvian Indians suffered fearful hardships. Some writers estimate at nine millions the number of poor Indians who died from forced labour in the mines during the course of three centuries. The silver that is now extracted from the mines in Peru, when melted into bars, is consigned to the care of the mule-drivers, and conveyed to Lima, the capital city. Although robberies are frequent, yet as the bars are stamped with the Government mark, and the punish- ment inflicted upon those who attempt to steal them is very severe, the rich produce of the mines generally reaches its destination safely. The corruption of morals which distinguish, especially, the mining districts, is a fertile source of crime and misery, a contrast to those countries depending for their true wealth on agriculture. The veins of silver in Mexico had not, immediately after the conquest of that country by the Spaniards, the reputation of those of Peru. It was a few years after that event, a mine of silver was discovered, so prodi- giously rich, that the name is still used to signify unbounded wealth. This wonderful mine is in the mountain called Hatun Potocchi, which name Euro- peans have changed into Potosi. It is a few miles from La Plata, the capital of Upper Peru. These mines, from the time of their first being worked, in 1545, to the beginning of the present century, produced silver to the amount of more than two hundred and thirty-seven millions sterling, including only what had paid the royal duty, but if the gold and smuggled metal were added, STORY OF LABORDE. 47 the amount would be very much greater. These mines have caused the destruction of thousands of human beings, for at one time sixteen thousand Indians were constantly employed to work in them, under the most severe hardships, many of them perishing from hard and forced labour. At present only about two thousand miners are employed, who work from choice, and are well fed and cared for. The town is eleven thousand feet above the level of the sea. It was founded in 1547, and about fifty years afterwards the population is said^to have numbered one hundred and sixty thousand souls. Many and strange have been the chances of persons who have been en- gaged in mining speculations both at home and abroad. Fortunes have been gained and lost in a very short space of time. It would seem as if the search after riches produced but little satisfaction, and more fre- quently reverses sufficient to deter men from indulging in " golden dreams." Humboldt relates of a Frenchman named Joseph Laborde, that he went to Mexico, very poor, in 1743, and gained a large fortune in a very short time in a mine called La Canada. After building a church at Pasco, which cost him eighty-four thousand pounds, he was reduced to the lowest poverty by the rapid decline of those very mines, from which he had annually drawn upwards of one hundred and ninety thousand pounds weight of silver. With a sum of twenty thousand pounds, raised by selling a sun of solid gold which he placed in the church raised by him, and which he was allowed to withdraw, he undertook to clear out an old mine, in doing which he lost the greater part of the produce of the golden sun, and then abandoned the work. With the small sum remaining he once more 48 THE SILVER MINES OF SOUTH AMERICA. ventured upon another undertaking, which was, for a short time, very productive, and he left behind him at his death, a fortune of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds. It was a Mexican miner, named Bartolome Medina, who in 1557 discovered the method by which almost the whole of the ore in the South American mines, has been treated to the present day. This is called the cold amalgam, and is based upon the employment of mercury, and of some other ingredients much less expensive, such, for instance, as salt. This allows of the metal being extracted from poor ores without having to melt them, and consequently no combustible matter is needed. The annual consumption of silver in the United Kingdom has been estimated at about three millions and a quarter ounces, valued at eight hundred and twenty thousand five hundred and eleven pounds ster- ling. The value of the stock of silver in the hands of the manufacturers and dealers is estimated at three millions two hundred and eighty thousand pounds sterling. ' ' Mark where yon mines their radiant stores unfold, Peru's rich dust, or Chili's beds of gold : What nations bribed have owned thy powerful reign J For thee what millions ploughed the stormy main, Travelled from pole to pole, with ceaseless toil, And felt their blood alternate freeze and boil ! " A CHAT ABOUT COALS. 49 CHAPTER IV. A CHAT ABOUT COALS. IT has been well remarked "that there are two words, each containing only four letters, but expressive of the two most valuable minerals in the world, coal and gold. No two minerals are more opposite in appearance ; the one is bright and dazzling, the other is black and forbid- ding. One is the miser's delight, the other every man's comfort. One is stored up in banks and bank cellars, the other in coal-fields and coal mines. Gold soils the mind of him who hugs it as a miser ; coal soils only the face and hands of him who gets it as a miner. One is the apparent representative of the country's wealth ; the other is its real representation." Now nothing can be more true than this contrast, which points to coal as one of the chief necessities of man. And what a wonderful gift of Providence it is that supplies us with such exhaustless means of comfort and happiness, the gas that gives such a cheerful light to our homes, the steam-engine that glides so swiftly on the railway or quickens the speed of the ship upon the waters, the numberless manufactories that are carried on, and the inventions that are perfected by the use of coal ! As you sit " round about the coal fire" you can scarcely realize the discomforts of our forefathers ages ago. It is difficult to imagine how they could have borne the nuisance of wood-smoke filling their rooms, until it found its way through the lantern roof. Yet such was the case before chimneys came into use in the reign of Elizabeth. 50 A CHA T ABOUT COALS. It is little more than four hundred years ago since Englishmen, except for cooking or for furnaces, appear to have cared but little about warming their houses. Even so late as the reign of Henry the Eighth no fire was allowed in the University of Oxford; and after supper, at eight o'clock, the scholars went to their books for an hour, and afterwards took a run to warm them- selves before going to bed. This you would consider a great hardship. In the city of London, now so brilliantly illuminated by gas, the Lord Mayor, in 1416, ordered lights and lan- terns to be hung out of houses during the winter evenings, to throw some light into the dreary streets ; and travellers provided themselves with lanterns to find their way about. For three hundred years this practice continued, until the reign of Queen Anne. So badly off was the city in this respect, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, that as silence was necessary in the publir thoroughfares, in order that the watchman might /tear, if he could not see, it was directed " that no man should blow any horn in the night, or whistle after nine o'clock in the night, under pain of imprisonment" You may suppose, from what I have mentioned, that coal was unknown in England during these times, but such was not the case. The early Britons, and the Romans who ruled over them, were acquainted with its properties as a fuel. It is supposed, however, that they only made use of it when wood was not to be had near them in sufficient quantity; but there is no reason to believe that any pits were dug in the coal beds, and it was only the small seams on the surface of the ground that were cropped. The Saxons, who succeeded the Romans, made no general use of coal, for peat and COALS FIRST USED IN LONDON. 51 timber were in ample abundance for their wants. Coal is scarcely mentioned during the Danish and Norman usurpations. Any trade in this mineral can scarcely have occurred before the year 1239, when Henry the Third gave the people of Newcastle-upon-Tyne the liberty to dig for it. The consumption, however, must have been small, for we are informed that at the coronation of Edward the Second ten shillings' worth of coal was burnt. You will, no doubt, wonder why coals, if they were so well known formerly, were not in more use ; but you will easily understand that while the people of Newcastle found it cheaper to employ this fuel which was so close to them, it was not so elsewhere. London had so many woods and copses around it, that coals, with the slow means of transport, would have been far more expensive. But, added to this, there were other objections. No sooner was coal employed by various manufacturers in the metropolis than an outcry was raised that the smoke contaminated the atmosphere, and rendered it unwhole- some for the people. A petition to this effect was pre- sented to Edward the Second, and the use of the offend- ing fuel was forbidden ; the furnaces and kilns of any refractory persons were ordered to be destroyed. The ladies also complained that coal- smoke spoilt their complexions, and they would not eat any food cooked at a coal fire. You will probably think this was very foolish, and so, in fact, it was ; but we must make many allowances for popular prejudices, which are found in every age and country, our own not excepted. Though kings may make laws, necessity can unmake them ; and as wood became scarce, so, in spite of restric- tions and prejudices, coal came into more frequent use. 52 A CHAT ABOUT COALS. It was for a long time called sea-coal, because it was imported by sea. About the middle of the sixteenth century, coal had so far advanced in public estimation as to be burnt in kitchens and halls, but wood was still employed in the private rooms, and was long afterwards used in some particular branches of trade, such as smelting iron, glass-making, brewing, dyeing, and chemical operations. Indeed, it was not until timber had become so scarce as to be sold by the pound weight in some districts, that the coal mines came into general requisition. It is now time that we make the important inquiry, "What is coal V This is a subject that might occupy many pages of great interest, for learned men, both of our own country and others, have made deep researches into its history, but I will endeavour briefly to give an outline of its origin. If you take up a lump of hard coal, and examine it with the naked eye, you will not perceive anything more than a black, pitch-looking substance, without anything in appearance to make it remarkable ; but if you observed the same lump through a microscope you would be able to detect the peculiar structure of the plants that compose it. Coal is, therefore, a vegetable production, or fossil wood, which has been pressed into the earth during a long lapse of ages into a thick mass. This has passed through the stages of peat or bog, and become gradually hardened into coal. Peat, you know, is also a substance of vegetable origin, found wherever the soil has been soaked with water which has no outlet, and does not completely dry up under the heat of the sun. By the aid of the microscope it has been ascertained that some beds of coal appear to be wholly composed of very small leaves, for if a mass be extracted from a mine WHAT COAL IS. 53 and split asunder, the exposed surfaces are found covered with delicate skins of carbonized (pure charcoal) leaves and fibres matted together, and flake after flake may be peeled through a thickness of many inches, and the same structure be still seen. Rarely are any large trunks and branches observable in the coal, but the appearance is that of an immense deposit of delicate foliage. Dr. Buckland, in his " Bridgewater Treatise," says of these preserved vegetable remains, " The finest example I have ever, witnessed is that of the coal mines of Bo- hemia. The most elaborate imitations of living foliage upon the painted ceilings of Italian palaces bear no comparison with the beauteous profusion of extinct vegetable forms, with which the galleries of these in- structive coal mines are overhung. The roof is covered as with a canopy of gorgeous tapestry, encircled with festoons of most graceful foliage, flung in wild, irregular profusion over every portion of its surface. The effect is heightened by the contrast of the coal-black colour of these vegetables with the light groundwork of the rock to which they are attached. The spectator feels himself transported, as if by enchantment, into the forests of another world ; he beholds trees, of forms and character now unknown upon the surface of the earth, presented to his sense almost in the beauty and vigour of their primeval life ; their scaly stems and bending branches, with their delicate apparatus of foliage, are all spread forth before him, little impaired by the lapse of countless ages, and bearing faithful records of extinct systems of vegetation, which began and terminated in times of which these relics are the infallible historians." When you are warming yourself at the fire you can suppose, and with probable truth, that the coal burning 54 A CHAT ABOUT COALS. before you may be the mineralized remains of some vast forests before the deluge, which were deprived of their watery and vapoury parts, but preserved all their com- bustible or burning matters, woody fibre containing car- bon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with very small quantities of ash an.d nitrogen. What these are I will now explain. Carbon is the basis of common charcoal, or burnt wood, and exists, combined with many other gases, in all vegetable and animal substances. I may also add that its greatest property, when in a pure state, is that it is capable of crystallization, or being rendered bright and transparent, though not by art, and forms that most beautiful and precious of all minerals, the diamond, which, although the hardest substance known, can be consumed by fire. Hydrogen is a colourless gas, without smell, the basis of what was formerly called inflammable air. This gas is continually proceeding from vegetable and animal matters during their decay, and is a certain consequence of their putrefaction. You may have seen, or no doubt have heard of, that curious flame which dances in the air, called the ignis fatuns, or " Will-o'-the- wisp," a light that has frightened many superstitious people in former times, and even in our own days it is regarded with a kind of terror by persons in the coun- try. This light originates from decayed vegetables, and is caused by the mixing of hydrogen gas with carbon, and occasionally with phosphorus (a chemical substance which, exposed to the air, takes fire) and sulphur, or brimstone. Oxygen, also a colourless and tasteless gas, is the basis of the air we breathe, and is the chief sup- port of light and heat, and performs an important part in most of the changes that take place in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. It has the power of INFLAMMABLE GASES. 55 supporting combustion, or burning, in an eminent degree. Nitrogen gas is inflammable, and a little lighter than the air we breathe, and forms a part of all animal substances. Indeed, there is scarcely a single process, either natural or artificial, in which this gas has not a share. Nitrogen produces nitre, which you know is used in making salt- petre. You will understand the value of nitrogen when I tell you of the power it has in modifying the inflam- mable properties of oxygen gas, for if nitrogen were not present in the air, candles and fires would burn fiercely and rapidly, every steady burning would become a swift conflagration, and animal respiration would become so hurried that death would ensue from intense excitement of the nervous system. I will also inform you how necessary to the human body is the combination of the three gases I have mentioned. A man in breathing con- sumes nearly six hundred and forty pints of oxygen gas from the atmosphere in which he lives during twelve hours, making fourteen thousand four hundred inspira- tions, and during the short time which elapses between an inspiration, or drawing in of the air, and respiration, or breathing it out, the air is totally changed in its cha- racters ; by some mysterious power of Providence the oxygen is abstracted, and united with the carbon, which is one of the elements of the body. Now that you know the inflammable character of the gases in coal, and which are very closely allied in their nature to the gas employed in lighting our streets and buildings, you will understand what it is that renders the work of the miner so dangerous, creating what is called fire-damp. These gases frequently rush forth from cavi- ties in the earth, and, mingling with the air of a mine, explode with terrific violence upon the approach of a 56 A CHAT ABOUT COALS. candle, often occasioning a great loss of life. These gases are produced most abundantly from the deepest mines, and this has been accounted for by the uniting of the coal in a solid mass having been effected under a great pressure. From what you have read you will now understand that pressure, heat, and time have been among the chief agents in the formation of coal, and that wood and coal have the greatest connection with each other, the princi- pal matters of both being carbon and hydrogen, though the proportions of these are different in the several kinds of coal. There are a great many descriptions of coal, though the larger proportion come from Newcastle. It is always found in masses in the northern coal-field, giving direct employment to upwards of sixty thousand persons. In order that you may have some idea of the immense quan- tities of coal and its consumption, I may mention that Great Britain produces about sixty-five million tons of coal every year ; and it is calculated that the coal-fields of England and Wales would supply sixty million tons annually for a thousand years to come ! When we consider the enormous lapse of ages during which coal, such an inestimable gift to man, has been preparing, and that the transformation of vegetable remains into this mineral is still going on, in a greater or less degree, in most parts of the world, so that coal may be almost said to be inexhaustible, we are lost in astonishment at the power and benevolence of the omnipotent Creator, and are led to exclaim, " Great are Thy works, Jehovah, infinite Thy power ! what thoughts can measure Thee, or tongue Relate Thee 2" THE COAL MINE. 57 CHAPTER V. A GLANCE AT A COAL MINE. WHAT you have read in the preceding chapter will pre- pare you for an insight into the interior of a COAL MINE. This I will endeavour to explain. I have already men- tioned how the miners in search of metals burrow under- ground like busy moles, and it is the same with collieries in this respect. You know how the sagacious mole works its way into the earth, throwing up the small hills which you may often see in fields and gardens. The little animal may well be called a miner, for he under- stands well the purpose of his labours, and shows besides a regard for self-preservation, and a foresight, in which its human prototype sometimes fails. When I have described the habitation of a mole, you will form an idea of the operations which are performed in mines. The underground dwelling of the mole contains two circular galleries, one above the other, with five connect- ing passages, and a central chamber which has access to the upper gallery by three passages, whilst about nine passages lead away from the lower gallery in different directions. The end of a passage entering a gallery on one side is never opposite to the end of a passage entering on the other. And now comes the clever contrivance of this ingenious little miner, when its safety is in peril from mole-catchers, farmers, and gardeners : to afford all facility of escape in case of any alarm, a passage leads at first downwards from the central chamber, and then upwards again till it joins one of the high roads which 58 A GLANCE AT A COAL MINE. the mole always keeps open. These are formed by pressing the earth until it becomes smooth and firm, and are not marked by any mole-hills thrown up. These not only serve for escape when necessary, but lead to those of the animal's working grounds where the ordinary mining for worms, its principal food, is carried on. The contrast in the field of operations between a mole and a human miner is droll enough ; but the latter has also to work his way through sunless galleries, the walls and roofs of which are dark and gloomy, and anything but inviting in appearance for a stranger to visit. Yet the works in mines of great depth are full of interest, and sometimes of excitement, especially after the shaft has been made, the coal beds are reached, and the work- ing out of the mineral commences. It is very likely you have never heard of a ball being given on an occasion like this in a coal mine. Such an event, however, took place in the Gosforth Colliery, near Newcastle, when the first coal was reached in 1829. The scene is thus described. The ball-room was situated at a depth of nearly one thousand one hundred feet below the surface of the earth, and was in the shape of the letter L, the width being fifteen feet, the floor twenty-two feet, and the height forty-eight feet. Seats were placed on the sides of the ball-room, the floor was dried and flagged, and the whole place was brilliantly lighted with lamps and candles. The company (about two hundred and fifty in number, and one-half of whom were females) began to assemble and descend the shaft, in appropriate dresses, about half-past nine in the morning, and con- tinued to arrive till one in the afternoon. The men engaged in the works, their wives and daughters, several neighbours with their wives, the proprietors of the mine THE BALL IN A COAL MINE. 59 with their ladies, and friends of both sexes who had the courage to make the descent all these gradually found their way to the bottom of the shaft. Immediately on their arrival, each person broke off a piece of coal to keep in memory of the event, and then returned to the ball-room. Dancing commenced and continued until three o'clock in the afternoon. No distinction was made among the guests, the gentlemen and ladies joining in the dance with the miners and their families. A band of musicians, composed of miners, enlivened the scene, and refreshments were liberally supplied. All returned in safety to the surface, delighted with their entertain- ment. In any public rejoicings or festivals, coal miners are always ready to enjoy a share of the popular enjoyments ; and a great relaxation it must be to the poor fellows who work so hard and under such discomforting circum- stances. At the Queen's visit lately to Wolverhampton, at the unveiling of the statue erected to the memory of Prince Albert, the colliers in the Earl of Dudley's mines erected an immense arch of coal, under which the Queen passed. Some of the blocks for this purpose weighed upwards of three tons. The arch was ornamented very tastefully with the tools that are used by the miners in their work. We will now imagine ourselves arrived at the bottom of one of the Newcastle coal-pits , a journey sufficiently long to make us feel uncomfortable; for the depth of some mines is very great, that of Dunkinfield Colliery, Cheshire, for instance, being two thousand and fifty-five feet, and Monkwearmouth pit, belonging to the Durham Collieries, being nearly two thousand feet. Arrived at the bottom, we shall find that every trace of daylight is 60 A GLANCE AT A COAL MINE. shut out, and it will be some moments before we get accustomed to the lights that are carried by the miners. We then see long galleries or passages branching out in every direction, and men working in them, stooping, lying on their backs, and in every position which will enable them to reach the coal. Here the miner pur- sues, " Howe'er the daylight smiles or night-storms rave, His dangerous labour, deeper than the grave. Alike to him whose taper's flickering ray Creates a dubious, subterranean day, Or whether climbs the sun his noontide track, Or starless midnight reigns in coif of black ; Intrepid still, though buried at his work, Where ambush'd death and hidden dangers lurk ! " Boys and horses are taking the coal to the mouth of the pit, and some of the horses are born and pass the whole of their lives there without ever seeing daylight. These galleries are sometimes very extensive ; those in the Killingworth mine, near Newcastle, measure alto- gether upwards of one hundred and sixty miles. Just imagine what toil and labour such excavations must have cost. More extraordinary still is the Howgill coal-pit, near Whitehaven, where the mining has been carried on more than a thousand yards under the sea, and about six hundred feet below the bottom, thus robbing the sea of its treasures. At one colliery, near Newcastle, the pas- sages altogether measure more than twenty miles, and at St. Hilda Colliery, South Shields, the workings under- ground equal fully seventy miles in gallery extent. These galleries, or passages, require supports to keep the roof from falling in, and these are called pillars, being huge blocks of coal. There are several methods CARRYING THE COAL. 61 of excavating in coal mines. One is by working the coal into rooms, supported by pillars, which bear just such proportion of size to the coal dug out as is sufficient to bear the roof. Another mode is similar, but the pillars are left larger, with the intention of reducing them when the other works are finished in the mines. In some collieries, narrow rooms or openings are made, so that a large proportion of coal is left, with the view of working back towards the pits, and then removing every pillar if it is safe to do so. Working by what is called the long-wall is taking all the coal away as the miners proceed, leaving no pillars ; but this method is only adopted with thin coal. Passages lead between and around the pillars, and iron-tramways or railways are laid along the passages for conveying the tubs of coal from the workings to the shaft. Formerly, the coal was carried on the backs of labourers to the surface of the pit in bags or baskets. This was cruel work, and it is wonderful that men could endure it; but worse than this, women, and children under twelve years of age, underwent the same hard- ships. The women who carried full loads of coal pro- vided themselves with baskets which were fitted to the back, and were kept steady by a strap around the fore- head ; the boys and girls carried blocks of coal as heavy as they could lift, and these poor children considered themselves fortunate when they were sufficiently strong to carry a basket and get an increase to their wages. The payment to a regular coal-bearer was one shilling each day, and the ordinary load of coals in each basket was from two hundred to two hundred and forty pounds weight. These had to be carried, not only along the roads in the interior of the mine, but also, in some cases, 62 A GLANCE AT A COAL MINE. up to the surface of the pit, by means of winding stairs up the shaft. It was very shocking to subject women, and young children especially, to this distressing work ; and in 1843 an Act of Parliament was passed to prevent the employ- ment of females in mines, and boys under twelve years of age. You would see in a coal mine boys who are still occupied in hard work certainly, but nothing like what it used to be twenty years ago. They seem cheerful in their dark quarters, and get accustomed to their work. Next to the heiver (as the man who cuts or digs the coal is called) are the putter -s, youths employed to convey the coals from the workings to the horse-way, the distance being generally about one hundred and fifty yards. When a boy drags ox puts a load by himself, he is called a train, the real meaning of the word being the truck, or carriage, that conveys the tubs of coal. When two boys of unequal size and strength assist each other, the elder is called a headsman, or putter, and the younger a foal, or boy occupied in " putting " coals, and these lads are paid in proportion to their work. When two boys of about equal age and strength help each other, they are called, in the language of the Newcastle miners, half- marrows, or partners, who share alike their earnings. The weight of coal dragged by these various classes of boys, varies from five to ten hundredweight in each basket. The distance they have to walk to and fro in the mine during a day, varies from seven to nine miles. You see what a great amount of fatigue and labour these boys can support as they get accustomed to their labours. The baskets are taken from the workings, where the miner has been digging, to a crane, a machine for lifting them into a truck, called the rolley, led by a horse on the VENTILATION. 63 tram-way to the bottom of the shaft. A man stands here to hook, or unhook, the empty baskets or tubs which have been let down from the surface, or are about to be drawn up, loaded with coal, to the top. What a busy hive is the mine, with its hundreds of workpeople, all having their separate employments ! Be- sides those I have mentioned there are the furnace-men, who attend to the furnace for ventilating the mine ; the horse-keepers ', who have charge of the horses ; the lamp- keepers, who take care of the Davy safety-lights; the waste-men who walk along all the wastes, or deserted workings, to clear away stones and rubbish that may have fallen in, and to see that the air-courses are in good order; the switch-keepers, who attend to the switches, or passing-places, in the subterranean railways. The trappers are little boys who are stationed at traps, or doors, in various parts of the mine, to open them when the baskets have to be passed through, but to keep them closed at other times, in order that the current of air for ventilation may pass through certain passages. I have already explained to you how necessary venti- lation is to the preservation of life in mines, and how everything depends upon it. To form some idea of the amount of air required in a moderately sized mine, you may imagine a covering to be placed over a town, New- castle, for instance, perfectly air-tight; that in every main street, in every cross-street, in all the courts, alleys, lanes, and passages, a current of air should be continually passing along, at the rate of five feet or upwards each second (such as nearly to blow out a small candle), and you will have some idea of the ventilation required. The way-cleaners, as the name denotes, have to keep the rails clear of coal-dust and rubbish ; the wood and 64 A GLANCE AT A COAL MINE. water-men carry wood to the miners for props, and remove water from the horse-ways and the other parts of the pit. The managers who superintend the mine are, of course, very intelligent men ; the principal of them is the viewer, or superintendent, who arranges the whole plan of working the mine, and has for an assistant an under-viewer, who is expected to visit the mine every day, to correct any irregularities, and remove any dis- coverable sources of danger. The over-man, or under- ground overseer, has the charge of the miners, and his chief duty is to go into the pit every morning, one hour before the miners arrive, to see that all is safe ; the deputy over-man lays the rails of the tram-ways, and secures the workings with timber. The keeker is also an over- looker of the coal-diggers. Besides those I have mentioned there are persons connected with a mine who are employed above ground; the banks-men, who land coals at the top of the pit ; the brakes-men, in charge of the winding engine, which draws the coal up the shaft ; the waiters-on, who attend at the top of the pit to render any assistance ; trimmers, men who spread the coals in the ship's hold ; staith-men, or over-lookers of the shipping of the coals ; screeners, who empty the coals from the screens or boxes into the waggons; and several other workmen, who have various occupations. Where several hundred men are employed in a mine, it is important that each man should know his particular duty, and thus all confusion is avoided. The pit dress of the coal-digger is made entirely of coarse flannel, and consists of a long jacket, with large side pockets, a waistcoat, a flannel shirt, a pair of short drawers, and a pair of stout trousers ; also a pair FIRE DAMP. 65 of worsted stockings, and a tight-fitting round leather cap. The Newcastle coal-field is the most important in quantity and quality which is now worked in England. The spread of this branch of industry is stretched over the greater part of the coast of Northumberland, and the whole of Durham. Twenty-two millions of tons of coal are raised yearly ; sometimes in heaps, but generally in strata (a term given to extensive layers of any mineral substance, such as rocks, &c.). Almost everywhere coal is found in company with the same kind of rocks, and this is termed the coal formation. A coal-field means any extent of country over which it is spread. Among the worst dangers to which a miner is exposed, any of which may arise from the least act of imprudence or neglect, are those of the roof and floor coming to- gether, by the weight over the places where the coal has been worked out, and explosions of gas. In coal mines fire-damp is frequently met with in old works and unventilated excavations, where it often mixes with a sufficient quantity of atmospheric air to cause an explosion. It is necessary to replace con- stantly the bad air with fresh, drawn from above, and this is done by making pits or galleries which open into the atmosphere ; but when this is not sufficient for some extensive mines, in which the shafts are not near to each other, extra means are employed, such as large furnaces, (though these, without care, are dangerous where there is a discharge of fire-damp) : air-pumps, large fans, and screws are also used. Watei is a useful resource, and is frequently thrown down a shaft after an explosion of fire- damp, or when the air becomes dull, to aid the ventila- tion, which it efiects, partly, by cooling the air. F 66 A GLANCE AT A COAL MINE. You will understand, by what you have read, how the miner has to guard against danger from the four elements, viz., fire, air, earth, and water, and how im- portant it is that he should exercise the greatest caution. It unfortunately happens that many are reckless and imprudent, and explosions in coal mines, and various accidents in metallic mines, lead to a fearful loss of life. It is very distressing to know that about a thousand persons are killed annually, and others are grievously wounded, in connection with mining operations, and this after so many remedial measures have been adopted to insure safety. In coal mines, which are particularly subject to fire- damp, or highly inflammable vapours, the only light formerly in use was that produced from sparks by the contact of flint with steel, a wheel of that metal being turned rapidly round by hand, and a piece of flint being applied to it. This gave a miserable light, but it was the only method then known, and it required one person to work it for another person to work by ; but this was not safe, for when the sparks fell upon any explosive mixture, a concussion took place, often fatal in its results. The consequence of this mode of lighting was, that the working of a large portion of the mine was prevented, and frequently more than one-half of the coal was left. At length a safety-lamp was invented by Dr. Clanny, which removed some difficulties, but was not free from objections. Two famous men afterwards employed their great talents in endeavouring to make a lamp that would effectually prevent accidents. These were George Stephenson and Sir Humphry Davy. Stephenson, of whom we shall have more to relate, had been a common miner from his childhood, and had worked his way to THE SAFETY LAMPS. 67 different employments, in the same pursuit, by his steadi- ness and perseverance. His wife, one evening, came home, and found him lying at full length on the floor, trying a lighted candle against the wire-work of the fender, his object being to see whether the flame would pass through the openings. He had observed that when gas exploded in a mine, or in a long gallery, a certain time elapsed before the flame reached the other end, and he thought, that if small tubes were placed in the bottom of a lamp, through which the air that supplied it passed, and a chimney was attached to the lamp, the current of air passing into the lamp might be made, by the ventilation of the chimney, to pass so quickly, that an explosion could not, on account of that current of air, pass downwards, if the lamp was placed amidst in- flammable vapours. After several experiments, a safety- lamp, on this principle, was constructed by Stephenson, and was first used in Killingworth Colliery, near New- castle, where he had worked as a miner. This invention was considered so valuable, that in 1818 the people of Newcastle presented him with a silver inkstand and one thousand guineas. Sir Humphry Davy, one of the greatest discoverers in science that the world has pro- duced, was led to the construction of the lamp that bears his name, and which is now in general use, by discovering that flame would not pass through the small apertures of wire gauze, being cooled by contact with the wire of the lamp. I will explain this by stating that if you hold a piece of close wire network over the flame of a lamp or candle, you will find that the flame will not pass through the openings. The wire may become red-hot, but no flame will appear above it ; the reason being that the gas which forms the flame passes through the open- 68 A GLANCE AT A COAL MINE. ings, but gives up, in so doing, so much heat to the metal, that when it escapes from the openings, or meshes, above the wire, it is no longer hot enough to be luminous. The object of the safety-lamp is to enable the miner to walk, lamp in hand, in the midst of highly explosive gas, without the possibility of an explosion. This is effected by the Davy lamp, which is a common lantern, containing a lamp, or candle, enclosed by wire gauze instead of glass or horn, and of that degree of fineness that flame cannot penetrate. When this is carried into a place where fire- damp prevails, the outer air enters freely through the wire gauze, and burns quietly in the lantern, but the wire gauze which permits the cold gas to enter forbids the white-hot gas within to escape without parting with so much heat in passing as to mingle with the explosive air around. The lamp thus serves a double purpose ; it is at once a protection and a warning. It protects, as you have read, and warns; because, the miner, seeing the gas burning in the lanterns, finds that he is surrounded with inflammable air, and measures are then taken to ventilate that portion of the mine, and prevent persons with open lights or candles from entering it. The results of this invention have been an immense saving of life, and a great increase in the mineral re- sources of the country. In the counties of Northumber- land and Durham alone, from three to four million tons of coal are now annually worked by the aid of safety- lamps, which could not have been done by candles, or by the steel mills which we have described. The explosion in the Lund Hill Colliery in Yorkshire, in 1857, which caused a fearful loss of life, and the desti- tution of numerous poor families, was occasioned, it is believed, by the imprudence of the miners, who used A FIRE FOR THIRTY YEARS. 69 open lights in all parts of the workings instead of safety-lamps. There are numerous other similar in- stances. But even with this means of preservation, a great amount of care is necessary, to see that the lamps are not out of order, or dirty with oil or dust, and that they are not dropped on the ground when red-hot. I have been thus particular in explaining the nature and use of the safety-lamp, for without it no great mining works could be undertaken. It has happened, purposely and accidentally, that coal mines have been set on fire, and occasioned an immense loss of coal, besides other damages. The mines around Newcastle were ordered to be fired in 1643, by the Mar- quis of Newcastle, general of the king's forces then in the town, besieged by the Scots, whose commander, Leslie, preserved them by surprising the boats and the vessels. In the grounds at Benwell, a short distance from the Tyne, a coal mine took fire through the carelessness of a workman who left his candle burning. The fire con- tinued burning about thirty years, though at first it was so small that a proposal to put it out for a few shillings was not accepted. The fire afterwards raged with great fury, committing terrible ravages in its way, only con- spicuous by its flames and columns of smoke in the night. In 1849, a successful attempt was made to extinguish a fire which had been raging for a considerable time in the Astley coal mines, by means of carbonic acid gas, a process invented by Mr. Gurney. During 1852 another experiment was made, by the same gentleman, on a coal mine, long known as the burning waste of Clackmannan, in Scotland. This fire had raged for about thirty years, in a coal-field extending over a space of twenty-six acres. 70 A GLANCE AT A COAL MINE. This calamity is supposed to have happened through some persons who had been distilling illicit whiskey in the mine. Shortly after the discovery of the fire it extended rapidly, and threatened the destruction of the entire coal- field. A sum of sixteen thousand pounds was laid out, in surrounding the fire with a wall, to prevent its extending to other workings. This wall was finished in about five years, the workmen being frequently driven back, and obliged to recommence at a greater distance from the fire. In the building of this wall the lives of nine men and three women were unfortunately lost at various times, by the roof falling down and cutting off their retreat, and the fire overwhelming them before they could be extri- cated. One unfortunate girl was enclosed in this man- ner, and literally roasted to death. You will scarcely think it possible that such a fearful fire as this could be extinguished, and so thought most of the eminent prac- tical miners of the time. Lord Mansfield, however, requested Mr. Gurney to make the trial, and, notwith- standing the immense extent of the burning waste, it was accomplished by a simple and inexpensive process. Another very serious source of danger to the miner is when the workings become overflowed by water. This last may be occasioned thus : when the whole of the coal has been worked out of a mine, and the roof does not fall down, vast empty spaces are left, which often become filled with water, to the great danger of the mine which adjoins it. The quantity of water which flows into a mine is enormous, and it often happens that a mine be- comes flooded by opening into such a place ; the slightest fracture on the walls which separate the working mine from the old one is sufficient to flood the former entirely, and sometimes the wall has been made too weak to resist WATER IN THE MINE. 71 the pressure of the water, and is broken through, cariying death and destruction everywhere. At a colliery n^ar Newcastle, in 1815, about ninety poor fellows were shut up in the upper workings of a mine, by water breaking in from an old mine, which sud- denly filled up the deep workings, and cut off all means of escape by filling up the shaft. Of course the miners were drowned. Two pits at Workington, in Cumber- land, were suddenly filled with water, in 1837, by inun- dation from the sea; thirty-six men and boys, and as many horses, perished. Many other fearful accidents have occurred from overflowed mines. Before leaving the subject of coal mines, I will relate to you a singular circumstance that occurred a few years ago at Parr (about fourteen miles from Liverpool), rela- tive to the discovery of a coal mine. The anecdote will show you how extremely valuable such mines are which lie under a small extent of land. An elderly widow lady sold some property at Parr, consisting of a house and about thirty acres of land, to a gentleman, who purchased it for his own residence, for three thousand pounds. The old lady thought there must be coals under the land as there was so much in the neighbourhood, but it was the decided opinion of coal proprietors, and others who knew the locality, that there were not any coals in the pro- perty ; or if there were, that they could not be got from the workings of any adjacent colliery, on account of part of the land constituting what is called a fault, namely, a separation of stone and earth, which sometimes happens, so as to separate deposits of coals from each other, and, consequently, they were of no value. The old lady, however, insisted that the coal, if found, should not go with the purchase, unless the purchaser would 72 A GLANCE AT A COAL MINE. give her one hundred pounds for them, taking the chance of any being found. This was refused, and the coals were, accordingly, excepted from the purchase and re- served to the widow. The old lady died soon after, be- queathing the coal mines (in case any should be dis- covered) among the seven children of a deceased sister, all of whom were in wretched circumstances. The rest of her property about three hundred pounds she left to the children of another sister. The bequest of the coal mines was considered of no value whatever, and merely a fancy of the testator; and the possession of three hundred pounds in good money by the other children was looked upon with envy and dissatisfaction. The coal legatees brooded, for a long time, over their disap- pointment, but, at length, they contrived to induce some persons, who were supposed to have more money than frit, to undertake the expense of boring on the land to ascertain whether there were coals or not. The boring continued for a considerable time, to the great amuse- ment of persons connected with collieries, but at last, to their great astonishment, and to the dismay of the pur- chaser, and the unbounded delight of the legatees, two beds of the best coal in Lancashire were discovered, extending nearly the whole length and breadth of the land, and easy to be worked. These coals were imme- diately purchased by the proprietors of a neighbouring colliery for twenty thousand pounds. On other borings being made, three lower beds were found, which the same parties purchased for fifteen thousand pounds ! The following lines, written by a miner " among the coal mines of Durham," are full of feeling and beauty : A MINER'S SONG. 73 "Upon the hills the wintry wind is sighing: In the dark vale where flows the winding Wear, A hundred coal-fires burn Beside the black-mouthed mines. '* And through the snow the sooty miners come Down to their toil in the black vaults, where lurk The gases that may burst Into blue sulphurous flames. " A sad, dark life ! yet, labour has its joys ; Pleasant the sight of heaven when work is done ! Pleasant the shining hut Where burns the constant fire ! "But darker than the gloom 'mid seams of coal, More to be dreaded than the fatal damp, The night upon the mind, The darkness of the soul. " 'Tis sad to toil afar from yonder sun ; But let the mind's true sun, intelligence^ Shed beauty, light, and joy O'er every labourer's life. ** The enlightened soul can pour a cheerful light Even through the mine the unillumined man Walks, in the face of day, Surrounded with a gloom. "To break this gloom to shed the light around Till every man shall feel its influence pure, And share the common joy, As one sun shines for all, "This be our task ! As thousands toil for one, So one. must toil for thousands. Even a song Can help the working hand, And cheer the labourer's soul. " 74 COPPER AND TIN MINES OF CORNWALL. CHAPTER VI. THE COPPER AND TIN MINES OF CORNWALL AND DEVONSHIRE. COPPER and tin, two of the most valuable metals we possess, have been known from the earliest ages. If you refer to the Holy Scriptures, you will find frequent men- tion of the use of copper. Tubal-Cain is recorded as the first worker in brass (of which copper is the principal constituent) and iron (Gen. iv. 22). Palestine abounded in copper (Deut. viii. 9), and David left behind him an immense quantity of that metal, to be employed in building the temple (2 Chron. i. 22). Of copper, also, were made all sorts of vessels in the Tabernacle and Temple, weapons of war, &c. We can scarcely wonder at this, for the ores of copper are either very heavy, or they have beautiful colours purple, blue, and green, and would, on these accounts, be calculated to draw very early attention. In the earlier times, however, copper does not appear to have been employed by itself, but in admixture with other metals, principally tin, thus forming what is now called bronze. Copper was anciently most abundantly wrought in the isle of Cyprus, hence the origin of its Latin name, cuprum, from whence is derived its English appellation, copper. Of copper mining in England, in remote times, we have no authentic history ; but it is probable, from certain rude indications in old and aban- doned mines in North Wales, that copper was worked there by the ancient Britons. There is also evidence to show that the Romans worked copper mines in England ; COPPER ORES. ; s and from the remains of these mines in Anglesey and Cumberland we may infer that mining was pursued by them with their characteristic skill and success. Copper ores are found in great variety and abundance in Cornwall and Devonshire, but it was not until the middle of the last century that copper mining in this country received its greatest impulse. Mines were sunk to greater depth, new and powerful engines were con- structed, the machinery improved, and the operations greatly facilitated. Copper is one of those metals which are found in the greatest number of places, and in the largest quantity. Its ores are very numerous, the most common being a sulphuret, or combination of copper and iron, called copper pyrites (ores containing a large portion of sul- phur), which occur in the north of Europe, in England (especially in the two counties I have mentioned) and Anglesey, and in many parts of Asia and Africa and the American continents. In 1844 a vein of very produc- tive copper was found in South Australia. The Burra- Burra mine, in that country, is one of the richest in the world. Native copper that is, when it is quite pure and un- mixed with other materials is found occasionally in most copper mines. It is usually of a copper-red colour, but is sometimes discovered brown, black, and of various colours. It is either massive, or in grains and plates, or in thread- like filaments, in which shape it is frequently very beau- tiful. It is not often seen of a large size, although a mass of native copper has been discovered in a valley at the Brazils of two thousand and twenty pounds weight. In the Museum of the Academy of Sciences at St. Peters- burg is a mass of native copper of" an extraordinary sizq 76 COPPER AND TIN MINES OF CORNWALL. found in Kamtschatka. Large masses have also been found in North and South America. One piece, in Canada, measures fifteen feet in circumference. Native copper has also been discovered in Siberia, Hungary, Austria, Sweden, and in Cornwall. In the latter place it is frequently found in the fissures of rocks, in thin threads, deposited by the impregnated water that runs from the layers of the copper ore. Springs have been found impregnated with copper, and these, in later times, have been turned to advantage by the smelter. The copper springs in the county of Wicklow, in Ire- land, owed the discovery of their valuable quality to the following circumstance. About the middle of the eighteenth century, when the opening of the rich mines of Crone-Ba wn had compensated for the loss of the more ancient workings of Ballymurtagh, a workman happened to leave an iron shovel in a part of the former mine, through which issued a copious stream strongly impreg- nated with copper. On taking out the implement, some weeks after, it was found so completely encrusted with copper, that it was at first supposed to have been con- verted into that metal. This accident suggested the advantage of laying bars of iron in the streams, by means of which the copper in the water was precipitated upon the iron, which became corroded by the process, and fell to the bottom as a reddish mud, and which, on being taken out and dried, appeared a sort of dust of the same colour, in which state it was ready for smelting. About five hundred tons of iron were laid at one time in these pits ; in about twelve months the bars became dissolved, one ton of iron yielding a ton and a half, and sometimes nearly two tons of the deposit, and each ton of the latter USES OF COPPER. 77 producing sixteen hundred-weight of pure copper. It is a knowledge of this affinity between iron and copper that has furnished miners with a very simple but almost infallible method of ascertaining whether an ore contains copper. They drop a little nitric acid upon the mass, and, after a while, dip a feather into the acid, and draw it over the polished blade of a knife ; if there is the smallest quantity of copper present, it will show itself on the steel. Copper is used for a multitude of purposes. It is employed in making boilers, plating ships' bottoms, coining of money, for many operations of the copper- smith, and for its conversion into brass by being mixed with zinc. Although copper may be, and is to a con- siderable extent, cast in sand like other metals, it is in the state of sheets that the largest consumption takes place, especially when we consider what is required by the shipbuilder. Although copper is somewhat difficult to turn at the lathe, or to bore, on account of its clogging the tools, it is an exceedingly easy metal to turn into shape by hammering, being both soft and tenacious. It is capable of being thus made into leaves so thin, that in this state it is often sold in small paper books, in imita- tion of gold-leaf. This is employed, among other things, in covering children's toys. Some articles, being first cast, are afterwards beaten out to the requisite degree of thinness, and to the form intended; advantage being taken of the metal being such as to spread without breaking, by repeatedly heating it until red-hot, and then gradually cooling whatever piece of work may be wrought in this manner. Other things, such as kettles, pitchers, and small vessels, in general, are soldered or joined by a preparation of brass and 78 COPPER AND TIN MINES OF CORNWALL, zinc. Copper tea-urns and sauce-pans are thus formed by soldering and hammering. The beautiful colour which you may have noticed in tea-urns is produced by the application of sulphuric acid, or Roman vitriol, previously to the burnishing. Copper vessels, when not very large, and particularly when intended to hold liquids or to dress food, are tinned inside. This is necessary, because copper, when long exposed to the air, becomes, in some measure, oxidized, or rusted, in which case its surface is covered with a thin blue crust, similar in appearance to verdigris ; and unless copper vessels are kept perfectly clean and free from this rust, there is risk from poison. Copper is mixed with tin to make bronze and gun-metal and bell-metal : being highly capable of assisting sound, it is also used for making trumpets, and other musical instruments. Pliny, the Roman historian, tells us that the best looking-glasses were anciently made with copper and tin, but that in his time (soon after the birth of our Saviour) those of silver were so common that they were used even by the maid-servants. These metallic mirrors were highly prized among ancient nations ; the Egyptian women, whenever they went to their temples, carried one of these mirrors with them. Copper wire, on account of its elasticity, is used by rope-dancers. Large quantities are now employed for the electric telegraphs. Preparations of copper are used in enamel-painting, paper-staining, and in the manufac- ture of various colours. It is also used by the coloured glass-makers, and forms a beautiful green glass. The malleable quality of copper, and its adaptability to the services of art, have seldom been more fully demonstrated than by Mr. Philips, of Snow Hill, London, in a work of very high merit. His figure of a " golden THE COPPER EAGLE. 79 eagle" is the first attempt made to render feather for feather in either metal or stone in modern times. The eagle, which is of the natural size, stands on the summit of a rugged and precipitous rock, in a bold and threaten- ing attitude. The whole figure is instinct with life, and has more the appearance of a real bird electrotyped by some miracle than anything else to which it can be com- pared. Every one of the minute feathers which cluster round the neck, the fine hair-like down which runs from the beak to the eye, the soft cushion of plumage at the junction of the wings and body, are here separate, and can be each separately raised by the finger. The half-hairy, half-feathery legs of the bird are wonderful in the fine- ness of the down which overspreads them. The most extraordinary triumph of Mr. Philips's skill, however, is shown in the extremely minute feathers which cover the frame of the pinions, and which conceal the fastenings of the large feathers forming the tips of the wings. It would be impossible to overrate this portion of the work, so numerous and so thick are the feathers, and so soft and deep is the effect produced. The rock which forms the eagle's stand, a fine mass of tin and antimony in combination, is of bold workmanship, and forms a pleasing contrast to the somewhat dusky colour of the plumage. Nothing can be more happy than the colour- ing of the figure of the bird. The metallic lustre of the feathers, so difficult to imitate in painting, is here ren- dered with great truthfulness. Equally good also is the horn-like appearance given to the beak and talons, while the yellow and wrinkled scales of the feet are life-like. Mr. Philips was occupied for six years in bringing this curious work of art to its present condition. More than ten thousand feathers, formed from ordinary copper 8o COPPER AND TIN MINES OF CORNWALL. plate, all made by hand, some of which had to pass twenty-six or twenty-seven times under the hammer and the graver, were necessary for the plumage alone, and show the unwearied patience and industry of what has evidently been a labour of love. If TIN is really intended by the Hebrew word, which seems somewhat doubtful, it is first mentioned in the Holy Scriptures among the metals which were to be purified by fire, found among the prey taken from the Midianites (Numb. xxxi. 22). It is also named among the articles of commerce which the Tyrians received from Tarshish (Ezek. xxvii. 12). The Hebrew word also denotes the mixture of lead, tin, and other inferior metals, combined with silver in the ore, and separated from it by smelting (Isa. i. 25). From the most remote periods Cornwall has produced this metal in the greatest quantity. Herodotus, who flourished four hundred and fifty years before Christ, mentions the tin island of Britain by the name of Cassi- terides, from a Greek word signifying tin. It is generally acknowledged that Cornwall and the Scilly Islands were visited by that great trading people, the Phoenicians (to whom I have already alluded), for tin, more than two hundred years before Christ, in which traffic they were, in course of time, joined by the Greeks and Romans. Some years before the invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar, a Roman merchant named Publius Crassus encouraged the Cornish Britons to improve their mines, and increase their trade in metals with the Continent, and persuaded them to export their tin to France. His advice was taken, and even the islanders of Scilly (which is supposed at one time to have been united to Corn- wall) are spoken of in the fourth century as prudent TIN IN CORNWALL AND DEVON. 81 merchants, and of great skill as pilots, steering their frail vessels of skin with great dexterity. Besides Cornwall (the chief repository of tin) and Devonshire, this metal is found in different parts of Europe, amongst others, Bohemia, Saxony, Spain, and Portugal. It is also produced in large quantities in Asia, at Malacca and Banca, and Australia adds this metal to her other mineral riches. Tin is never found native; it occurs in the oldest rocks, as granite, gneiss, and mica-slate, the veins run- ning through them, or spread about in crystals through their mass. This is called mine tin, and that procured by washing alluvial deposits is called stream tin, the latter being the result of the wearing away of granite and other rocks which contained the veins oi tin. Washed Cornish tin ore, usually called black tin, pro- duces, on an average, more than half of metallic or white tin. Tin pyrites (ores containing a large portion of sulphur) are found in some of the Cornish mines. Ores containing copper are sometimes found with so large a proportion of tin, that it is difficult to say whether they should be regarded as tin or copper ores. The purest variety of tin is called grain tin, on account of its granular columnar shape, which is developed by heating a mass of the metal until near its melting-point, and then suddenly letting it fall from a height upon a hard pavement, by which it is broken into the shapes above mentioned. Block tin is so called from its occurrence in the form of blocks or bars ; although not so pure, it is extensively employed in manufactures. A third kind, called Banca tin, imported from the island of that name on the coast oi Sumatra, is very pure. G 32 COPPER AND TIN MINES OF CORNWALL. Tin, although in itself the lightest of metals, is, in its ore, one of the heaviest. It melts with a gentle heat, and is sufficiently soft to spread under the hammer into thin leaves; yet it cannot be drawn into wire of any great strength. It is durable, not easily rusted or tar- nished, and its bright clear colour is easily revived again. The uses of tin, besides those we have mentioned in connection with copper, are numerous. It is sometimes given in medicines, and preparations of it are made into cosmetics. A compound of tin with gold, and also with other metals, is employed to produce crimson, purple, and pink colours on glass and pottery, and dyeing scarlet. Tin enters into the composition of printers' types and pewter. One of its principal uses, however, is for covering sheet iron, which is manufactured into a thousand different articles for culinary and other pur- poses. This substance is well known as tin-plate. You know the old saying that " all is not gold that glitters." This is exemplified in one of the uses of tin-leaf. In the manufacture of gilt paper, gold is not employed; the paper is covered with tin-leaf, upon which is afterwards thinly spread a transparent lacquer, which is coloured yellow with saffron or turmeric. The most ancient mode of obtaining tin was by the process to which I have alluded, called streaming; that is, as I before explained, by washing away the lighter particles of the soil where the metal is found in a stream of water, and allowing the tin to subside. The metal in its purest state is found in these stream works, also occasionally grains of gold, which are washed down with the inferior metal. After being washed and " dressed," the tin is sometimes subjected to heat in a roasting fur- nace, in order to clear it of other substances ; and this MINING OPERATIONS. 83 being done, it is prepared for the smelting-house. Copper ores are similarly treated as those of tin, ex- cepting that as the copper is raised in larger masses, it requires less washing. The principal stream works in Cornwall are between Truro and Falmouth. Copper ore is broken small, picked, dressed, and placed in heaps ready for removal. Samples are taken, and the ores are sold, on certain days called " ticketing days," to agents of metal companies, by whom the ores are sent chiefly into Wales, for smelting, the vessels returning with coals for the mines. I will explain to you why this is done. Although Cornwall and Devonshire are so remarkable for the production of tin and copper ores, yet the want of coal in those counties renders it desirable to transport the metals to districts where coal abounds, as in South Wales, where there are extensive smelting works at Swansea and the neighbourhood. You will under- stand this from the fact, that for every ton of ore pro- duced, about twenty tons of coal are required for smelting purposes. Having thus explained to you the nature and purposes of copper and tin, I will now describe the mining opera- tions by which they are produced. What is called a mine comprehends generally every system of underground work or excavation, which has *for its object the discovery and extraction of metallic ores, or other mineral substances. It will be well to mention how the presence of mineral veins, or, as they are termed, lodes, is discovered. I have related several instances in which mines have been found by accident. Such cases were numerous in former times. The gold mines of Galicia were laid open by the plough, those of India by the carting away of hillocks raised 84 COPPER AND TIN MINES OF CORNWALL. \ by the ants. Slight accidents, even in modern times, have been the cause of wonderful mineral discoveries. A great mine at Halkin, in Wales, was found by some labourers employed in cutting trenches, and another at Llangynnog, in the same country, by the slip of a woman ascending a hill, and laying bare the mineral vein with her feet. The silver mines of Argueros, in Spain, were first discovered in 1825, by a mule driver who was cut- ting wood on the mountain. He found, by chance, some rolled blocks of native silver, and on making this known, some miners went to the place, and collected a large amount of silver from the rolled stones they gathered on the surface. From that time until 1840, the mines produced annually about one hundred and twenty thou- sand pounds' worth of silver. Such are some of the results of accidental discoveries. You will like to be informed how the presence of minerals is known to those who search for them. It was formerly believed that a forked hazel branch, in the form of the letter Y, cut at a particular time, was a certain means of discovering the position of mines. The fork was held in both hands, and carried over the ground suspected to contain ore, and no sooner was it passed over a vein or lode, than it pressed strongly against the hands so it was affirmed, and seemed to feel the same attraction as that which exists between iron and the magnet. Such, until within the past fifty years only, was a silly superstition connected with mining, now happily dis- appeared in the light of science and the progress of education. By the aid of geology (a term signifying the science of the earth) we are enabled to judge whether any particular district, from the nature and arrangements of its rocks, contains any beds of workable ores. Geology HO W MINERALS ARE FO UND. 85 also indicates, to a certain degree, what substances may be probably met with in certain rocks. In Cornwall, where, as I have told you, most of the copper and tin found in Great Britain is obtained, the rocks in which metals are found extend from the Land's End, in a direction from east to west, entirely along the country. The minerals are all found in veins, which are called lodes, to distinguish them from veins of quartz (a name given to numerous varieties of rock crystal), and other non-metallic minerals. These lodes are very irre- gular in size, and in the directions they take, although they usually follow one general line. When a line is opened the men cut drifts, which are excavations made for a road underground, from north to south, to a considerable depth, by which means any intermediate lodes will be cut through. In digging a mine the principal objects to be considered are the removal of the barren rock, or rubbish, the dis- charge of water which is found, more or less, in every mine, and the raising of the ore. Mountains and hills are dug with the most convenience, because drains and adits, or trenches, may be cut to convey the water at once into the neighbouring valleys. In mines that are very deep, and below the adit, or conduit, that carries the water away, steam engines are used by which the water is brought up to the level of the conduit. In almost all the mines in England this work is done by steam; in Hungary and Germany hydraulic machines are chiefly used, and in some coun- tries machines moved by horses, oxen, and even men, are employed. Until the introduction of powerful engines for pumping water, about the beginning of the eighteenth century, the miners could not proceed far with under- 86 COPPER AtfD TIN MINES OF CORNWALL. ground works. Some of the Cornish engines are very large, and, with the expenditure of one bushel of coals, can raise eight hundred gallons of water in a minute. The immense quantity of water in many of the Cornish mines may be judged from the fact, that the various branches of the principal level in Cornwall, called the great adit, or conduit, which receives the waters of the mines in Gwennap, and near Redruth, measure nearly thirty miles in length. The water flows into a valley communicating with a small inlet of the sea, and is discharged about forty feet above high-water mark. In this method about forty millions of tons of water are raised by steam power out of the mines in Cornwall. When the opening of a mine is determined upon> a shafty or pit, is dug to extract the rubbish that accumu- lates at the bottom, draw off the water that drains in it, to facilitate the descent and ascent of the workmen, and to afford a means of ventilation, without which it would be impossible to proceed. This shaft is a hollow space, sometimes several yards wide, and varying in depth according to circumstances, whether the ground is level or on an elevation. The depth of some mines is truly wonderful; that of the salt works near Munden, in Prussia, is upwards of two thousand feet ; and some of the coal mines in our own country are very deep; that at Monkwearmouth, near Newcastle, is upwards of eighteen hundred feet. It would scarcely seem possible that miners could work at such a great depth, but the tem- perature is not found to exceed the powers of human endurance. As soon as the shaft is dug to some depth, a machine called a whim (which is worked by steam in some mines) is erected, to bring up either rubbish or ore, which is THE MAN-ENGINE. 87 previously broken into pieces by pickaxes and other instruments; around this whim a hollow timter cylinder (a body having two flat surfaces and one circular) revolves, and this is called a cage; a rope winds around this, being directed down the shaft by a pulley fixed over it. By this means a bucket, or, as it is termed, a kibble usually made of iron, full of ore or rubbish, is hauled up, while an empty one is descending. You will, no doubt, wonder how the miners are able to go down to their work through shafts of great depth. Until of late years these poor men were obliged to make use of ladders for this purpose, and the labour of climb- ing was so severe, that many were quite exhausted before they reached the bottom ; and the fatigue of mounting, after their labour was done, was so great that their health was seriously injured ; the young men frequently died of chest diseases at an early age, and the older workmen were obliged to labour in shallower mines. It was necessary that some means should be employed to remedy this evil; and the simplest idea was to apply, for the use of the miner, the same method that was employed to bring up the ore. But in 1833 a very different system, called a man-engine, was applied to some of the Hartz mines in Germany, consisting of two rods which moved alternately through the shaft, and from which the miner passed, first to one and then to the other, in his ascent and descent. In the following year this plan, much improved, was adopted in some of the Cornish mines. The rocls, worked by a water-wheel, moved alternately, each having platforms about twelve feet apart. But in 1851 a single rod was found to act the best, and this was furnished with platforms, places for resting upon being made in the shaft on each side COPPER AND TIN MINES OF CORNWALL. of the rod, so as to correspond with the level of the platforms. The movement of the rod is regulated by strokes from the engine, in such manner that the miner, on leaving a platform, waits on the resting-place in the shaft until the next up or down platform comes down to him. In this way the miner descends to his work with- out the exhaustion which the dangerous practice of climbing occasioned. When the width of the excavations or galleries in the mine is not great, their sides can sometimes stand upright of themselves, but more frequently they require to be propped up by billets of wood, or by walls, built with bricks or stones, or even by stuffing the place with rub- bish. These three kinds of supports are called timbering, walling, and filling tip. These precautions are necessary to insure the safety of the workman, for the rocks amidst which he digs are seldom or never entire, but have always openings or fissures in various directions, so that without due care the fragments might fall in and crush him at any moment. Another most important consideration is the means of ventilating these passages, for fresh air follows the miner with difficulty in the narrow places which he lays open, and there are also the respiration of the workmen them- selves, joined to the smoke from candles, and gunpowder used in blasting the rocks, added to the gas from various substances found in mines. We will now suppose the miner to be at work underground, penetrating into the interior of the earth, and extracting from it the objects of his toil. The tools he makes use of are the pick, one side of which instrument is used as a hammer to break off pieces of rock. The point of the pick is of steel, finely tempered. The %ad is a wedge of steel, to drive THE MINERS TOOLS. 89 into crevices of the rock, or into small openings made by the pick, in order to loosen them. A pointed shovel is also used in order that it may penetrate into the hard masses of the rubbish. The tools for blasting the rocks with gunpowder are a sledge, or mallet, and a borer, an iron bar tipped with steel, and formed like a thick chisel, used by one man holding it straight in the hole, and turning it round, while another strikes the head of it with the mallet. The hole is cleared out from time to time by the scraper, which is a flat iron rod turned up at one end. When a rock is to be blasted with gunpowder, a hole is made ready for firing. This hole must be ren- dered as dry as possible by filling it with clay ; a tapering iron rod which is called a daying-bar is then driven into it with great violence, so as to force the clay into all the crevices of the rock, and secure the dryness of the hole. When this is done, and a charge of powder introduced, a small taper rod of copper, termed the nail, is inserted, so as to reach the bottom of the hole, which is now ready for tamping, or cramming the hole; this is done with any soft species of rock free from flinty particles, and rammed in very hard with a tamping-bar, held by one man and struck with a sledge by another. The hole being thus filled, the nail is withdrawn, and a small per- foration is left for the rush or fuse which communicates the fire. Before the art of blasting rocks with gunpowder came into operation (in 1620), the method of applying heat to the rocks was by lighting fires upon them, to render them, thus softened, more yielding to the pick and the chisel. This was, however, a tedious process, and when gunpowder came into use mining operations became more expeditious and profitable. The gun- 90 COPPER AND TIN MINES OF CORNWALL. powder, when used, is put into paper cartridges, and inserted in the channel or passage left by the withdrawal of the piercer. This is exploded by means of a long match, which is lighted by the workmen, who then retire to a safe distance to watch the effect. In this manner the ore is blown out of the rock, and after each explosion wedges and levers are employed, to drag away and break down what has been shattered. Many accidents have, however, occurred by this method of blasting, but these may be prevented by the use of the safety-fuse, invented by the late Mr. Thomas Davey, of Tuckingmill, in Corn- wall. This consists of a small train of fine gunpowder, twisted into the middle of a cord, and rendered com- pact by a counter thread, the whole cord being after- wards tarred. With this fuse shots may be fired into mines, under water, and in ice. They are lighted in the usual Avay, and communicate with the charge of gun- powder in the rock, after an interval determined by the length of the fuse. This invention has been the means of an immense saving of life and accidents. The first picking, or sorting, of the broken pieces of rock takes place underground, and consists in separating the fragments containing no metallic matters from those that contain more or less of it. This the miner is able to tell from the weight of the pieces in his hand and their ap- pearance. These are conveyed in kibbles or buckets up the shaft, and are afterwards again sorted on what are called dressing-floors, which are near the mouths of the principal shafts, in a shed or other building for that pur- pose. The pieces of ore are divided into small beds, on each of which is placed a thick plate of cast iron. On this plate, men, women, and children break the ores with hammers, then pick and sort them piece by piece. The WASHING TME ORE. 91 rubbish is thrown aside, and the parts containing ore are then prepared for the stamping mill, to which I shall presently allude. On the dressing-floors a quantity of small rubbish remains after the sorting, and this is sifted, so that no particles of ore may be lost. The ore now undergoes the process of washing, to remove the lumps of earth that stick to it. There are several modes of washing ; it is sometimes performed by men stirring, in the midst of a stream of water, with iron rakes or shovels, the lumps of ore placed in large boxes or basins of wood or iron. What is called a btiddle, or tub, is also used for this purpose, with iron handles that are moved round about by means of a water-wheel. When the washing is finished, a door in one of the sides of the tub is opened, and the water removes the ore into a spacious basin, where it undergoes the process of picking. In some places it is passed through sieves to reduce the ore into powder, which is then stamped. A stamping-mill, or, as we may call it, a pounding machine, consists of several moveable wooden pillars, supported between frames. These pillars, having a mass of iron at each end, are moved up and down by a water-wheel in a sort of trough, by which the ore is pulverized. When it is necessary to reduce ores to powder of an extreme fineness, they are passed under millstones, as in common corn-mills, and after being ground, they are bolted, so as to form a species of flour, or they are crushed between rollers. The ore, after it is collected, is sent to the smelting works, and after it has been fused or reduced in the fur- nace, an aperture is opened, the cinders are removed, and a channel is made by which the melted metal flows from the hearth into a large vessel, where it is allowed to 92 ANECDOTES OF MINERS. remain for some time. It is then ladled into moulds, so as to make large blocks or any other shape. I have now conducted you through most of the im- portant processes connected with metal mining, so that whenever you happen to visit one of these wonderful places, you will be able to comprehend most things that you may see. A mine constitutes a little world in itself, under the control of a principal manager, or, as he is termed, a captain, who has several assistants, and the superintendence of a large number of men, women, and children, who, in general, seem happy in their occupa- tions, although these may frequently be severe ana laborious. From such a scene of industry we may ourselves learn to be cheerful and persevering in our own employ- ments, whatever they may be : " Work for some good, be it ever so slowly ; Cherish some flower, be it ever so lowly. Labour ! All labour is noble and holy ; Let thy good deeds be the prayer to thy God ! " CHAPTER VII. ANECDOTES OF MINERS. FROM what I have related, you will probably be glad to hear something more about the hardy and industrious men who pass so much of their lifetime underground. Working in such great depths of the earth, far removed from the cheerful influences of daylight, and surrounded with many dangers, would seem to most of us a fear CHRISTIANS CONDEMNED TO THE MINES. 93 ful occupation ; but Nature, kind mother of us all, gives a measure of endurance to the human mind and frame, which circumstances strengthen, and habit makes endur- able. This is infinite wisdom, for without such assist- ance everything would be at a standstill, and all the wonderful works that man achieves would be wanting. It is a roving disposition that makes the sailor what he is ; and as he, too, gets accustomed to his wild and perilous life, he passes carelessly through dangers that would appal a landsman. So with the miner ; he also has his excitement in the discovery of metallic veins under- ground, and in working his way into deeper recesses, intent on his labour, and without the distraction of changing objects that arrest the attention above-ground. The difference between mining in former days, and what it is at present, favours the pursuit of this occupa- tion, and renders it less hard than one would suppose. The light of science has dispelled many of the evils that made mining a dreary labour in times past. The work is more equalized, the hours of labour are fewer, and the means adopted to ease manual work are more numerous and efficacious. Among the ancients, to dig in mines was considered the most severe punishment for criminals. The persecuted Christians who escaped from death were made to linger out a miserable existence in those dread- ful places. They worked in water so stagnant that they frequently fell down dead. In the quicksilver mines, scarcely any workman survived after three years' expo- sure to the poisonous air, and an instance is recorded of one miner, whose system became so saturated with mercury, after being only six months thus engaged, that if he put a piece of brass into his mouth, or handled it with his fingers, it became white. 94 ANECDOTES OF MINERS. I will tell you what a Roman historian says of the con- dition of the poor slaves in the mines in his time. Not only the individuals themselves, but frequently their whole families, old men, women, and helpless children, were doomed to work in chains day and night. They had lamps fastened to their foreheads, and their bodies were painted. No attention was paid to their persons, and they had scarcely a rag to cover themselves, and so wretched were they that every one who saw them deplored their misery. No rest was allowed, even to the sick, the maimed, or the aged, but all were driven to their work by the lash, until, exhausted and over- come, they would perish in their toil. This description of suffering, as frightful as could be conceived, of miners in the earliest times, is very sad ; but in all ages, until a more enlightened system prevailed (nor is this very far distant from our own time), the lot of the miner has been one of bitterness and severe labour, particularly in the case of forced work, as exists, for instance, in the mines of Siberia, where criminals and political offenders are sent from immense distances throughout Russia, far from their homes and families. In my remarks on the silver mines of South America I stated that the number of Indians who died from forced labour during the course of three centuries is estimated at nine millions. From this fearful picture we will now turn our atten- tion to the miners of our own country in the present day. These men, generally speaking, are a bold, hardy, and intelligent race of men, differing in some peculiarities, according to the localities in which they are placed. The workers in the metal mines of Cornwall and Devonshire, especially the former county, which con- WESLEY AND THE MINERS. 95 tains an almost inexhaustible amount of mineral wealth, are much changed in their manners and habits from what they were formerly, and this is owing in a great measure to the exertions of that great and good man, the Rev. John Wesley, who travelled incessantly among them, preaching the glad tidings of salvation, and exhort- ing the miners also to habits of sobriety and steadiness ; for they had been among the most dissolute, dishonest, and irreligious class of people that could be met with. By his patient and earnest persuasions the Cornish miners were reformed; the Sabbath day, which had been habitually profaned, became respected, and the result of Wesley's efforts was the erection of numerous places of worship, which are now well attended, and preserve his memory as the miner's greatest benefactor. Wesley had many difficulties to encounter, amongst others, the ignorance of many people, even in a higher class, im- peded his progress. On one occasion he heard that one of his converts had been imprisoned ; and on in- quiring the reason, he was told "that the man's inso- lence had become insupportable, the fellow had had the impudence to say that his sins lucre forgiven!" If you go into a mining district in Cornwall you will see, not far from the mine works, rows of neat little cottages, many of them built by the miners them- selves after the work of the mine is done; most of them are extremely clean in the interior, and here you may find them seated at comfortable fires, frequently reading, for most of them are intelligent and thoughtful men ; or in the summer evenings they work in their little gardens or in the potato-fields, many of the cottages having a piece of ground for cultivation attached to them. Frequently they become experienced floriculturists, and 96 ANECDOTES OF MINERS. at some of the flower shows that occur annually in several of the towns they often carry off the prizes. What a relief such pleasing pursuits must be to men employed for several hours in the day in the bowels of the earth, far removed from light and from wholesome air ! Some miners also are expert carpenters, and make their own furniture, and those near the coast employ some of their leisure time in fishing. They are generally brave and courageous men, rendered so, in a great measure, by the nature of their employment. At least one-third of the crew of Captain Pellew's (Lord Exmouth, who was born at Penzance, in Cornwall) ship, that fought the gallant action with the Cleopatra French frigate (the first naval action in the last war with France), were Cornish miners, who had never before been to sea in a ship. A pleasing anecdote is recorded of the honesty of a poor Cornish miner. There lived at St. Ives a lady named Prudence Worth, whose charity was remarkable. A miner, living at Camborne, had his goods distrained for rent, which he could not pay. He had heard of the many good deeds done by " Madam " Worth, as she was usually called, and he determined to apply to her for assistance. He said, " Madam, I am come to you in great trouble ; my goods are distrained for rent, and they will be sold if I cannot get the money immediately." "Where do you live?" inquired Mrs. Worth. " In Camborne, and I work in Stray Park mine." " I know nothing of you," observed the lady, " and you may be a drunkard or an impostor." " Madam," replied the miner, with energy, " as I live, I am neither ; and if you will lend me the money I will return it in four months." The money was lent, the period of four months elapsed, THE HONEST MINER. 97 and, true to his promise, the poor miner, notwithstanding that bad luck had attended him, had managed to get the amount borrowed together, and set off on foot with it. Arriving at Hayle river, he found the tide coming up, but to save a journey of three miles round by St. Erith bridge (for there was no Hayle Causeway then), he resolved to cross the water, which appeared to him shallow enough for this purpose. The poor fellow had, however, miscalculated the depth, and was drowned. When the body was brought to shore,, his wife said that he had left home with three guineas in his pocket for Madam Worth. Search was made in his pockets, and no money was found, but some one observed that his right hand was firmly clenched. It was opened, and found to contain the three guineas. I have given the bright side of the Cornish miner's general character, but there are exceptions, and, unfor- tunately, these are numerous. Many are of improvident habits, the prevailing evil of this class of men. Eating and drinking bouts, called " choruses," are too frequent, especially on Saturdays. A system of employing the men to work parts of the mine on " tribute," that is to say, the workman receiving for his labour a certain por- tion of the ores, which may happen to be found in the ground allotted to him for working in the mine, prevails. These allotments, or " pitches," as they are called, are let by auction to the lowest bidder, and are each taken by a party of miners, termed " a pair of men." This tribute work is let from month to month. Those parts of a mine which do not yield ore are generally done by job-work, called by the miners " tut," let by auction also, at so much per fathom, the usual measure in Cornish mines. 98 ANECDOTES OF MINERS. Parties of men succeed each other in the mines during the twenty-four hours. Boys and girls, and weak as well as strong hands, find employment on the surface of the mine in various operations. The number of miners and subordinate work-people in one mine depends, of course, upon its extent, and may vary from twenty to a thousand and upwards. The Staffordshire coal-miners are described as a curious race of men, tall and robust in no ordinary degree ; but their faces, when the black is taken off, are ghastly pale ; and even at an early age they are ploughed in the deepest furrows. Their labour is intense; they stand, sit, or crouch for hours working at the coal with their pickaxes. In speech and feature they are different from the peasantry of the neighbouring districts. They have also manners and customs peculiar to themselves; the use of nick- names, to almost the exclusion of the proper names, is common to them. So much was this the habit in former years, that clergymen have been known to send home a wedding party in despair, after having vainly endeavoured to obtain from the bride and bridegroom, or their friends, the correct Christian and surname of the parties, accus- tomed from their earliest youth to the sound of the nicknames only. A different race of workmen from those of Cornwall and Devonshire are the miners, or pit-men, of the northern collieries ; I allude more particularly to those in the neighbourhood of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, whose little cot- tages do not exhibit the same cleanliness and neatness that may be observed in the west of England ; but a great improvement has been made in their condition of late years. You will, no doubt, think that being so many hours APPEARANCE OF MINERS. 99 engaged in laborious work, exposure to dust, dirt, and unwholesome air, would have a bad effect upon the health of the miners, but these are counterbalanced in some measure by the habits of many of them. The men work in warm flannel dresses, and after their labours are done wash themselves thoroughly. They have also many com forts in their houses, among which a more than abundanl supply of coals is given to them, and they are able b]f their wages to provide sufficient supplies of wholesome food for themselves and their families ; still the appear- ance of the miners shows the effects of their employment They are generally short and stunted, unshapely in figure^ with hollow cheeks and unhealthy looks ; so that, how- ever a collier may get reconciled to his work (and they certainly do not seem eager to change), he must undergo great hardships, and his life is generally a short one v independent of the constant risks to which he is exposed ! in his subterranean labours. The author of "Our Coai and our Coal-pits" thus describes an evening in a pit village : " Let us stand at the pit's mouth and see the colliers come up. Let us watch the old hewers (of coal) coming up in fours and threes, and the putters and big lads holding on to the rope. There, this time, you see a lot coming up hanging like a string of onions at a rope- end, the little lads sitting on their fathers' knees ; and see, there is one little boy asleep ! How striking an instance of confidence in his father's tenacity ! That little fellow has fallen asleep while coming up nearly a thousand feet ! ' Now, my lads, let's gang home ;' and away they start, after having unlooped their legs, and stood upright on the bank a minute, by which time the little sleeper awakes, and puts his black little hand in a bigger black hand, and away they trudge homeward. ioo ANECDOTES OF MINERS. From the different hours of work for different persons, all the men and boys do not return at once, yet a con- siderable portion will be found up about five or six o'clock in the evening. Long strips of these semi-black- amoors may now be seen approaching the village from the colliery, towards their own 'Shiney Row/ as pit villages have been called by the men. You may see them carrying bottles, emptied of their cold tea or coffee, and provision bags collapsed by vacancy. Some come swinging Davy lamps about ; but these are few, as the lamps are commonly taken care of in the pit. Whatever they carry in their long and oddly hung arms, you may know them to be pit-men, and by their gait and bend may form a shrewd guess as to their kind of labour. A hewer may be distinguished by his curved body, inclining to the shape of a note of interrogation. His legs will have a graceful bow, only it will be in the wrong direc- tion. His chest will protrude like that of a chicken, his eye will have the glance of a hawk half awake, and his face somewhat the look of a pound of pit candles. The lads look either gawky, or slouching, or daring and care- less ; but, poor fellows, they have all had work enough, and I ought not to criticise them. "Upon their entrance into their little cottages they proceed to strip and wash themselves, which, from the secluded character of the colliery villages, they see no harm in performing somewhat openly ; but they have not much private room. Thus, as to time, the hour of retire- ment with workpeople in towns and cities is to colliers the hour of washing. It is as well to know this when you are passing a pit village at this time, if you have any dislike to soap-suds, which are now repeatedly thrown from the doors. Washing done, eating commences ; and, LIFE AMONGST THE MINERS. 10, as I have already stated, there is no deficiency of animal food and little luxurious accompaniments. One of these side dishes, or a second course, used to be, and is now sometimes, called a ' singing honey.' This is a rich kneaded cake, which has its name from the hissing noise it emits while baking on the girdle or gridiron. In olden times the ' singin' hinnie,' as they pronounce it, was quite indispensable. " After taking a tolerable share of the good things set before them, the majority turn into bed, having to get up so early to work again. Perhaps you may see them again later in the evening, indulging in a slow sauntering walk, or a whiff of tobacco, or a scrape on the fiddle, or a blow at the flute, or a walk with a lass, or a wife, or a child. " The lads and boys are now generally returned from the pit, and the majority of the working people are now at home. The youngsters will soon wash, and then con- trive to obtain a tolerable meal, perhaps a very substantial one. In several instances, however, the younger boys, who have not become accustomed to the pit, experience a want of appetite and a painful aversion to food, which nature usually overcomes after long habit and presence in the mines. I regret to say, however, that some child- ren never wholly lose nausea from pit work. Now, then, the washed and stuffed boys are seen to get a short game or two at play, just outside the doors, and the elder lads a lounge in the lanes or fields, and to take a turn at pitch-and-toss, or some less innocent amusement. A very short evening, however, will be that of the pit population. About nine o'clock, perhaps, fiddles begin to sound very inharmoniously; if possible, far more so than before. Attempts at quavers on the flute now begin to fail most suddenly, and familiar tunes become most painfully slow 402 ANECDOTES OF MINERS. and drawling ; lads have lounged in from the lanes ; poor persecuted dogs and donkeys have peace and are voice- less ; boys of all temperaments have become considerably less pugnacious ; the tea meeting at Tom Jackson's, and the week meeting at Johnny Wilson's, have all terminated. Now, on all sides, there are unequivocal signs of settle- ment for the whole night. At about ten or eleven o'clock, nearly the whole of the colliery village is quiet or snoring. You have now, if awake, only the stars to gaze upon ; if, however, you are near an eminence, pray step up and look over the neighbouring country, and see the pit heaps of small coal blazing in all their brilliancy. There is enough coal burning, perhaps, within a mile or two, to warm half the poverty-stricken houses of a town. The pit fires at night are very striking." The cottages of the miners usually consist of two apartments, the principal one having a bricked floor well washed and sanded. The three principal, and most indispensable articles of furniture in the northern coal miners' houses, are a large four-poled bed, an eight-day clock, and a chest of drawers. The space beneath the drawers is the receptacle for loaves of bread of unusually large dimensions, but of good quality; whilst that be- tween the ceiling of the apartment and the top of the drawers is always occupied with a lot of china teacups and saucers, piled up in the most fantastic manner, and exhibiting the inevitable consequences of total destruc- tion in the event of suddenly slipping from their pedestal by accident or otherwise. On one side of the fireside is a small oven for baking cakes or other necessaries. To place every article worth seeing in as conspicuous a light as possible seems to be the ruling passion of the pit- man's wife in household affairs. In some collieries the MINERS AT CHRISTMAS. 103 miners have formed themselves into friendly societies, foi the purpose of providing against disease or accidental death. At some of the principal collieries the miners have among themselves bands of music, and have even- ing assemblies for practice. Thus far the picture of many of the northern coal mines has its favourable aspect; but there are dark sides also, and the worst evil is the sin of drunkenness, which prevails in many districts to a fearful extent, and occasions most of the revolting pictures of colliery life that are sometimes shown up to the public. A deep sense of religion and its moral obligations can alone check this maddening passion, and many good men and excellent societies are combining for the miners' benefit. At Sunderland, the pit-men, at Christmas, appear as the sword-dancers, in white shirts and trousers, adorned with ribbons, and the captain, or leader, wears a faded uniform, cocked hat and feathers. The buffoon, or trea- surer, has a hairy cap with a fox's brush. They sing old rhymes, the quarrelsome man of the party pretends to be killed, and the doctor brings him to life again : a dance round the swords completes this part of the ceremony. In Northumberland this play is called the " foud " (fool) plough, and sometimes the stot (steer) plough, with which they make long furrows before the doors of those who refuse to give them anything. On Sundays, the pit- men of Sunderland dress very carefully, having waistcoats with embroidered flowers, gaily coloured neck-handker- chiefs, shirt, short blue jacket, velvet breeches, worsted stockings, and low shoes. The lead miners of the western district are a different race, much given to poaching on the rugged mountains and dreary moors, very independent in their tempers, 104 ANECDOTES OF MINERS. fond of argument, and still retaining the good old custom (as in Cornwall) of singing hymns as they walk in pro- :ession at funerals. In former days the chief pleasure of the miners in these parts was having a fight with the weavers of Barnard Castle. In the Wakefield and Methley colliery districts the miners have joined together to raise funds for invest ment in coal mines and other safe ventures, the proceeds of which are to provide for sickness and old age. I have already mentioned to you that miners, owing to the unhealthy nature of their employments and their exposure to so many perils, do not generally attain the usual term of life, but an instance is recorded of a miner who died at the great age of one hundred and thirty-two years. I will give you some particulars of this extra- ordinary man. John Taylor was the son of a miner in the parish of Aldstone, in the county of Cumberland, and was born about the year 1638. Having lost his father in his fourth year, he was set early to work in a mine, gaining two- pence a day for some years by dressing lead-ore. He had been thus engaged for three or four years, and was about fourteen when the celebrated Mirk Monday oc- curred in 1652. The darkness of this day is well known to have been occasioned by an eclipse of the sun. At the moment when the phenomenon was commencing, John was at the bottom of a pit called Winlock shaft, and was called on by the man at the shaft-head, one Thomas Millbank, to tell those below to come out, be- cause a great cloud had darkened the sun, so that the birds were falling to the earth. This event, which the old man invariably described with the same circum- stances, was the single but satisfactory date for reckoning A HUNDRED YEARS OF WORK. 105 his age. John removed in his twenty-sixth year to the lead mines at Blackhills, in the county of Durham, where he was employed in watching an engine that drew water from the works. After nine years he was despatched by his masters, a Quaker company, to inspect and make a report of some lead mines in the island of Islay, on the west coast of Scotland. Here he acted for some time as overseer, working at the same time, and then returned to the north of England, from which he once more went into Scotland, being employed by Scott, of Harden, to make trials for lead ore in the vale of Ettrick. This latter work being dropped a year and a half afterwards, in consequence of the death of Scott, John had the good fortune, when on his way to Edinburgh, to coin the Scot- tish money into British, the union of the two countries having made that measure necessary. He wrought in the Edinburgh mint for two years, when, the work being entirely finished, he was re-engaged to work in the Islay lead mines; and there, in 1709, when about seventy years of age, he married his only wife, by whom he had nine children. John laboured at Islay until the mines were relinquished in 1730, when he found employment for two years in the mines of Strontian, in Argyleshire, until, being attacked by black scurvy, he found it expe- dient to remove to Glasgow. Here he had no resource but to become a day labourer, a kind of employment he did not relish, and he therefore went soon after to Hil- derstone, near Bathgate, where the York Buildings Com- pany was at that time exploring a silver vein. This work failing, John finally removed in 1733 to Leadhills, where he laboured regularly as a miner until 1752, having thus spent upwards of one hundred years in unceasing work. His great age and increasing infirmities then obliged him io6 ANECDOTES OF MINERS. to desist from labour, and submit to be supported by his descendants. In October, 1766, when one hundred and twenty-eight years old, he walked from his own house to Leadhills, and having entertained his children and grand- children at a feast, he returned the same day on foot. At no period of his life had he been accustomed to much sleep, and he had never known what it was to be idle. Even after having given up regular labour he would always have his hand at work, in some way or another, occasionally amusing himself with fly-fishing. He was always a thin, spare man, black-haired and ruddy -faced. His appetite was excellent, and when he was obliged to go to work, as miners are, at all hours, he found no difficulty of making as hearty a meal at midnight as at mid-day. He took for breakfast oatmeal porridge, and had meat and broth for his dinner ; his chief drink was beer. At no period of his life was he addicted to indul- gence in intoxicating drinks, and if his daily labour sup- plied as much as his family needed for their support, and kept him out of debt, no man in the world enjoyed life with a greater relish. At length, after being in a state of second childhood, with hardly any remains of either bodily or mental faculties, this veteran miner expired in May, 1770, at the age, already mentioned, of one hun- dred and thirty-two years, exemplifying the words of Beattie, " From labour health, from health contentment springs." lo; CHAPTER VIIL SUPERSTITIONS OF MINERS. " In the dark night of earth, 'midst gloomy caveSj The miner toils ; a weary, anxious lot : Dangers that menace life or limb he braves, But turns with terror from some haunted spot When the loose mould betrays the Pixey near, The stamp or tread of tiny active feet, Or the shrill cry or laugh rings on his ear ; Hasty he seeks a distant safe retreat, While to his fev'rish mind the slightest sound Awakes new terrors from the depths around." THE history of the old British mines is mixed up, in rather a confused manner, during the first period of the Middle Ages, with the legends of fairies, dwarfs, and giants then commonly current; and superstitions of a varied character have lingered among the mining districts even to the present time. The singular discoveries that have been made in mines, the vast wealth that has been laid open, the isolation of the miners from the upper world, and the gross ignorance that long prevailed among them, and which still spreads a dark shadow over many mining localities, have all contributed to the indulgence of the imagination, and set reason at defiance. The British miners are not troubled, like their brethren in Germany, with visitations of kobolds and berg-geister, but they hear underground the noise of the "knockers," believed by some, as Mr. Kingsley informs us, to be the spirits of Jews who were sent to work in the minesr io8 SUPERSTITIONS OF MINERS. by the Roman emperors, though the notion may be connected with those Jews who wrought the mines under the Plantagenet kings. These " knockers" were believed to haunt and exclusively dwell in the Welsh mines, where they partook of a homely and good-natured character, attracting the attention of the miner to the richest veins of ore, and working busily for his interest. From the size of these aerial beings we presume that they belong to an order of fairies, to which, we might think, good Bishop Corbet had bidden " farewell" long ago. They are described as " little-statured, about half a yard long." The most curious account of the knockers is to be found in that repertory of curious information, the " Gen- tleman's Magazine." In the volume for 1754 are two letters on the subject by Mr. Lewis Morris, a person described as "eminent for his learning, and, in many respects, for good sense." "People," he says, "who know very little of arts or sciences, or the powers of nature, will laugh at us Cardiganshire miners, who main- tain the existence of knockers in mines, a kind of good- natured impalpable people, not to be seen, but heard, and who seem to us to work in the mines ; that is to say, they are the types or forerunners of working in mines, as dreams are of some accidents which happens to us. Before the discovery of Esgair-y-Mwyn mine, these little people, as we call them here, worked hard there day and night ; and there are abundance of honest, sober people who have heard them, and some persons who have no notion of them or of mines either; but after the dis- covery of the great ore they were heard no more. When I began to work at Llwyn Llwydd, they worked so fresh there for a considerable time, that they frightened some THE KNOCKERS. 109 young men out of the work. This was when we were driving levels and before we had got any ore ; but when we came to the ore they then gave over, and I heard no more talk of them. Our old miners are no more con- cerned at hearing them blasting, boring holes, landing ore, &c., than if they were some of their own people ; and a single miner will stay in the work, in the dead of the night, without any man near him, and never think of any fear or of any harm they will do him. The miners have a notion that the knockers are of their own tribe and profession, and are a harmless people who mean well. Three or four miners shall hear them sometimes, but if the miners stop to take notice of them, the knockers will also stop ; but let the miners go on at their own work, suppose it is boring, the knockers will, at the same time, go on as brisk as can be in landing, blasting, or beating down loose earth, and they are always heard a little distance from them before they come to the ore. These are odd assertions, but they are certainly facts, though we cannot nor do we pretend to account for them. We have now very good ore at Llwyn Llwydd, where the knockers were heard at work, but have now yielded up the place and are no more heard. Let who will laugh ; we have the greatest reason to rejoice, and thank the knockers, or rather God, who sends us these notices." Shade of worthy Morris, we will not laugh, however monstrous the delusion that vexed thy troubled spirit. Many a poor miner, no doubt, found his labour lightened, and his long-deferred hopes revived by the cheerful tap- ping, boring, and blasting of his invisible friends, easing his way to the long-hidden treasures of the mine. Nor can we say that the belief is altogether extinct. It is no SUPERSTITIONS OF MINERS. not uncommon in deep mines, where there are what the miners call "vugs," or where there are large pseudo- morphous crystallizations, to hear loud and frequent ex- plosions, and that on occasions and situations where no miners are at work ; these noises are believed by some miners to be caused by the working of the pixies, whom they call " small men." The real cause, however, is the bursting open of some of the crystals, hollows, and " vugs," where the air or gas had been confined under very high degrees of pressure. A miner at Tavistock broke into one of these hollows, of considerable size and grotto-like appearance. It was richly studded with crys- tals of quartz and pyrites, which, by the light of his candle, had such a brilliant appearance as made the man exclaim, "I think I am in heaven!" On being asked in what respect it resembled heaven, he replied, " it was so beautiful, he could compare it to nothing else than a Jew's shop !" But to resume, the " spirits of the vasty deep " are not always of the genial temperament described. In Stafford- shire there is a race of goblin miners, somewhat resem- bling the "knockers," who do friendly offices to the colliers, such as drawing up buckets of water and other- wise assisting them in their labours. In that county, however, the presence of these goblins is supposed to foretell some disaster, or, in a judicial sense, to express their disapproval of certain proceedings in the manage- ment of the mine. So the " swarth " fairy of the German mines has a dual character ; one fierce and malevolent, the other gentle, " appearing as little old men, dressed as miners, and not above two feet high." A sprite under the cabalistic name of Gathon is a troublesome foe to the miner, repeating blow for blow GATHON AND HIS TRICKS. in the stroke of his pick, or deluding him with false lights, noises, and flames. Such probably was the imp that frightened three miners in the South Devon Wharf mine some years ago. These men, while engaged at their work on a Saturday night, suddenly saw a large ball of fire issue from a rock, and with a rumbling noise advance towards them. On its approach it assumed a variety of forms, sometimes that of a human figure, then of a church, with arched windows, pillars, &c. The men were of course mightily terrified, and conscience re- proaching them that Sunday had commenced on their unfinished labours, they fully believed they saw and were pursued by an evil spirit. The fact is, that it is not very uncommon for inflammable gas to issue from the backs of lodes, which ignites as soon as it comes in contact with the oxygen of the atmosphere. The ground where these men were working was full of iron and tin lodes, and there can be no doubt that their fears not only gave the name, but also the shapes to the meteor. The poisonous exhalations that are sometimes encoun- tered in mines, would probably also produce the phe- nomena and effects on minds ignorant of natural causes described by Dr. Morret, in his account of the Cornish mines published in the " Philosophical Transactions." " The labourers," he tells us, " have stories of sprights of small people, as they call them ; and that when the damp arises from the subterraneous vaults, they heard strange noises, horrid knockings, and fearful hammerings. These damps render many lame, and kill others outright, with- out any visible hurt upon them." Shakspeare addresses the " Elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves ''* 1 1 2 SUPERSTITIONS OF MINERS. and those "Whose pastime Is to make midnight mushrooms. " We may conclude that fairy butter was not known in his time, and was a later superstition; but that industrious gleaner, Pennant, mentions that there is a substance found at a great depth in crevices of limestone rocks in sinking for lead-ore, near Holywell, in Flintshire, which is called Menyn, Tylna, Teg, or fairies' butter. This is a substance of nature's own churning, but it affords a proof how strongly the " little people " kept their hold on the ima- ginations of miners as well as others. Vegetables growing in mines possessed certain talis- manic powers among the German miners; so Lord Bacon tells us, and no one was allowed to gather them. The same writer tells us, in his " Sylva Sylvarum," that " in furnaces of copper and brass where chalcite is often cast in to mend the working, there riseth suddenly a fly, which sometimes is seen moving, and dieth presently as soon as it is out of the furnace." Mine legends would be incomplete without a dragon, that terrible bete noir of our forefathers : " Old stories tell how Hercules A dragon slew at Lerna, With seven heads and fourteen eyes To see and well discern-a." Accordingly we find that the Indians in the neighbour- hood of Esmeraldas, in South America, still retain the dread of an enormous dragon that is said to guard the emerald mines. The Arabs entertain the same superstitious fears with regard to mines that the ancients did, with the slight difference that mythological belief established. THE FAT AT. SPIDER. 113 M. Caillaud, in his exploration of the mines at Mount Zebarah in Egypt, was cautioned against sleeping near the caves, as they were said to be the refuge of snakes and other beasts of prey, and the abode of demons who would resent any intrusion into the mines. The Arabs, finding the traveller resolute in his determination to enter the caves, kept up a constant firing of guns to keep off the evil spirits. From a dragon to a spider is a wide stretch of fancy ; but an evil spirit in the latter shape holds his own in Sardinia against even the sturdy miners. It seems that an ancient lead and silver mine between Villa Cidro and Vill Ermosa, has been neglected and allowed to be filled with water, from a dread of the "solifuga," a small venomous spider, so named from its avoiding the sun and haunting the darkest recesses of the mine, and whose bite is considered to be mortal. This tradition, however, belongs to a remote period, for Agricola mentions certain little animals resembling spiders which he calls " lucifega," from a similar reason to that given above. " These ani- mals," he says, "haunt chiefly the silver mines." The same writer tells us that " demons and ghosts terrify the miners, and that this sort of apparitions cannot be pre- vented without prayer and fasting." Ramazini, the learned professor of Padua, who wrote on the diseases of artificers, observes on this point, "I took this story of devils haunting mines to be fabulous till I was undeceived by a skilful Hanoverian operator in metals, who is now employed by our duke in tracing the metallic veins in the mountainous parts of Modena. For this man told me seriously, that in the Hanoverian mines the diggers have frequent falls, which they say are occasioned by their being knocked down by devils, which they call 1 14 SUPERSTITIONS OF MINERS. Knauff-Kriegen, and that after such falls they often die in the space of three or four days, but if they outlive that time they recover." All this is very curious, and it is a relief for us to think that such things belong to a different age from our own. " Poor fellows," we may exclaim, " what dark times they lived in ! How different from the enlightened present ! " But softly, we take up a Merthyr paper, of no very late date be it understood, and here we read how superstition is still rampant among the m'jners. It is true, it is only that old bug-bear the corpse -candle, that has turned many a head in the upper air as well as in the lower, but still here it is. A vision of this description, we are told, scared " the pit from its propriety/' and drove a poor miner away from his work. A hauler employed in Cyfartha works saw the apparition three times in the shape of an unsubstantial tram-road, upon which, drawn by an aerial horse, followed a train, not of iron, but of the same stuff with that which floated as an " air-drawn dagger " before the eyes of Macbeth. Within this imma- terial carriage lay the body of a man, mute, motionless and death-like. Twice did the noiseless apparition emerge, as it were, from the earth, and twice was the warning neglected; at length, on its third appearance, the spectator plucked up courage, gazed upon the face of the spectre, and recognised the well-known features of a companion. To slight such a manifestation would have been tempting his own fate. The substantial miner was apprised that his shadow had appeared without his per- mission, and the following day he fled from his fate to another colliery. The Merthyr paper from which we obtain this intelligence adds, as a fitting corollary, that' " the other colliers ceased to work for a day, but whether THE PIXIES. 115 the beer-houses were gainers by their fears" (which is most likely), " or whether the supernatural bier kept them at home in solemn meditation, we have not been told." The belief in apparitions still exists among the miners of Dean Forest, that picturesque hilly tract in the west of Gloucestershire. The Dean miners were once a law- less set, leading a wild life in their sylvan solitudes, and not only enjoying many ancient privileges granted to them, but others of their own creation, giving much trouble to the Government in consequence. Many ot these forest miners also regard sickness and accident as fatal and inevitable. " Ill-wishing" and " over-looking," which are nearly identical with the " evil eye," are delu- sions still existing in Cornwall. A sinister look or a muttered expression of discontent is carefully treasured up by the object of it, and any mischance which follows is set down to the score of " ill-wishers." If a Cornish miner on his way to night-work meets a stranger, and receives no answer to the customary "good- night " greeting, he reckons it an omen of ill-luck or something worse. Whistling in mines is on no account permitted, a superstition shared in by seamen as well as miners. Many miners object to enter a mine on Good Friday, Innocents', and Christmas days, fearful that some catastrophe would attend the breaking of a prescribed custom. On Christmas Eve, the pixies formerly assembled in the deepest mines to hear the midnight mass. Voices of unearthly sweetness sang the solemn service, and as the grand music swelled and shook the depths, the rough surface scaled off from the rocky sides of the mine and disclosed walls, diapered with ore, and glittering like gold in the light of myriad torches. Here would be a Ii6 SUPERSTITIONS OF MINERS. subject for scenic display, worthy the genius of Beverley and others who have made fairy haunts familiar to us. One of the most firmly rooted beliefs in the mind of the miner was a faith in the divining rod, nor would we undertake to say that this delusion does not exist at the present day. Most certain it is that the dowsi?ig rod, as it is also called, was used in Devonshire, at Sticklepath, near Okehampton, in the year 1829. A dowser was brought up at a considerable expense from Cornwall by a set of mine adventurers, who notwithstanding the favourable indication given by the dowser, found their speculation unfavourable. The virgula divina, or baculus divinatorius, or less romantic dowser, was a forked hazel branch in the form of the letter Y, cut in a planetary hour. Jupiter, Venus, Sol, Saturn, or Mercury, was con- cerned in the operation. Jupiter, or Pars Fortune, was to be in conjunction, sextile, or trine, to the lord of the ascendant or second, and the better if any reception happen ; but beware if it be not by opposition, for that spoils all ! Under such astral influences was the hazel branch to be cut, and then came the modus operandi; the fork was held in both hands, and carried over the grounds suspected to contain the ores. The branch went un- affected over all the barren spots ; but no sooner did it impend over a vein than it pressed strongly down, and, as I have before mentioned, seemed to feel the same attraction as exists between the iron and the magnet. Droll enough, it seems that good health, and when the operator is in good spirits after meals, secures a better chance of success, at least so a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine for November, 1751, informs us. From rod divination to dreams is an easy transition, and with this I will conclude the present chapter, THE DIVINING-EOD. p. 116 DREAMS. 117 Golden dreams are common to all of us, but the product they yield is momentary pleasure only ; not so with tin dreams, which on some occasions, as Carew, the Cornish historian, informs us, have produced substantial results. " Somme," he says, " have found tynne-works of great vallew through meanes no lesse strange than extraor- dinarie, to wit, by dreames. As in Edward the Sixt's tyme, a gentlewoman, heire to one Tresculierd and wyfe to Lawyne, dreamed that a man of seemly personage told her how in such a tenement of her land she should finde so great store of tynne as would serve to enrich both herselfe and her posteritie. This she revealed to her husband, and hee putting the same in triall, found a worke which in foure yeares was worth him welneere so many thousand pounds. Moreover, one Paprel, lately living and dwelling in the parish of the hundred of West, called St. Niot, by a lyke dreame of his daughter (see the lucke of women), made the like assay, met with the effect, formed the worke of the unwytting lord of the soyle, and grew thereby to good estate of wealth. The same report passeth as currant touching sundrie others." CHAPTER IX. PERILS AND ESCAPES OF MINERS. THE miner, in the pursuit of his daily work, is so frequently exposed to danger, that his life appears to be in continual jeopardy. I will relate to you a few instances of very narrow escapes from death. In the winter of 1815, at Hucklow, in Derbyshire, a man of the ii8 PERILS AND ESCAPES OF MINERS. name of Frost was engaged in one of tfte mines, and while thus occupied a large mass of earth fell in, and he was buried beneath. His companions soon hurried to the spot and heard his voice, by which they ascertained that his head and his body remained unhurt, the prin- cipal weight having fallen upon and bruised his thighs and legs. Great care was required to effect his release, and some of the most experienced miners were employed for that purpose. A mass of earth had been stopped in its fall, and hung suspended over the head of the poor man, ready at the slightest touch to crush him to pieces. The miners, aware of his great peril, were not able to attempt his release by the most direct and expeditious means of removing the earth over him, but they were obliged to dig through the side of the pit, and make a gallery, in order to reach the place where the man was lying, and this occupied them from Monday, the day when the accident took place, until the evening of the following Thursday, when they were able to release poor Frost from his dreadful situation, after a temporary burial of seventy-five hours. He had received a few slight bruises, but a mass of stone had fallen upon one of his legs and crushed it. A few drops of water that fell near his head, and which he contrived to catch in the hollow of his hand, allayed his thirst, and no doubt contributed to his preservation. He was cheerful even in the midst of his great danger and pain, for Frost was a religious man, and placed all his confidence in the merciful God who saved him from death. He was removed to his home, and with careful treatment recovered his strength, and the loss of a leg did not prevent him from pursuing his work in the mine. The Godbeheres Founder mine, in Derbyshire, is ren- AN EIGHT DA YS' B URIAL. 1 1 9 dered memorable from an occurrence that took place there about sixty years ago. Two men named Boden and Pearson were working in the mine at different depths, when the earth and water suddenly rushed in upon them, and in one moment buried them alive in the deep recess below. On the third day after this accident happened Pearson was found dead among the rubbish, and the men who were employed in clearing away the earth that had closed up the entrance to the mine had now so little hope of finding Boden alive, that they were scarcely disposed to pursue their labours. They were, however, prevailed upon to proceed, until, on the eighth day of their work, they distinctly heard Boden's signal, and ascertained that he was living. They now worked with greater energy and with more care, and after a few hours they found the object of their search, almost exhausted, but still in exist- ence, and fully aware of the providential nature of his escape. His recovery from the effects of this premature entombment was slow, but effectual, and he returned to the mine in about thirteen weeks, and lived many years afterwards. When the accident took place Boden was in the lower part of the mine ; Pearson was in the drift above when the earth fell upon and killed him. Boden's situation was equally perilous, but the earth was stopped in its fall by a projecting mass of rock; and this saved his life. In this situation, with no prospect before him but death, the poor man passed eight days in his narrow cell without light or food, or wherewithal to quench his thirst, which he felt more severely than any other deprivation. Hunger he bore with fortitude, but thirst was intolerable; and during the whole of his confinement he was suffi- ciently sensible to feel all the horrors of his situation. He likewise suftered greatly from cold, but having a few 120 PERILS AND ESCAPES OF AflNERS. yards to move in, he found a windlass (a handle by which a rope is turned), and exercised himself in moving it round, but by some mishap the handle fell into the shaft below, and he could not recover it again. Deprived of this means of employment, he still found something to do. In that part of the shaft where he was imprisoned a rope was suspended over his head ; he clambered up it, and working at the earth above him he loosened a por- tion, which fell into the chasm at his feet. While he was thus engaged, he thought he heard the noise of men labouring to release him; he listened again, almost breathless with anxiety. The sound for a time almost ; paralyzed him. Shortly afterwards he saw the light of heaven, and human faces gazing upon him, as if they had actually beheld a man rising from the grave, and not a living body. He was, indeed, little more than a skeleton compared to what he had been, for mental and bodily suffering had so reduced him, and the pallid hue and altered expression of his countenance had nearly oblite- rated his personal identity. In this state he was restored to his friends. Boden kept the anniversary of his deliver- ance from his subterranean prison as a day of thanks- giving to the Almighty for his wonderful preservation. Hayclij) mine, in Derbyshire, now no longer worked, once contained an extraordinary mineral, called in that part of the country slickensides. It is a species of galena (a metallic-looking substance of a lead-grey colour, con- sisting of sulphur, lead, a little iron, and sometimes a small quantity of silver), and highly explosive. The effects of this mineral are not less singular than terrible. A blow with a hammer or a scratch with a miner's pick is sufficient to rend the rocks asunder, wherever it is found united to or embodied in them. The stroke is A CCIDENT AT HA YCLIFF. 1 2 1 immediately succeeded by a crackling noise, accom- panied with a sound not unlike the mingled hum of a swarm of bees. Shortly afterwards an explosion follows, so loud and frightful that even the miners, though a hardy race of men, and little accustomed to fear, turn pale and tremble at the shock. The greatest caution is therefore necessary in working mines where this mineral is found. To avoid the use of the common instruments of mining, a small hole is carefully bored, into which a little gunpowder is put, and exploded by means of a long fuse. The workmen then withdraw to a place of safety to wait the result of their operations. Sometimes not less than five or six successive explosions occur at inter- vals of a few minutes, and occasionally they are so awful that the earth has been violently shaken to the surface by the concussion. When the Haycliff mine was opened, a miner, who was unused to the effect of this dangerous mineral, and who was of careless habits, was repeatedly cautioned not to use his pick in getting out the ore, but, unfor- tunately for himself, he paid no attention to the advice of his fellow-workmen. He struck the fatal blow, that, apparently by an electrical communication, set the whole mass in motion, shook the surrounding earth to its foun- dation, and with a noise like thunder scattered the rocky fragments in every direction. Boards of ash, distant twenty or thirty paces, of enormous thickness, were perforated by pieces ot rock. The poor man was dreadfully cut and lacerated, but, providentially, escaped with life, and he could never be persuaded afterwards to return to his mining employment. Sometimes earthquakes have occurred, and the shocks have very greatly terrified the miners at their work, 123 PERILS AND ESCAPES OF MINERS. although I do not know of any instance in which they have been fatal to those underground. It has been remarked as a curious and interesting fact, that the great earthquake which, on the first of November, 1755, destroyed nearly the whole of the city of Lisbon, was very sensibly felt in many parts of Derbyshire, and par- ticularly in the lead mines near Eyam. The narrative of Francis Mason, an intelligent overseer of the mines on Eyam Edge, has been published. About eleven o'clock on the forenoon of that day, as Mason was sitting in a small room, about fifty yards distant from the mouth of one of the engine shafts, he felt the shock of an earth- quake so violent that it raised him up in his chair, and shook some pieces of lath and plaster from the sides and roof of his little hut. In a field, about three hundred yards from the mine, he afterwards observed a chasm, or cleft in the earth, which he supposed was made at the same time. Two miners who were employed under- ground about three hundred and sixty feet, when the earthquake took place, were so terrified at the shock that they did not attempt to climb the shaft, for fear the earth might fall in upon them and bury them alive. They felt themselves surrounded by danger, and as they were conversing with each other on the means of safety, and looking for a place of refuge, they were alarmed by a second shock, much more violent than the preceding one. They now ran quickly into the interior of the mine ; it was an instinctive movement that did not in any way better their condition, but their danger and their fears were still the same. Another shock ensued, and, after an interval of four or five minutes, a fourth, and afterwards a fifth shock occurred. Every shock was followed by a loud rumbling noise, which continued EARTHQUAKE IN THE MINES. 123 for about a minute ; then gradually decreasing in force, jke the thunder retiring into distance, it subsided into an appalling silence more full of terror than the sounds which had passed away, leaving the mind, unoccupied by other impressions, to contemplate the mysterious nature of its danger. The whole space of time included between the first and the last shock was nearly twenty minutes. When the men had recovered a little from their terror they began to examine the passages, and to endeavour to extricate themselves from their confinement. As they passed along the drifts they observed that large pieces of minerals were scattered along the floor, which had been shaken from the sides and the roof, but all the shafts remained entire and uninjured. A remarkable phenomenon took place in the deep silver mines of Marienberg, in Saxony, at the beginning of the present century, when shocks of earthquakes drove the miners in alarm to the surface, where, meanwhile, nothing of the kind had been experienced. A contrast to this was experienced in 1823, when the miners at Palen and Presburg felt no movement whatever, whilst above their heads a violent shock of earthquake spread terror among the inhabitants on the surface. The following melancholy event, and extraordinary deliverance from one of the most horrible deaths that the mind can conceive, occurred in the Staffordshire collieries about the year 1816. About midway between the towns of Wednesbury and Bilston, on the great Holyhead Road, is one of the finest beds of bright red sand in the kingdom. This bed of sand is many yards thick, and being extensively used in the iron foundries, hundreds of boat-loads were taken away for that purpose. A little to the left of this spot, 124 PERILS AND ESCAPES OF MINERS. on a Monday morning, about the period before named, and whilst the miners were busily occupied in the coal mine underneath, a sudden "crownings-in" (as it is emphatically termed by the colliers), or falling in of the superincumbent strata, took place about the centre of the works, owing, as was supposed, to the bearings that are usually left being too much weakened to support the heavy mass above. At this moment about fourteen or sixteen men were at work below, nearly all of whom were then employed at the extremity of the mine, and the disrupture happening about midway between the shaft of the pit and the situation where the workmen were engaged, the drift-ways were instantly filled with the falling mass, and consequently all escape was cut off, and their lights were extinguished by the violent concus- sion of the air. The few workmen who happened to be near the bottom of the shaft were instantly drawn up to the surface. The alarm was given, and spread like wildfire through all the surrounding working districts. Thou- sands were seen rushing to the fatal spot as to a common focus, fathers, mothers, wives, and children by their cries adding to the misery of the scene. Nearly all work in the neighbourhood was suspended, both em- ployers and workmen assembling to render assistance. Of course the fate of the ten or eleven men stopped up in the mine was all matter of conjecture. Whether the fallen rubbish had choked up the further workings and buried them alive, or, supposing this not to be the case, whether they could exist without food or fresh air until their deliverance could be effected, was equally matter of doubt. After some consultation the engine was set to work, and parties of workmen went down into the pit, in the hope of clearing away the rubbish below, so A FEARFUL DANGER. 125 as to get to the unfortunate men, whilst loads of fagots and straw were emptied into the hollow formed on the surface by the fall (which resembled an inverted cone of from fifteen to twenty yards in diameter), for the purpose of stopping up the fissures, and preventing the running down of any more loose sand from the top. This course was persevered in for some time, but it was at length found that their labours were ineffectual, as sand, water, and rubbish kept pouring down as fast as it could be removed from the bottom. Another con- sultation was now held, when the only hope of saving the men was, the driving ahead through the solid coal, in a winding direction, round the fractured part, into the farther end of the mine. This was a work of great labour and difficulty, as nearly one hundred yards in length of solid coal was necessary to be penetrated by the shortest possible cut. Subscriptions were raised, and the different masters set a laudable example to their men by their personal assistance. Working gangs were formed sufficiently numerous to relieve each other by short relays. This undertaking was instantly com- menced with the greatest alacrity on the part of the workmen, some cutting away with their picks, others clearing away the coal from behind the men retiring to rest as they became fatigued, and their places occupied by fresh hands. The head was driven no larger than was necessary for the men to sit to their work, and resembled a tunnel. Day and night the work proceeded until the close of the week, the public anxiety increasing as the cutting advanced ; the absorbing question, early and late, being, "Has anything been yet ascertained about the fate of the unfortunate colliers?" On the following Sunday a rumour was spread that the 126 PERILS AND ESCAPES OF MINERS. men engaged in driving had heard sounds from within like the distant tapping of hammers, and at length this sound became more distinct as the work proceeded. All was now increased activity. They were no longer labouring without strong hopes of saving some of their fellow-creatures, and this feeling stimulated their exertions. Early on Monday morning (one week from their incar- ceration) it became generally known that voices had been heard within, audible enough to warn the drivers, who, in their anxiety to shorten the cutting, were approaching too close to the fracture, to keep more to the left. It was pretty well understood, also, for some miles around, that the head would be driven through in the course of that day, and again the neighbouring popu- lation poured to the scene in countless numbers, the diverging roads presenting one moving mass. About one o'clock in the afternoon the head was com- pleted, sufficiently large to allow the workmen to enter, when nine men and one boy were found, alive, indeed, but in the last stage of exhaustion ! The news was instantly communicated to the assembled crowd above. At this awful moment the sensations of the assembled relatives of these unhappy men were most intense. One poor woman, it was stated, had died with excess of joy upon learning that her husband was still alive, after a whole week of the most agonizing suspense. Medical prac- titioners were in attendance, and by their directions the air was admitted into the confined portions of the works by degrees ; warm gruel and other restoratives were carefully and sparingly administered to the sufferers down in the works. After a proper interval they were gradually brought out, enveloped in blankets, drawn to the surface (each in the lap of a sturdy miner), instantly BURIED ALIVE. 127 put into coaches which were ready in waiting, and con- veyed to their respective homes. It was now ascertained that one miner and a horse or two had perished. One poor fellow was passing through the drift-way at the time of the fall, and was buried in the rubbish, but not so completely as to cause instant death. He lingered for some time ; and his unfortunate companions, unable to render him assistance, heard his cries for help, as they became gradually weaker, until they became extinct in death. It also appeared that the sufferers had made a fruitless effort to effect their own deliverance, by removing the fallen earth as long as their strength would permit. They had taken a meal with them, as is usual with colliers when they descend a pit, and had caught a little dropping water in their caps, which had helped to allay their thirst; and this was their only sustenance during the seven days and nights that they were stopped up ; but they had also heard the blows of the pick as the head was being driven through, and the hope that their deliverance would be effected had doubtlessly con- tributed to sustain their sinking spirits; nevertheless, had any relaxation taken place in the efforts that were made for that purpose, the consequences must have been fatal to them. One man had a son with him in the mine, a boy of thirteen, who sat upon his father's knees, and slept the greater part of the time, occasionally waking and crying for his mother, then falling asleep again. One remarkable fact is that on being asked if they knew the day of their deliverance, they supposed it was on the Friday. It would be naturally thought that in their dark and dreary confinement time would have dragged on so heavily, that they would have supposed the duration longer than it actually was ; but it is probable i 2 8 PERILS AND ESCAPES OF MINERS. that the close and half-stifled nature of their situation brought on drowsiness, and that they had all slept more or less. It is gratifying to know that all the poor miners ultimately recovered. On the 2nd of May, 1818, a number of colliers were working in the Quarrelton coal-mine, near Paisley, when a stroke from one of their pickaxes suddenly opened a passage for a vast quantity of water which had been col- lected in a neighbouring pit, long since disused. A large stream immediately poured into the place where they were working, sweeping everything before it with the violence of a rapid and swollen river. The men fled with precipitation, and, crying aloud, sent the alarm through the pit. Struggling with the growing force of the stream, which threatened to hurry them along with it, and in the confusion having most of their lights dashed from their hands, all rushed instinctively towards the bottom of the pit. Out of twenty, thirteen reached the bucket, and were drawn up ; one of whom, so narrow was their escape, had been twice thrown down by the violence of the current. Seven of the men were yet in the pit, but the water soon rose above the mouth of the mine, and their communication with it was cut off. For these men the most lively concern was felt by their com- panions, and the progress of the water was anxiously observed. The engine connected with the pump was set in motion; but although the quantity it drew up was immense, yet the water for some time rather increased than diminished. The only way in which they could assist their unfortunate fellow-workmen seemed to fail them, but they consoled themselves with the hope that they might have escaped to a higher part of the mine, an upper tier of rooms, which they knew to be still above PERIL FROM WATER. 129 the reach of the water. The knowledge of this fearful accident was by this time rapidly spreading over the country; and as it passed from village to village, and cottage to cottage, excited in every breast a mingled sensation of sympathy and horror. Crowds were soon seen gathering from every quarter towards the spot, and relating to each other, as they went, the numerous reports which now began to circulate ; and on reaching the pit they seemed to look with awe on a spot which covered human beings, thus shut out from the world, and apparently cut off from all human aid. The colliers of the village, also, as evening advanced, were seen col- lected in groups, listening to the expression of each other's feelings, and devising plans for rescuing their fellow-workmen from their miserable situation. With the accuracy not uncommon to Scottish workmen, they considered the size of the rooms in which the miners might be supposed to have taken refuge, the quantity of air which these would contain, and the time it might support them ; and the probability of their having any food. It was soon suggested that a little above the sur- face of the water, which had now ceased to rise, a shaft might be driven so as to reach these higher rooms in a certain time, namely, six or seven days. The execution of this plan, so promising and well conceived, was unfor- tunately delayed, from not unreasonable apprehensions of danger, from the closing in of the mine, and the explosion of the damp air ; and there was but too much reason to fear that the unhappy objects of their pursuit would have perished before they could reach the spot. The men, too, were dejected and spiritless at the frightful fate of their companions. The work was not therefore begun till two days had elapsed, which, in calculating the 130 PERILS AND ESCAPES OF MINERS. probability of success, were to be added to the unfavour- able side. At this time the workmen at the neighbouring pit of Auchlodmont offered their assistance to the Quar- relton colliers, and the mine was begun. Two men only could work at a time. They were taken from the two sets of colliers alternately ; and, without intermission or abatement of exertion, they plied the work day and night. All eagerly looked to the period in which the mine was to be completed. Despair had begun to predominate, when, on the morning of the i2th, the glad tidings were heard that the shaft was finished, and that two of the men were alive. They were brothers, of the name of Hodgart, who had fondly clung to each other during the whole of their confinement. To add to the interesting scene of their deliverance, their father went down into the mine just before it was dug through, heard their voices, and was so overpowered that he had to be carried up, happily removed from witnessing the difficulties which were yet to be encountered. By this time, according to a narrative of the circum- stances prepared by the colliers themselves, the damp or bad air had put out their lights ; and as Bowie, one of the workmen, was advancing forward, the damp seized him, and he returned to get breath. Allan, another miner, immediately stripped off his coat and vest, and went forward in desperation, but was also obliged to return, and with difficulty escaped with his life, and had to be helped out to the fresh air, when he said he was sorry he had heard the voices of the imprisoned miners, for he feared that they would not be got out alive. By this time Peter Barr came to their assistance, and the two Hodgarts, creeping towards Patrick and Bowie, and the two latter rushing to meet them through the poisoned BURIED ALIVE. p. 130 A WONDERFUL ESCAPE. 131 air, succeeded in laying hold of the hand of William Hodgart, and dragging him out, while his brother, who was left behind, cried with a lamentable voice for help. Barr, Patrick, and Bowie rushed forward again, and James Hodgart creeping to meet them, they succeeded in getting hold of him also, and drew him away. By this time it was about four o'clock in the morning, and after resting a little and breathing fresh air, the two brothers were asked how they had supported themselves. It appears that they had found a little oatmeal bread in a pocket, and on being questioned about the rest of the miners who had been enclosed with them, they said there were none in their company except Alexander Barr, and they supposed he was dead two days ago. They also stated that they had heard the engine going all the time, and had heard the men working at the shaft two or three days before they came to them. Although every exertion was made to get out the other five, it was impossible to reach them until the water was drawn off. One of the bodies was found on the 28th of May, twenty-six days after the accident, and the others on the 3rd and 4th of June. As soon as the brothers were restored to health, all were impatient to know how they had saved themselves from the water; how they had spent their time in the pit ; what were their endeavours to escape ; what theii feelings; and what the conduct of those who, unlike them, had, alas ! found in it a tomb. Some of these par- ticulars were given by James Hodgart, one of the bro- thers. He stated as follows : "On the 2nd of May, 1818, when I was at my work, I was, about eight in the morn- ing, alarmed by the cries of the men that the waste was broken ; I immediately ran to the mouth of the mine, but 132 PERILS AND ESCAPES OF MINERS. the water was running with such rapidity that I found it impossible to reach the bottom of the pit. I then saw the boy Shaw coming down the water. I pulled him out, and I then saw my brother, and helped him out. Then I saw Brydon, and gripped him, but I lost the grip. Then the other six were all together. Then I saw there was no help for us but to flee to the highest part of the pit. I was in great fear of being suffocated for want of air. I immediately ran to a biggin (a partition between one working, or pit, and another) that was connected with another pit, but found it had no effect ; I built it up again. There we lay for some time, but we don't know how long. Then we thought to try the water again ; and the water seemed for some time neither to rise nor fall, so that the run from the crush was still keeping the engine going but on examining the place we found the water that stood so near us had been dammed in with sludge, for we heard the water running from us. Then we returned back to the men again, and we wished them to come along with us to try if we could reach the bottom of the pit. So we all came together to the place where the water was running ; but the two old men did not cross the water ; so the other four crossed it, but were obliged to turn back to the place we had left ; and we lay there for a considerable time before we attempted it again, and all that we could get was a drink of cold water, which we carried in an oily can. Then we thought of trying the water again ; and so we wished them all to come, but the old men said they would not, and wished the boy to stay with them, and he did so. We came away Barr, my brother, and myself, and we got through the water with great difficulty. Then we got to the place where we heard the engine going, which continued night AN A CCIDENT AT IR VINE. 133 and day, and the sound of picks in the mine. Our clothes being very wet, we became very cold. Then we thought of searching for the men's clothes that had made their escape, which we found, and we found in the pockets some pieces of bread, but they were almost spoiled with the water and the dampness of the pit. There we lay for some time and heard the men working for us ; so we went to a man's room and brought a pick, and chapped with it, but they did not hear us. We then turned weak and could not go (walk), so we lay there until the mine came through." This narrative is deficient in the expression of such feelings as a situation so awful could not fail to awaken, but the words are those of an unlettered miner, and we can readily imagine, notwithstanding, with what intense eagerness the imprisoned men must have listened to the sounds made in attempting their liberation, how they must have welcomed the first burst of light and the breath of fresh air that were to restore them, when life seemed almost ebbing away in darkness, starvation, and foul air. It is impossible for us to realize such sensa- tions, but we may feel how great is the mercy of God, who in His mysterious dispensations watches over the helpless and the miserable, and when the last gleam of hope seems expiring, stretches forth His arm to help and defend them. At Irvine, in Ayrshire, a calamitous event occurred in 1833. The neighbouring banks of the river Garnock were the seat of busy colliery operations until the mines became filled with water. The surface of the river was, at first, observed to be ruffled at a particular spot, in con- sequence of a chink having been formed in the bottom of the river, through which the water began to pour into I 3 4 PERILS AND ESCAPES OF MINERS. the pits beneath. Immediately the whole of the men were got out of the pit, and the manager placed a coal barge, laden with such things as might stop the rush of the water, such as straw, clay, rubbish, &c. ; but this was use- less, for the water continued to pour into the mines with immense force. On the flowing of the tide the depth of the water between the chasm and the sea increased to about nine feet then the desolation was awful! The long sweep and prodigious quantity of water rushing into the chasm at this time made the sight impressive beyond description. Three men who were in a boat near the spot had a very narrow escape from being sucked into the vortex, for no sooner had the men got out than the boat was drawn down with fearful rapidity. The great body of water continued to pour down the chasm until the whole working of the pits, which extend for many miles, were completely filled ; after which the river gradually assumed its natural appearance, and the water attained its ordinary level. At this time the pres- sure of water in the pits became so great, from the im- mense weight of water impelled into them, that the confined air, which had been forced back into the high workings, burst through the surface of the earth in a thousand places, and many acres of ground were to be seen all at once bubbling up like the boiling of a caldron. In some places the current was so impetuous as to form large cavities, and produced a roaring noise like the escape of steam from an overcharged boiler. Immense quantities of sand and water were thrown up like showers of rain during five hours, and, in a short time, several villages were laid under water, by which many hundred persons were thrown out of employment. A fearful accident occurred in 1812 in a coal mine at A GENEROUS OVERSEER. 135 Lidge, in Belgium. Just without the gate of that city, towards Brussels, several coal mines were wrought. There were three perpendicular shafts, at no great dis- tance from each other, called Trequenotte, Beaujonc, and Mamonster. The first two communicated with each other below ground, but there was no communication between the last two. In these mines, which were about 700 feet deep, the water was directed to a particular part of the mine, where it was confined by a wooden frame, from which it was raised to the surface by forcing-pumps. On the 28th of February, about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, the mine connected with that of Beaujonc was suddenly inundated by the breaking of the wooden frame I have mentioned of the mine Trequenotte, the distance between each mine being 459 feet. At that time one hundred and twenty-seven workmen were in the mine, thirty-five of whom made their escape when the inundation took place. The overseer, named Coffin, with his son, was at the bottom of the shaft, and might have easily made his escape, but he decided upon remaining with the miners, to save or perish with them. He gave orders to Bertrand, Labeye, and Clavier, three miners who were sharers in his generous resolution, to go and warn their companions, and direct them to the part of the mine that was nearest to that of Mamonster. Meanwhile, he had assisted all the workmen who had collected at the foot of the shaft to make their escape. The danger at length became so great that these men did not hesitate to tear the boys by force from the ropes of the basket to which they had fixed themselves, and to take their places. But Coffin took up the poor boys and carried them along with him. By the time that thirty-five of the miners had made their escape the waters had risen to such a height 136 PERILS AND ESCAPES OF MINERS. as to cut off all communication with the shaft. Goffin collected all the miners in that part of the mine which he considered as nearest to Mamonster, and assisted by some of the stoutest among them, he undertook to open a passage into one of the galleries connected with that mine. They had a few candles, but no food. Though only two workmen could be employed at a time, they had already cut through twenty-three feet, when a violent explosion of inflammable air took place, by which they found that they had been penetrating, not into the gal- leries of Mamonster, but into some old workings of another mine. Some of the miners proposed to con- tinue the work in the same direction, but Goffin pre- vented them, saying, " When we have no hope left I will conduct you to this place, and then all will be soon over." At first the men refused to obey him, and gave them- selves up to despair. The boys threw themselves on their knees to request a blessing from their parents, while the old men uttered dismal complaints, and la- mented over the future lot of their wives and children. Goffin gradually inspired them with some courage, and persuaded them to proceed to the fifth gallery, where he thought they would be able to penetrate into the galleries of the Mamonster mine. But they were by this time so exhausted with their former labours, and by the want of food, that all the exertions of Goffin were scarcely sufficient to inspire them with any activity. Three times they threw down their tools in absolute despair; but sometimes by entreaties, and sometimes by threats, he always prevailed upon them to resume their pickaxes, and recommence their work. They had dug a gallery thirty-six feet in length, though by the second day their A DELIVERANCE. 137 candles had gone out, and they were left in total dark- ness. For the first two or three days they suffered dreadfully from hunger. Some devoured the candles they had con- trived to conceal; others reckoned upon the speedy death of one of their companions as a means of furnishing them with food. Fortunately, nature dissipated, for a time at least, these scenes of horror, by giving them the refreshment of a sound sleep. Meanwhile, everything had been done without the mine for the deliverance of the unfortunate miners thus buried alive, by the sagacious and vigorous orders of the prefect. The shaft of the Mamonster mine presented the only means of liberating them; but they had no exact plan of the workings, and knew not, therefore, through how much ground they had to penetrate in order to reach the galleries of Beaujonc mine. More than one hundred horses were kept constantly employed in pump- ing out the water, in order to prevent it from filling all the galleries. Twenty fresh men descended every four hours by the shaft of Mamonster mine, in order to relieve the workmen who were making a gallery towards Beau- jonc mine. The engineer had ascertained the correct point from which the gallery must commence in order to reach the unfortunate sufferers. For greater certainty they employed blasting, until they were certain that they had been heard by the sufferers; then their zeal was redoubled, and the exertions made were incredible. The noise made by the buried miners while endeavour- ing to penetrate to Mamonster became gradually louder and louder ; and on the fifth day they were able to com- municate with Coffin and his unfortunate companions. They were informed that they were seventy-four in num- I 3 8 PERILS AND ESCAPES OF MINERS. ber, that none of them had perished, but they were distressed by a dreadful heat, though sunk to the middle of their bodies in water. From that time the relieving party worked without lights in the mine of Mamonster, to prevent the inflammation of the air. A communication was opened on the 3rd of March, four days after the accident, at seven in the evening, and every precaution was taken to prevent any fatal effects from the air or from fire. After having penetrated through a space of five hundred and eleven feet, a kind of detonation took place, from the escape of the condensed air, though happily without any serious result. The unfortunate miners were then released, and every possible care was taken to prevent any injury from too sudden an exposure to air and light. They were fed with a little wine and broth, then wrapped up in flannels, and laid for some time upon straw in the mine itself, before they were brought above-ground. Goffin, although the most exhausted of all, came out last with his son. This extra- ordinary boy had given proofs of the greatest coolness and courage. When the miners were in despair, and weeping bitterly in their dark and close prison, he called out to them, " Come along, you behave like children ! follow the orders of my father. We must work, and show those who survive us that we retained our courage to the last moment of our lives." 139 CHAPTER X. CURIOUS DISCOVERIES IN MINES. IT has often happened that in the course of excavations in search of minerals, the workmen have come upon some singular hollows or openings in the rock, caused by convulsions of the earth or earthquakes ; or caverns through which torrents have flowed in former ages, and have left them for nature to ornament in the most beauti- ful and fantastic manner. You will understand how the natural caverns are formed that you may have seen on the sea-coast; the moving waters, carrying with them gravel and sand, enter the cracks and crevices in the rocks, and increase their size by wearing away portions of the rock until caverns are formed. Some of these are of immense size, and the extent of many are unknown, extending far beneath the earth, and leaving obstructions that prevent access. Many caverns are lined with beautiful crystals, called calcareous spar, or substances containing much lime, and generally coloured by the impurities of the water that has dropped on them. Sometimes these crystals are of a pure white, and have, when the cave is lighted up, a richness and transparency that can scarcely be imagined. In sinking a shaft a short time ago, the Yorkshire Mining Company discovered, at the depth of about fifty feet from the surface, some remarkable caverns, thickly covered with stalactites (the name given to these crystal spars when suspended like icicles from the roof) and stalagmites (when they rise from the floor, and are caused 140 CURIO US DISCO VERIES IN MINES. by the evaporation of the larger drops which fall from above) of great splendour and brilliancy, and extending in a series of chambers, one over another, communicating with each other by small passages, in some places so narrow that a person has to squeeze himself through. Some of the cavities are as large as good-sized rooms, and are described as having the appearance of a palace of jewels, the rarity and beauty of which are beyond description. Others are long, narrow passages, or gal- leries. These subterranean grottoes are paved with crystals, having the appearance of stone, moss, and shells, in every variety of colour. This description will remind you of the wonderful stories you have read about the fairies in their crystal palaces, and you will find that, after all the extraordinary powers they were said to have possessed, nature is the greatest fairy after all. Caverns of enormous extent occur in Iceland ; that of Gurtshellir being forty feet in height, fifty in breadth, and nearly a mile in length. It is situated in the lava (melted mineral substances) that has flowed from a vol- cano. Beautiful black volcanic stalactites hang from the high and spacious vault, and the sides are covered with glazed stripes, a thick covering of ice, clear as crystal, coating the floor. One spot in particular is mentioned by a traveller, when seen by torchlight, as surpassing anything that can be described. The roof and sides of the cave were decorated with the most superb icicles, crystallized in every possible form, many of which rivalled in minuteness the clearest froth or foam, while from the icy floor arose pillars of the same substance, in all the curious and fantastic shapes that can be imagined, mocking the proudest specimens of art, and imitating THE PEAK. 141 many well-known objects of animated nature. A more brilliant scene, perhaps, never presented itself to the human eye. In our own country, one of the most remarkable caverns is that called the Peak, in Castleton Dale, Derbyshire. The approach to it is in the highest degree magnificent. The traveller passes through a chasm between two ranges of upright rocks. A vast mass of rock suddenly appears before him with the mouth of the cavern, which is in the form of an arch, one hundred and twenty feet in width and forty-two in height. After proceeding about thirty yards, the roof becomes lower, and a narrow passage is reached, where daylight dis- appears, and torches are lighted. After penetrating twenty or thirty yards in a stooping posture, there is a spacious opening, beyond which is the margin of a small lake, called the "First Water," the overhanging rock descending in one place to within twenty inches of its surface. The lake is crossed in a boat, in which the passenger lies down, and is conveyed to the other side, where a spacious opening presents itself, two hundred and twenty feet in length, two hundred feet broad, and in some parts one hundred and twenty feet high. Pro- ceeding onwards by the side of the "Second Water," there is a projecting pile of rocks called " Roger Rain's House," on account of the water incessantly dripping from the crevices of the roof. Beyond this another hollow opens, called the "Chancel," where the rocks appear much broken, and the sides are covered with crystals. Here the stranger is generally surprised by the sounds of a vocal concert from the upper regions of the cavern, where some women and children, who live in huts at the entrance, are stationed for the purpose. 142 CURIOUS DISCOVERIES IN MINES. After leaving the Chancel and passing the " Devil's Cellar," and the "Half-way House," the path leads through three natural arches to another vast cavern, termed " Great Tom of Lincoln," from its resemblance to a bell. Here, when lighted up, the scene is very remarkable. A more extraordinary spot, perhaps, is in the neigh- bourhood, at the foot of the Winnats, a deep and narrow inclined chasm, about a mile in length. Here is the Speedwell Mine, an artificial excavation made in search- ing for lead, leading to a great natural cavern. After descending upwards of a hundred steps and reaching the level, the visitor embarks in a boat upon a channel so narrow as to be able to touch the rocks on both sides and the ceiling above. After proceeding nearly half a mile, the guide pushing along the boat, an immense chasm in the mountain is reached, and landing upon a ledge of rock, the scene becomes wonderfully strange and appalling when lighted up with a Bengal light. On the one hand there is an abyss of unknown depth, appro- priately called the " Bottomless Pit," into which the water falls from the level with a startling sound, and which swallowed up forty thousand tons of material in the excavation of the mine. On the other hand an enor- mous cavity opens above, the ceiling of which no light can reach, for rockets have been fired off, and have given out their brilliant sparks as freely as from the surface of the earth. In this neighbourhood is the Old Tor Mine, out of which many a splendid piece of spar has been obtained, also the "Tre Cliff," or "Blue John Mine," one of the largest natural, as well as artificial, excavations in Derby- shire., In this mine is found the beautiful mineral called THE BLUE JOHN MINE. 143 fluor^ or, more commonly, " Derbyshire spar," a compo- sition of lime and acid, found in small detached pieces in the limestone rock. Rude steps, leading downwards about sixty yards, lead to a series of caverns and pas* sages encrusted with stalactites. It is well that I should explain to you that this term comes from a Greek word signifying " distillation " or " dropping," as they are formed from water trickling through the roofs contain- ing carbonate of lime, held in solution by carbonic acid. Upon exposure to the air the carbonic acid is gradually disengaged, and a small portion of lime is left. The process proceeds, drop after drop, and, at last, points, like icicles hanging from the roof, are formed. In this mine an extraordinary effect is produced by the stalactites, in one cavern, having grown downwards' until they rested upon some shelf of earthy matters, and in the course of time wonderful fairy columns have been formed of remarkable beauty, called the " Organ.' The principal subterranean apartment of the Blue John mine is called the " Hall," and from hence passages stretch out to an extent unknown. It is said that the late Marquis of Normanby, when Earl of Mulgrave, explored this mine for three days, accompanied by guides, without finding any termination. Some labourers in working for ochre, which is found in fissures of the limestone in the Mendip Hills, laid open a series of caverns near the village of Hutton. In the first chamber, about twenty feet square and four high, a large stalactite hangs from the roof in the centre ; and beneath a stalagmite, formed by the droppings from above, rises from the floor, nearly touching it. The bones of elephants and other animals were found here, and as this subject is deeply interesting, I may explain 144 CURIO US DISCO VERIES IN MINES. to you that places where similar remains have been found, are called "zoolithes," or bone-caverns. These are found in almost every country of Europe and also of America, and are highly important, because of the light they throw upon the ancient condition of the earth, and the changes it has undergone; many being the remains of extinct animals that thousands of years ago lived in our own country. I cannot enter into more particulars on this subject, as it opens a wide field of inquiry; I have merely mentioned it to show what wonderful objects the miner sometimes meets with in his researches under ground. In sinking for a lead mine in 1633, near Wirksworth, the miners came to an open place as large as a church, and found a skeleton reclining against the side, so large that they could not get it up without breaking it. A cavern called Dream Cave, near Wirksworth, was discovered by the miners in digging for lead. It was found at about the depth of sixty feet, and contained the remains of a rhinoceros in a high state of preservation. Some miners found a cave in Craw ley Rocks, near Swansea, which contained bones of elephants, the rhinoceros, hyenas, and other animals. Numerous other caverns have been discovered with similar remains. In the Hartz mountains, in Germany, there is a cavern called Baumarts Hole, from an unfortunate miner who, in 1670, ventured into it alone in search of ore, and after having wandered three days and nights in solitude and darkness, at length found his way out, but in such a state of exhaustion that he died almost immediately. If you should happen to be in the great manufacturing town of Birmingham, you would enjoy a visit to the famous Dudley Castle Mines, about eight miles distant THE WHITE PEBBLE PIT. 145 in Worcestershire. Here are iron and coal mines, and limestone quarries, and immense caverns of singular appearance have been formed in the mining operations. In the lower part of the Castle grounds is the descent to one of these hollows by a few rugged steps leading to a wondrous avenue of rock-works, displaying a wild and singular appearance. It has frequently happened that miners have discovered curious traces of former workings, hundreds of years ago, and tools have been found which belonged to the ancient miners, and many other relics. A singular discovery was made, a few years since, by some workmen engaged in the Spanish silver mine known as the White Pebble Pit. Whilst digging their subterranean passages they suddenly found a series of apartments, in which were a quantity of mining tools, left there from a very remote period, but still in such good preservation that there were hatchets, and sieves for sifting the ore, a smelting furnace, and two anvils, which proved that the earliest miners had great experience in their operations. In one of the caverns there was a round building, with niches, in which were three statues, one sitting down, and half the size of life ; the other two were in a standing position, and about three feet in height. This building is supposed to have been the temple of the god who was believed, in pagan times, to preside over mines. Several objects of art, and some remarkable instruments, were also found, which have led scientific persons to think that the workings might have been made by the Phoenicians, the people who, as I have before stated, in the time of Solomon, were famous for their manufacturing and commercial genius. In 1854 a discovery was also made by some miners excavating on the other side of the mountain on which 146 CURIO US DISCO VERIES IN MINES. the White Pebble Pit is situated ; this was a fine figure of the heathen god Hercules, which was found in an old working. In digging for copper lately on the banks of Lake Superior, in America, the miners came to some openings made ages before, and found several stone hammers of rude workmanship, round at one end, and pointed at the other. A mass of native copper was found weighing six tons, collected together, and placed on beams of oak, which had crumbled into dust with age. The copper had evidently been abandoned as too laborious to be moved. They had taken off every projecting point which was accessible. Upon one of the mounds of earth thrown out from an excavation the stump of a pine tree was observed, which must have grown, flourished, and died since the mound was raised. The hammers found exceeded ten cart-loads full, many of them broken, which appeared to have been discarded by the ancient work- men. A period of at least five hundred years is assigned to these relics, but they are probably of much older date, for an almost impenetrable forest stands on the spot of these excavations. In Cornwall, relics of the old mines have been frequently found. It is curious that a shovel, found about ten years ago, was in shape precisely similar to that now in use, and this may have been employed in times when the Druids probably occupied the place of priests, and the hills were clothed with forests, long since disappeared, and probably used for smelting the tin that the valleys yielded. A clever scientific Frenchman, M. Caillaud, to whom the discovery of the famous emerald mines of Mount Zebarah, in Egypt, is due, has described his entrance into these subterranean excavations, which had remained un- THE EMERALD MINES. 147 explored for ages. The emerald is one of the most beautiful stones presented to us by nature; its fine velvety, green appearance is particularly attractive and highly prized. M. Caillaud found these mines in nearly the same state as they had been left by the miners of the Ptolemies, rulers of Egypt before the birth of our Saviour. There were a multitude of excavations and subterranean canals, carried to a great depth, and admitting of four hundred men being employed therein. Extensive causeways and other important works show on what an immense scale these mines had been worked. The ropes, baskets, levers, grinding-stones, vases, lamps, and other tools and utensils, were still lying around, as though the miners, over whose ashes so many centuries had passed, had left them but yesterday. You will, no doubt, be surprised that these mines should have remained so long unopened, especially when I tell you that ancient writers had alluded to them, and the Arabs, inhabitants of the country, had some confused notion of them. But these people were deterred from any examination of the locality by superstitious fears. They consider the caves where the excavations had been made the abode of snakes, wolves, and other beasts of prey ; and, more fearful than this, the haunts of demons, who would instantly kill all intruders. The night pre- vious to M. Caillaud's entrance into the excavations the Arabs spent in firing off their guns, to frighten away the evil spirits. We will now give M. Caillaud's report : " Having reached these caves I knew them at once to be mines, but what kind I could not tell. I set three Arabs to clear the entrance to one of the excavations. As I was resting from the fatigues undergone during that day and the preceding ones, my eyes chanced to light on 148 CURIO US DISCO VERIES IN MINES. a fragment of emerald, of a dark green colour. My sur- prise and delight were great. Forgetting all fatigue, in my impatience to visit the level, I encouraged the men, and began to work with them. We soon gained an entrance into the mine. I immediately caused torches to be lighted, and, accompanied by my interpreter and a workman, I descended by a very oblique road. I had scarcely gone a hundred paces when I found the too rapid inclination of the lode rendered the road dangerous. The frightened Arab turned back ; my interpreter, rinding the way too narrow, hesitated and stopped short ; I alone continued to descend for the space of three quarters of an hour. I then found the road choked and blocked up by enormous masses of mica, which had fallen in from the top. I was alone to clear the way, four hundred feet under ground, through many difficult and even dangerous passages. My strength would not permit me to remove the obstacles, and I was obliged to give up my attempt to proceed further. I was about to reascend, disappointed at my having made no discovery, when amidst the masses of rubbish I perceived an emerald prism. I detached it carefully, and then wandered some two hours longer in these narrow levels, during which time my interpreter began to be alarmed for my safety ; the great depth I had reached quite prevented me from hearing his repeated calls. He sent for a rope and let it down into the shaft, thinking it might reach, and be of assistance to me on my return. My light beginning to burn dimly, after resting awhile, I again sought the upper road, the ascent of which I found very laborious. Amidst the profound silence that reigned around me, the voice of my interpreter at length reached my ears, and guided me to the spot where he stood. His first question was, THE EMERALD MINS. 149 ' Had I found any emeralds ?' I replied in the negative, but in such a tone that he was fully persuaded I had my pockets full. This thought was a greater punishment to him than any reproaches of mine." The following day M. Caillaud found more than forty excavations similar to the one described. These mines, abandoned many ages, are mostly filled in by the fall- ing in of portions of the mountain, and by the stones brought by the torrents. It was in his second expedition in the following year that M. Caillaud ascertained that some of the excavations had been carried to a depth of eight hundred feet below the surface of the ground, and some of them were so spacious that four hundred men could work there at once. Seven leagues from Mount Zebarah he found mountains containing much larger emerald quarries ; and some in which there were more than a thousand excavations, furnishing a means of com- munication between the upper and the lower ground workmen on an extensive scale ; there were stone cause- ways along which the camels could convey provisions to the farthest extremity of the mines. About half a league from these quarries M. Caillaud found a Greek tower and five hundred huts still standing in very good condi- tion, though probably they had not been inhabited for two thousand years. These were, no doubt, the houses of the ancient miners. These workmen (observes M. Caillaud) appear to have cared little about facilitating the labour of their mines, as these would now be looked upon as impenetrable. The miners were obliged to creep or slide, sometimes on hands and feet, sometimes on their backs or quite flat on their chests, through little narrow paths running in all sorts of oblique directions. M. Caillaud brought back to the Pacha of Egypt about 150 CURIO US DISCO VERIES IN MINES. ten pounds weight of emeralds, taken from the mines of Mount Zebarah. In the neighbourhood of Alston Moor, a famous lead- mining district in Cumberland, is the curious limestone cavern of Ale Burn, which is intersected by a vein of lead. The following notes descriptive of this singular place were made during a subterraneous survey of its dark and gloomy chambers : " After climbing from the level roof by an opening barely sufficient to admit our passage, we ascended (what the miners call) a rise of about thirty feet in height by means of sticks placed alternately at two opposite sides of the rise. On gaining the top we entered with some difficulty into a small circular opening in the limestone, just large enough to permit our creeping along it on hands and knees. On proceeding a few fathoms in this uncomfortable posture, the noise of rushing waters was heard increasing until it became very loud, and we soon found ourselves near the spacious summit of a vault or natural cavern, twenty- three feet high, thirteen feet wide, and sixteen feet long. We climbed down the nearly perpendicular side to a stream of water which passes the whole length of the cavern, and at this time containing as much water as Ale Burn. This rivulet seems partly fed by the springs of Ale Burn, and in rains is much increased by the surface water poured into it by means of numerous swallow-holes. Having descended, we turned past a projecting screen of rock, and from thence gained access to the continuation of the cavern westward. Here the natural curiosities which present themselves, if they do not deserve the very lavish expressions of surprise and admiration often bestowed on similar scenes, at least deserve this, that they well repay the difficulty experienced in visiting them, and which, to CA VE OF ALE BURN. 151 persons unaccustomed to mining excursions, is by no means inconsiderable. It must be kept in mind that this is merely a limestone cavern, which, although exceed- ingly curious as such, is not possessed of the varied and splendid attractions of some celebrated caverns. Its dimensions vary considerably, being in some places from twenty to thirty feet high, and in others it is nearly rilled with large loose blocks of limestone, the passages through the interstices of which are both difficult and dangerous. The sides present a curiously fretted surface, moulded by the long-continued action of water into a variety of sin- gular forms, some of which are truly remarkable. It is curious to observe the process of this slow but constant operation, for the water, gradually wearing the channel by which it first enters the cavern, falls successively on dif- ferent portions of the rock below, until in the course of years the whole of the sides of the cavern have been subjected to this fantastic chisel of nature. Many of these grotesque forms, especially when dimly seen, need little aid from the imagination to represent the images of various animals and other objects. In one place we observed an almost exact profile of the human face. The idea of the head and neck of foxes and eagles was often suggested by projecting pieces of rock; and in a small cavern, branching from the main one, four or five singularly shaped pieces of limestone seemed like a con- sultation of various animals suddenly changed to stone. After proceeding upwards of a hundred yards along the cavern we saw a vein of lead ore which intersected it, and from which some of our party worked a few speci- mens. From this place westward the cavern becomes much straiter, so that in some places where the roof had fallen we could only proceed by lying on our breasts and 1 52 CURIOUS DISCO VERIES IN MINES. getting forward through the narrow chasm as well as we could. At length the stream of water entered a very low and narrow passage, into which we waded on our hands and knees until nearly all our lights were lost, so that we were compelled to return. On retracing our steps to where we first entered the cavern, we proceeded along the first chamber, and by a low passage entered a second, at the east end of which is a double entrance to a third cavern, divided by a curious natural pillar about thirteen feet high. A waterfall at the west end of this cavern presents a fine spectacle. Above it, huge masses of limestone are lying about in magnificent ruin, which, with the echo of the falling stream, excite sensations in which terror and sublimity are strongly blended." In the lead mine of Hudgill Burn, in Cumberland, a cavern was discovered in 1816 by some miners in the limestone rocks. It is thus described by a party of travellers : " Advancing about halfway in the cavern we came to a thin rock which divided our passage into two. We pursued the right-hand passage, now become so narrow that a bulky man could scarcely get through. As we passed along, several openings and small recesses on our right and left were seen, but not of a sort to excite much interest until we reached the far end of this pas- sage, where there is an open space equal to a room of ordinary size, nearly square, lined with smooth jet-black walls, richly spangled with stalactites that sparkle like brilliants of the first water. The solemn grandeur of this place inclined us all to pause and contemplate the sub- limity of the novel scene around us. The substance of so jet a black with which this charming little cabin is lined is called by miners 'black-jack.' It contains a portion of the ore of zinc, and is smelted for its valuable MINES UNDER THE SEA. 153 produce, being in great demand for potteries, medical purposes, brass, &c. In this beautiful little room there are two openings, in form nearly square, lined with the same substance, and embellished with glittering spar of exquisite brilliancy. These transparent particles are very regularly distributed over the walls, neither too thick nor too thin to give the effect of genuine taste and finish ; but the process of nature is going on, and that brilliant spar will most probably become a thick crust if not impeded by the hand of the workman, and will in time become a solid mass of quartz, of which numerous large pieces are found in this mine." CHAPTER XL MINES UNDER THE SEA. " What hidest thou in thy treasure-caves and cells, Thou hollow-sounding and mysterious main ? Pale, glistening pearls, and rainbow-coloured shells, Bright things which gleam unrecked of and in vain." MORE curious still than the inland mines we have de- scribed are those which are submarine, or worked tmder the sea. You will wonder that men can work in dark caverns under the rolling ocean, but such is the fact; and a very large amount of mineral riches has been extracted from the rocks, over which storms are career- ing, and the waves dashing with the utmost fury. I think that you would be frightened to descend into one of these mines, even in calm weather, and hearing the stones rattling over your head at the bottom of the sea, I5 4 MINES UNDER THE SEA. which is only separated from you by large rocks, through which, if the water penetrated by any incautious boring of the miner, certain death would be the result. Yet in these fearful places the miner works without the least dread. You would, no doubt, suppose that some water would gain admission into these mines; but it seems singu- lar that the deeper a mine is worked under the sea, the drier it becomes. The St. Just Cornish mining district, situated in the extreme west, on the borders of the Atlantic Ocean, has been long celebrated for the peculiar position of its mines, situated among perpendicular rocks, and exca- vated thousands of feet under the level of the sea. In length this district stretches nearly five miles, north and south, along the coast. The best known mine is Botal- lack, which extends upwards of three thousand feet below the level of the sea. What is called the CROWNS is the most remarkable mine, and has been worked by two shafts, both on the edges of the cliffs, and the excava- tions have extended upwards of half a mile out to sea, which distance has been gradually increasing, in conse- quence of the ore dipping rapidly away sea-wards. The late workings in the mine have been attended with serious inconveniences, one of the chief arising from a want of ventilation, in consequence of the impossibility of communicating with the surface for such a great distance. About twelve hundred feet from the Crowns mine is the COCK (now part of Botallack mine), which is very- ancient, and was a very productive copper mine. The rocks under the sea have been worked away so close in some places, that only a few inches of ground remain to keep out the waters of the Atlantic. Even in the finest weather, the rolling of the pebbles, with the swell of the THE LEVANT MINE. 155 ocean, can be heard with greater distinctness than on the beach itself; and during great storms the noise is so appalling that, although certain of the absence of real danger, the workmen are often anxious. At one place in this mine, when a workman was boring a hole, the sea penetrated, but fortunately the ground was very hard, and the opening was not considerably increased before the hole was plugged up with the handle of a pick. A writer who was once underground in this mine during a storm says, "At the extremity of the mine workings little could be heard of its effects except at intervals, when the reflux of some unusually large wave projected a pebble outwards, bounding and rolling over the rocky bottom ; but when standing beneath the base of the cliff, and in that part of the mine where but nine feet of rock stood between us and the ocean, the heavy roll of the large boulders, the ceaseless grinding of the pebbles, the fierce thundering of the billows, with the crackling and boiling as they rebounded, placed a tem- pest, in its most appalling form, too vividly before me to be ever forgotten. More than once, doubting the pro- tection of our rocky shield, we retreated in affright, and it was only after repeated trials that we had confidence to pursue our investigations." In the LEVANT mine, in 1866, at a comparatively shallow level, far out under the sea, a great outcry was raised by the miners that the sea water was coming in to their very great danger, and threatened the destruction of the mine. The captain, or manager, had to look closely into the matter to find out the real state of the case, and proved beyond doubt that there was a con- siderable quantity of salt water penetrating into the mine, but as this was from an old and well-known place, 156 MINES UNDER THE SEA. there was no reason to entertain fears of immediate danger. The truth was, that the tin ore in that quarter being very good, but surrounded with hard and difficult rock, the miners had been allowed to work upwards towards where there might be risk, and had penetrated the thin crust that kept out the sea. It was, of course, determined to leave off working in this perilous part, which was also strongly timbered and strengthened. Nothing could be more appalling than the entrance of the sea into the deep workings. During the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Penzance, in July, 1865, their Royal Highnesses ex- pressed a wish to visit the Botallack mine, and prepara- tions were made accordingly. At no point of the route from the town was the road-side untenanted for more than a few hundred yards, while every small hamlet had its flags flying, and many their triumphal arches besides. When the royal procession had reached some four or five miles from Penzance, the scenery began to undergo a complete change, but not so the warmth of the wel- come which the Prince and Princess received. That continued to be as hearty as ever, although there was no longer any foliage to set off the efforts of those by whom it was rendered. The mining population near St. Just have no trees mingling their branches across their roadways, or approaching so close to one another that wreaths or flags could be suspended between them, as was several times the case near Penzance. But the miners have good lungs and loyal hearts, and they did not fail to make a good display of both. In the village of St. Just itself, which is situated about seven miles from Penzance, and which commands a fine view of the British Channel, neither flags nor triumphal arches were A ROYAL VISIT TO BOTALLACK. 157 wanting, nor children, nor cheers. All about it the land is barren, and it gradually grows wilder and more barren towards the cliffs of Botallack, which are about two miles further on. These cliffs, which are lofty and irregular, jut boldly into the sea. At the foot of one of them, or nearly so, is the entrance into the Botallack mine. Some way into the cliff is the count-Jwuse, a tolerably spacious building, in which money matters and other business connected with the mine are transacted, and here it was that the Prince and Princess for the first time alighted. The front of the house was of course decorated with evergreens twined into arches. Here some time was occupied by the royal party in changing their dresses, with a view to visiting the interior of the mine. After a lapse of about half an hour the Princess came out dressed in a fine white flannel cloak, which completely enveloped her, and which was trimmed at the neck with blue ribbon. A white straw hat, having also a band of blue ribbon, completed her costume. The Duchess of Sutherland, Lady Vivian, Lady De Grey, Lady E. St. Aubyn, and Lady Audrey Townshend wore similar dresses. The Prince, the Duke of Sutherland, the Duke of St. Albans, and the other noblemen and gentlemen of the party, had on white flannel frock coats, white trousers, and low white hats. At the door of the count-house the Princess and the Duchess of Sutherland took their seats in a small donkey- carriage, and were drawn very gently down the rugged path which led to the cliff. The rest of the party walked behind them. When they came to the wooden platform, which leads from the heights to the entrance of the mine, at the base of the opposite cliff, the Princess and the Duchess of Sutherland alighted, and having descended a 158 MINES UNDER THE SEA. little further down by means of the artificial aids, in the shape of timber structures, employed all around, they could see below the doorway leading to the subterranean recesses which they were about to visit. The platform on which they then stood, a narrow way constructed of timber, and looking very much like a miniature railway, ran down to the entrance of the mine, and thence on deep into the recesses of the earth. On this way a low car, covered with crimson cloth fringed with orange, was placed, with grooves, not wheels, to fit the rails. To the back of the car a stout metallic rope, which could be let out or drawn up at pleasure, by means of machinery higher up the cliff, was attached. The Prince and Princess, together with the Countess De Grey, and Mr. and Lady Elizabeth St. Aubyn, having taken their seats in this car, the rope was gradually let go, and they glided gently down the shaft through the doorway, each of the party being pro- vided with a lighted candle, to a depth of more than twelve hundred feet beneath the sea, under which the mine extends for a distance of half a mile. When the Prince and Princess had got to the bottom, the car was pulled up by means of the rope, and the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, and other members of the royal party, descended into the mine, the process being re- peated until the whole party got to the bottom. While all this was taking place, every ledge of rock on the vast heights above, on which a human being could find a footing, was crowded by hundreds of people, young and old, some of them in positions apparently so dangerous that on the slightest movement they would tumble down headlong. Botallack mine has long been famous for its tin and copper ore, the latter being found chiefly under the sea, and the former inland. The Prince and Prin- A KINGS ALARM. 159 cess spent about an hour in examining the dark and rugged passages of the mine, over which they were con- ducted by men acquainted with the workings. Their Royal Highnesses, when they returned to the light of day, again got a tremendous cheer from the cliffs all around, and expressed themselves much pleased with all they had seen. They then climbed up the ascent to the count-house, where their mining dresses were changed for ordinary costume, and where they partook of luncheon, afterwards returning to Penzance. Another royal visit to a mine under the sea, which occurred about two hundred and fifty years ago, was not quite so auspicious. The collieries of CULROSS, in Scotland, were at one time the most extensive in that country, and what is remarkable, they extended a con- siderable way beneath the Firth of Forth. It is recorded that when James the Sixth revisited Scotland, after his accession to the throne of England, he made an excur- sion into Fife for the purpose of enjoying the diversion of hunting. After recreating himself with the sport, he invited his attendants to dine with him at a "collier's house," meaning the Abbey of Culross, then belonging to Sir George Bruce, one of the most ingenious and enterprising coal-masters in Scotland. Being conducted, at his own desire, to see the works underground, of which he had heard a good deal, he was led by a passage to the mouth of a pit opening within sea-mark, and only protected from inundation by a wall or moat. Having ascended to the brink of the opening, he was astonished and dismayed to find himself, without pre- vious intimation, surrounded by water; on which he was seized with terror, fearing some plot against his liberty or life, and called out, " Treason ! treason ! " 160 MINES UNDER THE SEA. But Sir George assured him there was none, and that he had nothing to fear. Pointing to a pinnace that was made fast to the wall, he desired to know whether his Majesty would feel it most agreeable to be carried ashore in it, or to return by the subterraneous route. The king preferred the shortest way back, and was borne ashore in the vessel, expressing his admiration of what he had seen. After this the royal guest was sumptuously entertained at the abbey. Some of the glasses are still preserved in the family of his host, and the room in which he was feasted is called the King's Room. It is stated that this curious pit was totally destroyed in 1625, on the night of King James's death, by a violent storm, which, washing away the raised part around the wall, deluged the mine with water and entirely choked it. The stones of the rampart that were not carried away were afterwards used for repairing the stone pier at Leith. The most singular of submarine mines was one called the WHERRY mine, executed more than a century ago in the midst of the sea, near the pier of Penzance, in Corn- wall. At low water in this place, a gravelly bottom was laid bare, in which was discovered a multitude of small veins of tin-ore, which crossed each other in every direction. The adjacent rock also contained the mineral in considerable quantities ; this rock was worked when- ever the sea, the time, and the season would permit, until the depth became too great. The place where this submarine tin-ore was found was about two hundred yards from the shore ; and as the bank of the sea in this place is very steep and high, this distance is considerable, even at low water ; and at high water is covered by the sea six yards deep. As the bottom is gravelly and full of rocks, the waves become THOMAS CURTIS. 161 \much agitated, and rise to a great height when the wind blows from particular points. This inconvenience takes place throughout the winter, and had always led to the failure of the different attempts which had been made before to drain the mine and to raise the ore. At low water the rock rises a little above the surface ot the sea ; nevertheless, there are not ten months in the year in which it is uncovered. You will see from this description how almost impos- sible it would seem to have worked in such a mine, under apparently insurmountable difficulties; yet, in 1778, a single individual, who possessed only a few shillings to start with, determined to make a trial, and how well he succeeded you will learn. This courageous miner, named Thomas Curtis, employed three summers in sinking a pit or shaft, during which time he could only work two hours daily, owing to the tide ; and every time when he went to work he found the space he had dug filled with water. This he was obliged to empty out before he could recom- mence working, which occasioned still greater difficulties when he set about blasting the rock. At first he had only need of strength and patience ; but when he dug to a greater depth he added to them ingenuity. He built around the mouth of the pit a turret of wood, to protect it from the water, and by this means was able to prolong the time of working on the rock. He further endeavoured to shut out the water entirely from the pit, by raising the turret above the greatest height to which the sea could reach. But here he had new difficulties to conquer : first, to make this turret impervious to water ; and secondly, to stay it in such a manner that neither the flux or reflux of the sea, nor the shocks of the waves, could overcome it. M 162 MINES UNDER THE SEA. The enterprising miner had provided against them. The rock was fortunately of porphyry, not too hard to cut, but still very firm. He shaped the pieces he separated from it, and disposed them in a regular manner at the bottom of the turret, and closed and caulked with oakum and fat cement all the openings between the wood and the stone, so that the whole was united into one mass. The shaft, or pit, like most of those in Cornwall, was lined with planks, all the joints being well caulked and pitched. When his framework was thus constructed he supported it with iron braces. About the mouth of the pit he raised, upon four great piles, a platform of planks to support the winding machine, which was worked by four men. This work, as may be imagined, took much time, and met with many mishaps in the execution ; but the courage and perseverance of the industrious miner overcame all obstacles. When the pit and tower were finished he then reaped the fruit of his work, and drew from the mine, in a short time, a considerable amount of tin. He was now enabled to pursue his search with better means and assistance. There were times, however, when the undertaking was not in such a good state ; so to save expense and diminish his labours he attacked the part of the mine overhead, by which means, at high water, the sea penetrated through the chinks of the rock, so that he was obliged to sustain the roof, which was pretty extensive in some parts, by planks and thick props, to prevent the great mass of water which pressed on it above from driving it in. Besides this, notwithstanding all his endeavours, it was not possible for him to keep his wood-work water-tight in the winter ; and when the sea was rough he could not transport the ore ashore in his boat. In the autumn of 1790, the chamber ex- SUCCESS OF PERSEVERANCE. 163 cavated in the inside of the rock measured in depth thirty-six feet, and in length about eighteen feet. Four men in two hours emptied the pit of water, by the wind- lass, at the rate of four tons each minute, towards the end of which time six men drove it from the bottom of the pit, and poured it into the passage. After drawing off the water they worked six hours more on the rock. From one tide to another they raised about thirty sacks of ore, each sack containing fourteen gallons, and the value of the tin obtained in the course of six months amounted to six hundred pounds. As most of the ore was mixed with hard rock, difficult to pound, the miner had it roasted in a common lime- kiln, which answered the purpose very well. The persevering miner who had accomplished this triumph over apparently insurmountable obstacles died at the age of seventy years, in the winter of 1791, the mine having in the preceding summer yielded tin worth three thousand pounds. The expenses of excavating deeper into this singular mine, and the difficulties attending the operations of the miners, the water dripping continually through the roof, and the roar of the waves above being sometimes awful and daunting the boldest miners, at length the works were abandoned. A vessel in a storm was once driven against the upper platform, and carried away a portion of it. At WHITEHAVEN, in Cumberland, the coal mines extend from two to three miles under the sea. Sir John Lowther, in the time of Charles II., obtained a grant of the lands between high and low water marks, and built a pier, within which a hundred vessels could shelter ; the neighbouring hills were pierced, and made to give up 164 MINES UNDER THE SEA. their thick seams of coal. At first a few straight galleries sufficed in these mines, but it became necessary at length to pierce beneath the bed of the sea, and now there are hundreds of miners hewing and blasting, day after day, at a depth of from seven hundred feet to twelve hundred feet, while the waves roll and ships sail above their heads. Two instances are recorded in ancient history of mines wrought in or under the bottom of the sea. One of these is mentioned by Pausanias, who, speaking of the temple at Delphi, observes, " Near the votive offering of the Tarentines is the treasury of the Siphnians. It was built upon the following occasion. Their isle produced mines of gold. Apollo commanded them to dedicate a tenth part of their produce to the temple at Delphi. They built a treasury, and remitted a tenth, but when through avarice they neglected to do this, the inundations of the sea destroyed the mines and caused them to disappear." There is nothing in this story but what may be accounted for by natural causes. The mines were at first very pro- ductive ; they were worked by degrees to a greater depth, and with less profit ; at length, when the Siphnians were tempted to pursue the veins under the sea, the waters broke through the thin partition, and put an end to the operations of the miners. A second mention of submarine mines is by Aristotle (born three hundred and eighty-four years before Christ), and vestiges of these workings have been discovered on a small island near the shore of Chalcedon, in Asia Minor. CHAPTER XII. IRON AND ITS USES. I WILL now direct your attention to one of the most valu- able metals that we possess, IRON, which, by the Provi- dence of a bountiful Creator, is plentifully distributed throughout nature, pervading almost everything, and is the chief cause of colour to earth and stone. This won- derful metal enters into almost all the substances with which we are acquainted, as well vegetable as animal. It circulates in your blood, it pervades the juices of vege- tables, and is found in all the minerals, earth, and stones within the reach of chemical examination. To the mag- netic qualities of iron we owe the mariner's compass, by which men are able to traverse the ocean, and to steer their course to any particular country with the utmost accuracy and certainty. The uses of iron are manifold ; it is capable of being cast into moulds of any form, of being drawn out into wires of any strength or fineness, of being extended into plates and sheets, of being bent in any direction, of being sharpened, hardened, and softened at will. Iron furnishes the sword and the ploughshare, the scythe, the pruning-hook, the needle, the graver, the spring of a watch or a carriage, the chisel, the chain, the anchor, the cannon, and the bomb. It is a medicine of much virtue, and the only metal friendiy to the human frame. The application of iron to building purposes has been seen in the erection of the Crystal Palaces at Hyde Park and at Sydenham. The prodigious iron ships also, that have been among the most wonderful productions of 166 IRON AND ITS USES. art in modern times, show how extensive is the use of this metal. For railways the iron now required is enormous ; then, if we think of the thousands of miles of pipes that are required for water and gas, bridges, pillars, railings and balconies, culinary vessels, machinery of every kind, nails and screws in countless myriads, tools for every kind of handicraft, cutlery, and an immense number of other objects, we are lost in amazement at the value and importance of this greatest boon to man. Iron affords in the mineral kingdom, as flax does in the vegetable, a striking example of the increased value given to the raw material by the labour and ingenuity of man. Thus a few penny-worth of flax may be wrought into a veil of Brussels lace worth many sovereigns, and one pound weight of iron, of the value of a halfpenny, being con- verted into steel, may be made into seventy thousand watch-springs, which would be worth a very large sum of money. Iron appears to have been known and used by the in- habitants of the world in the earliest ages, being fre- quently mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. If you refer to the fourth chapter of Genesis, you will find that Tubal- cain is alluded to as the instructor of every artificer or workman in brass and iron. Moses also mentions fur- naces of iron and of the ores from which it was extracted, and tells us that swords, axes, knives, and instruments for cutting stones were, in his time, made of this metal. The smith, or worker in iron, Mr. Smiles tells us, was considered an important personage in former times, and amongst the Anglo-Saxons he was treated as an officer of the highest rank. In the royal court of Wales he sat in the great hall, with the king and queen, next to the domestic chaplain, and he was entitled to a draught of SMITHS OF OLD. 167 every kind of liquor that was brought into the hall. His duties were, however, multifarious, for trades and manu- factures were not divided as they afterwards became. Besides making nails and horse-shoes, and tools of vari- ous kinds, he employed his handicraft on all sorts of warlike weapons, and forged the mail coats and armour for the knights and their horses. In course of time the smiths of particular districts began to distinguish themselves for their excellence in particular branches of ironwork. Thus the makers of swords, tools, bits, and nails, established themselves at Birmingham, and the makers of knives and arrow-heads at Sheffield. The value and importance of iron may be conceived when we find that in Edward III.'s reign, the pots, spits, and frying-pans of the royal kitchen were classed among the king's jewels. In Scotland the smith was also highly considered in the Middle Ages, and a story is told of one of this craft having committed a crime, for which he was found guilty and sentenced to death ; but the chief could not dispense with his services, and so offered to hang two weavers in his stead. It was the knowledge of iron-forging which laid the foundation of the once great empire of the Turks. Gibbon relates that these people were originally slaves of a powerful khan, or chief, and dwelt in certain dis- tricts of a mountain ridge in the centre of Asia, which produced large quantities of iron. This metal the Turks forged into warlike weapons for the khan, but at length a bold leader arose amongst them, who persuaded the iron-workers that the arms which they forged for their masters might, in their own hands, become the instru- ments of their freedom. Sallying forth from their moun- i68 IRON AND ITS USES. tains they set up their standard, and they soon freed themselves. For hundreds of years afterwards the Turkish nation continued to celebrate the event of their liberation by an annual ceremony, in which a piece of iron was heated in the fire, and a smith's hammer was successively handled by the prince and his nobles. The iron mines of England were well known to the Romans (who, you will remember, invaded England under their leader Julius Caesar, fifty- five years before the birth of Christ), but iron was one of the last of the metals to come into general use, which is partly accounted for by the fact that iron, although so generally diffused, is never found in a native or pure state except in meteorites (which I will explain hereafter), and that to recognise its ores, and then separate the metal from the earth or clay in which it is found, requires a considerable amount of observation and invention. If you were to see a lump of ironstone you would not be able to discover any affinity from it, as brought up in a rough state from the mine, and the iron or steel that is converted into so many different objects. The ore is of a light, livid grey colour, and is found most fre- quently intermixed with fossil productions, and is ex- tracted from the same pits by which the coals are raised to the surface, either embedded in the clay found in the vicinity of the seams of coal, or forming distinct beds alternating with those from which the coal itself is ob- tained. The facilities thus afforded to the iron manu- facturer, by the presence in the same locality of the ores and the fuel required for their reduction, are the chief causes of the superiority of the iron-works of Great Britain, and of the low price at which that metal is pro- duced. The principal places where iron is obtained in IRONSTONE. 169 Great Britain are those of Dudley and South Wales, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire in Scotland. All coal-fields, however, do not produce iron ore. The Newcastle dis- trict, which is perhaps the richest coal-field in the world, yields so little iron that the furnaces which are worked in that neighbourhood are principally supplied by ores brought from a considerable distance by sea. Swedish and Russian iron have long been held in great estima- tion, on account of their being smelted by charcoal fur- naces. Pitcoal is obliged to be used for that purpose in our country, owing to the scarcity of wood. Notwith- standing this, the best English iron is very little inferior to foreign. Welsh iron is considered stronger than that made from Scotch ore. To explain the necessity of smelting the iron ore, I should inform you that ironstone is a combination of that metal with numerous earthy substances, and the iron is, therefore, of no practical use until these are removed, and this cannot be effected without the aid of fierce heat and many complicated operations. Hence the smelting of iron occupies more attention, time, labour, and expense than the mere raising it from the hidden depths where it has been buried. In iron mines a gallery or trench is cut in the side of a hill, or a shaft is sunk according to the position in which the ore may be found. When this is decided, the miner with his pick and his shovel commences operations, and the dirt-coloured stony substance is loosened, shovelled into baskets, and then raised to the mouth of the mine. So heavy is this ironstone, and of such small value in its rough state, that the smelters generally contrive to have the smelting works as near as possible to the mine, in order to save the expense of carriage. And as the same reason ap- j;o IRON AND ITS USES. plies to the coal so largely employed in smelting, and to the lime which is also used, we see why the great smelt- ing works in South Wales, which are among the most famous of our manufactures, combine the mining and the making of iron on the same spot and on so gigantic a scale. There is a great variety of iron ores, which have different names given to them by the workmen, and are of various qualities. Native or meteoric iron (to which I have already alluded) has been found in large masses in different countries, and which had no history, or were only alluded to in vague tradition. Of this kind is the immense mass seen by Pallas in Siberia, now in the Imperial Museum at St. Petersburg. The largest known is one in Brazil, estimated to weigh fourteen thousand pounds. This metal is very remarkable from the diffi- culty of accounting for its appearance on our earth. That it comes to us from beyond the world we inhabit, seems without doubt, but in what manner? The subject is so deeply interesting that I will endeavour, as plainly as possible, to give you the opinions of learned men on this point. The French astronomer, Laplace, and other scientific men, have supposed that these immense masses of ironstone have been projected on the earth from vol- canoes in the moon. This conjecture has given way, however, to another, started, or at least powerfully advo- cated, by the celebrated German naturalist, Humboldt. According to this the phenomenon of aerolites (from the Greek aer, air; and litJws, stone), as meteoric ironstones, fireballs, and shooting stars are termed, are nothing else than very small bodies moving in space with regular directions, like those of the planets, but which, when turned aside occasionally from their course by approach- FALLING STARS, 171 ing too closely so large a body as the earth, are drawn swiftly downwards through our atmosphere. What wonder-creating thoughts such reasoning awakens of the universe to which we belong ! "Thou beckonest, Almighty! from the tree The blossom's leaf doth fall ; Thou beckonest in immensity Is quenched a solar ball ! If it is true, then, besides the sun, the planets, their moons, and the comets all of which are luminous bodies, we are to reckon as members of the solar system an incalculable number of small masses, moving like dark particles of matter through heavenly space, and only made visible when they are so near one of the planets as to be drawn into its atmosphere ; in which case, if it be during the day, they assume the appearance of mete- oric stones, and if during the night, that of shooting stars. It has been inferred that these asteroids, or meteors, go in streams, as it were, of many myriads together, and it is only at points where such streams intersect the earth's path that abundant showers of meteoric stones, or falling stars, take place. They fall in all seasons of the year, either singly or in numbers. The masses of native iron and the pieces of stone which you may happen to see in public or private museums, after what you have read, will not fail to excite in you the greatest interest, for they are more than mere minerals. They are sent from regions be- yond us, to show that the other planetary bodies, so far removed from us in the heavenly space, are made of very much the same materials as the earth on which we live. The number of recognised matters composing 172 IRON AND ITS USES. meteoric stones are about one-third of the whole number of elementary substances discovered on the earth, iron largely preponderating in some instances upwards of ninety parts in one hundred of the mass. When you happen to be in the British Museum, you will see in the Mineralogical Department some fine specimens of native iron. There is a fragment from a mass at Otumpa, in South America, the weight of which was estimated at about fifteen tons : another piece de- tached from the mass of Siberian native iron, to which I have alluded as discovered by Pallas. This meteoric iron was found on the summit of a hill on the banks of the Jenisey, where it was considered by the Tartars as a sacred relic, a gift sent direct from heaven. A mass of native iron from Atacampa, in Peru, is also exhibited as one of the rarities in the collection. A number of specimens are arranged in chronological order, begin- ning with the fragment of a stone which fell in Alsace in 1492, in the presence of the Emperor Maximilian, then king of the Romans, as he was about to engage with the French army : the entire mass weighed originally 270 pounds. Captain Ross, in his arctic voyage, mentions that the Esquimaux made their knives from two pieces of meteoric iron found in Greenland. This iron must have been a great boon to the inhabitants of those distant regions. If you have read the voyages of the famous Captain Cook (who, in his youth, was an apprentice on board a collier vessel), you will remember how surprised he was at the avidity which the natives of the South Sea Islands displayed for iron. " Nothing," he says, " would go down with our visitors but metal, and iron was their beloved article." A nail would buy a good-sized pig, IRON BANKS B UIL T BY INSECTS. 173 and on one occasion the navigator bought about four hundred pounds weight of fish for a few knives, made for the occasion out of an old hoop. The seamen found they could pay their way from island to island merely with scraps of iron, which were as useful for the purpose as gold coins would have been in Europe. I have related what is conceived to be the origin of meteoric iron ; another subject for wonder is the fact that in the lakes of Sweden there are vast layers or banks of iron, exclusively built up by animalcules. This term is applied to any very small animal, but limited in actual use to those which are seen through the microscope. Animalcules exist in prodigious numbers, and of many different kinds, their size being such that multitudes of them find ample space within a single drop of water ; and they abound almost wherever there is moisture, at least wherever there is organic matter present. The ani- malcules alluded to are not unlike those that have laid the foundations of large islands in the ocean, by cement- ing for many ages matter with matter, so as to form beautiful substances, amongst which is the coral you have often seen. M. de Watteville informs us that the iron thus formed by countless myriads of animalcules is called in Sweden lake ore, distinguished, according to its form, into what are termed gunpowder, pearl, money, or cake ore. In winter the Swedish peasant, who has but little to do in that season, makes holes in the ice of a lake, and with a long pole probes the bottom, until he has found an iron bank. An iron sieve is then let down, and with a sort of ladle, conveniently fashioned for the purpose, the loose ore is shovelled into the sieve, which is then hoisted up again. The ore thus extracted is of course mixed up with a quantity of sand and other extra- 174 IRON AND ITS USES. neous matter, which is got rid of by washing it in a cradle like that used by gold-diggers. But to return to the iron mine : the ironstone, when it is raised to the surface, is so hard and mixed with other matters that it is not fitted for the smelting process until it has been roasted. The ironstone, besides iron, stone, and hard clay, contains sulphur, arsenic, man- ganese, and other substances, and these must be got rid of before the ore is thrown into the furnace. This is the purpose of the roasting process. The ore is broken into small pieces, and mixed with coal, until a large heap is formed, which is then fired, either in the open air or a kiln, and by the time the coal has all burned away, the arsenic and other matters will have been removed, and the ore will consist only of earthy matters and oxide of iron. To remove these earths and the oxygen of the oxide is the object of smelting, and both coal and limestone are necessary to this. If the ironstone is clayey, lime must be added ; and if it is chalky, clay must be added. The coal takes up the oxygen of the oxide and dissipates, the lime and the clay unite and form an earthy refuse, and the iron is separated in its metallic state. You will see how very fortunate it is that in most cases the ironstone and the coal necessary for smelting it are found in the same locality. The coal-fields in the south of Staffordshire, those of Monmouthshire, along with those of Gloucestershire and Somersetshire, supply more than three-fourths of the whole of the cast- iron produced in the kingdom. In some parts of South Wales the coal and iron appear nearly on the surface, while at others they lay at the depth of several hundred yards. THE SMELTING FURNACE. 175 The smelting furnace for iron-works is a large structure of brick, having a small square receptacle for the fuel beneath, a large interior space for the ore to be smelted, a wide-mouthed chimney at the top, and air-holes at the bottom to admit either the hot or the cold blast. To explain this latter operation, I may mention that after the furnace is charged from the top with certain propor- tions of iron ore, coke, and limestone, the heat that would be produced in any furnace by merely setting fire to the fuel which is contained in it would be altogether insufficient for the fusion of the ore, if its intensity were not promoted by the forcing in of a current or blast of air. For this purpose it is necessary to employ a strong mechanical force, and of late years the agency of steam has been most commonly employed for this purpose. The blast is carried into an intermediate chamber of a round shape, called a regulator, and as the air is in a state of condensation when admitted, its effort to expand itself again to its natural volume causes the continuous and regular supply to the furnace which is necessary. The air thus forced into the furnace keeps the heat at a degree of intenseness which is indispensable for the smelting of the ore. A most important invention was made by Mr. Neilson (to which we shall allude in our notices of eminent men connected with mining) in 1828, in using the hot blast instead of the cold, that is, drying and highly heating the air before it is forced into the furnace. This has proved to be the most valuable and eco- nomical of all modern inventions in the iron manufacture ; great saving being effected by it, as you will readily understand when, according to the former process, a large portion of heat was absorbed by the cold air, occa- sioning an unnecessary consumption of fuel. 176 IRON AND /TS C/SES The iron is run from the furnace every twelve hours, by tapping the front of it on a level with the bottom of the hearth. When the furnace is tapped the metal is allowed to run into channels formed in the sand of the smelting-house floor. The names of sow metal and pig metal, which were originally given by the workmen, sig- nify, in one case, the blocks of iron which are formed in the large main channels ; and in the other case, the smaller blocks, which are formed in smaller side channels, communicating with the larger ones. The quality of pig iron varies according to the purposes for which it is intended, and depends not only upon the quality of the ore, but also upon that of the fuel. The principal division is into foundry iron and forge iron; the former being used for castings, the latter for conver- sion into malleable iron. When cast iron is broken its grain is found to be coarse and very brilliant. Every one of these grains of metal is thinly coated with a kind of glass, resulting from the fusion of the materials mixed with the ore. It is this coating which prevents the per- fect contact and adhesion of the particles of the iron, and renders cast iron so brittle. The great difference between cast and wrought iron is that the former is very hard and brittle, and the latter soft and tough. STEEL is a compound of carbon and iron. Bars of wrought iron of the proper quality are embedded in char- coal reduced to powder, and the whole is submitted to intense heat in cases made of bricks, and excluded from contact with the air. After a sufficient time the iron bars are found to be converted into steel. There is also another process, called cast steel. Steel is susceptible of taking a finer polish than can be given to iron, and by what is called "tempering," or giving to it different FOLEY, THE FIDDLER. 177 degrees of hardness, it is rendered of great use ; this is done by raising the temperature in its manufacture, and then suddenly cooling it. Wrought iron is prepared from the cast, the "pigs" being subjected to the action of another furnace, called the refining furnace, where they are melted and run into moulds, by which the remaining matters, such as earth and rust, are got rid of. The process of puddling is next performed, that is, stirring the iron until it forms into soft pasty balls, when it is taken out, and undergoes shingling, or beating by a large forge hammer, which is worked by a high-pressure steam engine ; this gives the balls, or blooms, as they are called, a more convenient shape for going through the rollers. These rollers consist of two cylinders working in contact, and having on their surfaces a series of grooves, varying in size. The iron is passed through all these grooves in succession, until it is reduced to the required width and thickness. It is thus changed from a hard and brittle substance to a tough and elastic bar, which, from its property of yielding and altering its form under the hammer, has acquired the name of malleable iron. It was towards the close of the last century that the great improvement was introduced of making bars and rods by passing iron through grooved rollers, instead of simply hammering it on the anvil. Until this invention all bars above three quarters of an inch square were thus subjected, while sizes below that limit were produced by splitting, which superseded a much less efficient process. How this was brought about in England is very curious. A man named Foley, who was a .fiddler, living near Stourbridge, was often witness of the immense labour and loss of time caused by dividing the rods of iron N 178 IRON AND ITS USES. necessary in the process of making nails. The discovery of the process called splitting, in works called splitting mills, was first made in Sweden, and the consequences of this advance in art were most disastrous to the manufac- turers of iron about Stourbridge. Foley, the fiddler, was shortly missed from his accus- tomed round, and was not again seen for many years. He had mentally resolved to ascertain by what means the process of splitting the bars of iron was accomplished, and without communicating his intention to a single human being, he proceeded to Hull, and thence, without funds, worked his passage to the Swedish iron port. Arrived in Sweden, he begged and fiddled his way to the iron foundries, where, after a long time, he became a uni- versal favourite with the workmen ; and from the apparent entire absence of intelligence, or anything like ultimate object, he was received into the works^ to every part of which he had access. He took the advantage thus offered, and having stored his memory with observations on all the combinations, he disappeared from amongst his kind friends as he had appeared, no one knew whence or whither. On his return to England he com- municated his voyage and its results to a Mr. Knight and another person in the neighbourhood, by whom the necessary buildings were erected and machinery provided. When at length everything was prepared, it was found that the machinery w r ould not act ; at all events, it did not answer the sole end of its erection, for it would not split the bar of iron. Foley disappeared again, and it was supposed that shame and mortification at his failure had driven him away for ever. Not so : again, though somewhat more speedily, he found his way to the Swedish iron-works, where he was received most joyfully ; and to iOLl'JY THE FIDDLER. p. 178 WALKER, THE IRON-FOUNDER. 179 make more of their fiddler, he was lodged in the splitting mill itself. This was beyond his utmost hope. Ht examined the works, and very soon found out the cause of his failure. He now made drawings and rude tracings, and having stayed long enough to verify his observations, and to impress them clearly on his mind, he made his way to the port, and once more returned to England. This time he was completely successful, and by the results of his experience enriched himself and greatly benefited his countrymen. A somewhat similar story to this (though without the accompaniment of a violin) is told of an iron-founder at Sheffield named Walker. I have already explained how steel is manufactured, and the process of making what is called cast steel, in which iron is presented in, perhaps, its very highest state of perfection. The value of this art will be understood from the many useful objects in which it is employed, namely, in cutting instruments for the su'rgeon, the chisel of the sculptor, the steel plate of the engraver, and an infinite variety of tools requiring durability and keen edges. Benjamin Huntsman, a native of Lincolnshire, but settled near Sheffield (a town that has been famous, from an early period, for its manufactures of iron and steel), was the inventor of cast steel. The discovery was kept a great secret, and as the success it obtained was very great, many efforts were made to find out the mode of operation, and Walker appears to have been the first to find it out. The story is thus told in a little book called "The Useful Metals and their Alloys :" " One cold winter's night, while the snow was falling in heavy flakes, and the manufactory (Huntsman's) threw its red glare of light over the neighbourhood, a person of i So IRON AND ITS USES. the most abject appearance presented himself at the entrance, praying for permission to share the warmth and shelter which it afforded. The humane workmen (who, we should mention, had been sworn to secrecy respecting the manufacture of the cast steel by their employer) found the appeal irresistible, and the ap- parent beggar was permitted to take up his quarters in a warm corner of the building. A careful scrutiny would have discovered little real sleep in the drowsi- ness which seemed to overtake the stranger; for he eagerly watched every movement of the workmen, while they went through the operations' of the newly discovered process. He observed, first of all, that bars of blistered steel were broken into small pieces, two or three inches in length, and placed in crucibles of fire-clay. When nearly full, a little green glass broken into small frag- ments was spread over the top, and the whole covered with a closely fitting cover. The crucibles were then placed in a furnace previously prepared for them, and after a lapse of from three to four hours, during which the crucibles were examined from time to time, to see that the metal was thoroughly melted and incorporated, the workmen proceeded to lift the crucible from its place on the furnace by means of tongs, and its molten contents, blazing, sparkling, and spurting, were poured into a mould of cast iron previously prepared ; here it was suffered to cool while the crucibles were again filled, and the process repeated. When cool the mould was unscrewed, and a bar of caststeel presented itself, which only required the aid of a hammerman to form into a polished bar of cast steel. How the unauthorized spectator of these operations effected his escape without detection is not mentioned, but before many months had THE STEAM HAMMER. 181 passed the Huntsman manufactory was not the only one where cast steel was produced." This, you will agree with me, was a very unfair trick of the Sheffield iron-founder ; but it did not prevent the inventor from realizing large profits from a process which had cost him years of patient and laborious work to mature. But Huntsman was a man of genius, a good chemist, and devotedly attached to scientific pursuits, and men with these qualifications are sure to attain eminence. One of the most important assistants in the manufac- ture of iron is the celebrated Nasmyth' s steam hammer, which has been described as " one of the most perfect of artificial machines, and noblest triumphs of mind over matter, that modern engineers have ever developed." This powerful instrument possesses so much precision and delicacy, that it will chip the end of an egg resting in a glass on the anvil without breaking it, while it can deliver a blow of ten tons with such force as to be felt shaking a parish. The value of this invention will be understood when we are told, that when the use of iron extended, and larger iron work came to be forged for common tools and machinery, the ordinary hand-hammer was found insufficient, and the forge-hammer came into use. This was usually driven by a water-wheel, or by oxen or horses. The invention of the steam hammer by Mr. Nasmyth originated in the following manner, as related by Mr. Smiles in his very interesting " Indus- trial Biography." "In the early part of 1837 the directors of the ' Great Western Steamship Company ' sent Mr. Humphries, their engineer, to consult Mr. Nasmyth as to some engineering tools of unusual size and power, which were required for the construction 1 82 MINING ADVENTURE IN RUSSIA. of the engines of the Great Britain steamship. These were in hand, when a difficulty arose with respect to the enormous paddle-shaft of the vessel, which was of such a size of forging as had never before been executed. Mr. Humphries applied to the largest engineering firms throughout the country for tenders of the price at which they would execute this part of the work, but to his surprise and dismay he found that not one of the firms he applied to would undertake so large a forging. In this emergency Nasmyth was applied to, and his mind immediately directed itself to the invention of the pon- derous steam hammer that now bears his name." CHAPTER XIII. MINING ADVENTURE IN RUSSIA. I WILL now direct your attention to one of the most powerful countries in the world the empire of Russia, which extends over a large proportion of the northern regions of the globe, and contains a population exceeding seventy millions. A great and wonderful country it is, abounding in industrial resources, one of the most import- ant of which arises from its mines. Siberia, that vast territory in Northern Asia belonging to Russia, has many mines of gold, silver, copper, iron, and other metals. You have no doubt heard of this cold and dreary country, which in some parts is covered with snow and ice during the greater part of the year, and more than half the inhabitants of which are exiles, sent there by the Russian Government for political offences or foi AN EMPEROR DIGGING FOR GOLD. 183 crimes. Most of these miserable people are kept to hard labour in the mines, others are put to less severe work, but still under compulsion, and another portion are al- lowed to work for themselves under the control of the police. ' ' There through the prison of unbounded wilds, Barred by the hands of Nature from escape, Wide roams the Russian exile. Nought around Strikes his sad eye but deserts lost in snow, And heavy-loaded groves, and solid floods That stretch athwart the solitary waste Their icy horrors to the frozen main." The greatest quantity of gold obtained from the mines of Siberia in one year was about seventy-five thousand Russian pounds. This was considered enormous, but California and Australia have made this amount appear small in comparison. The Ural mountains, which form the natural limit between Europe and Asia, contain the greater portion of the mineral riches of Russia, and it is here that the principal mining works are established. They produce, besides other metals, gold, copper, and iron, the last of which is of excellent quality. Emeralds and jaspers are also found, as well as diamonds of an inferior kind. In 1824 the Emperor Alexander I. visited these ex- tensive mining districts, and particularly one mine where large pieces of gold had been found. Lumps of this precious metal several pounds in weight were worth digging for, and this perhaps induced the Emperor to make a trial with his own hands. After digging for up- wards of an hour, his Majesty began to feel that wielding the pickaxe and shovel were more trying to his strength than holding the sceptre. A workman, accordingly, con- 184 MINING ADVENTURE IN RUSSIA. tinued the excavation, and at the depth of two feet below where the Emperor had left off digging, a lump of gold weighing several pounds was discovered. To comme- morate this event, and to point out the exact spot over which his Majesty worked as a gold-digger, a small pyramid was raised. These mines continued to yield gold for many years. In 1843 another large lump was found at no great depth, weighing seventy pounds. Years before, the miners had excavated all around this spot, little dreaming of the treasure over which the workmen trampled daily. The peasant or slave who discovered this large mass was made free by the late Emperor Nicholas, and a pension granted to him for life. The Russian mining engineers are among the most skilful and persevering that are to be found in any country. No class of men in that empire can equal them in scientific knowledge and general intelligence. This is, however, due in a great measure to English teaching, for miners and mechanics from our country have been employed in the mines of the Ural mountains and elsewhere in Russia for many years. I will relate to you what I have read about one of our countrymen, a clever mechanic named Major, who was engaged during the reign of the Emperor Paul to superintend a small mechanical establishment at a place called Ekaterineberg, the principal mining district of the Ural mountains. In this town Major spent a long life, and made many machines, which, although rough in the workmanship, proved of great value in easing the labour of the miners. He had many difficulties to get through, for the peasants who were sent to him were very ignorant, and had never in their lives seen any of the tools he employed except MAJOR, THE ENGLISHMAN. 185 PJI axe, a saw, and a hammer or spade. Major entered upon his duties, scarcely knowing a word of the Russian language, but in the course of a year he managed to learn sufficient for his purposes from the miners. His salary was liberal, and provisions cheap, so that he was able to live very comfortably. Major was very singular in his habits, and particular about the machinery under his charge being kept in good order. When dressing in the morning he invariably put on three pairs of stockings, and a pair of wide Russian boots over them. Thus prepared, he would start on his rounds of inspection, and the first mud he discovered, he would call the engineer of the mine he visited and scold him soundly ; he would then sit down, pull off his boots, and draw off a stocking, with which he would remove the dirt. He would then proceed to the next mine, repeating the same operation when necessary, leaving a stocking at each place where it had been used, and returning home in the evening, sometimes with one stocking on, but more frequently with bare legs. Woe betide the delinquent who failed to bring home the stocking left at his post ! for the birch would assuredly refresh his memory the next morning; he never forgave this neglect. When the Emperor Alexander I. visited the mines in the Ural he was greatly pleased with the works Major had established, and as a token of his satisfaction, pre- sented him with a piece of land containing about twenty English acres, and all the minerals it contained, among which, it was said, gold had been found. Major built a house here, and began to excavate and wash the gold-sand, usually obtaining gold, yearly, to the value of about three thousand pounds, at a very small cost of labour. He had gone on in this way for several 1 86 MINING ADVENTURE IN RUSSIA. years, living at his country-house, with few people in the neighbourhood, and having no one with him but an old woman as domestic. The gold-washing ceased about the middle of each September, and the workmen em- ployed returned to their homes for the winter. The quantity of precious metal obtained during the summer was accurately known to these men, each day's produce being weighed, entered into a book, and delivered to Major every evening. He used to place it in an iron box which stood in his office, and carried the key in his pocket. This year had been more than usually produc- tive, and there were more than one hundred pounds weight of gold in the box. It was also known that within a very short time of the works closing, the en- gineer would send this box and its contents to the smelt- ing-works to be cast into bars, after which the latter would be forwarded to the mint at St. Petersburg. One Sunday evening Major and his old housekeeper were alone in the house ; he was occupied in his office, and she was sitting in her own room near the entrance- door. Suddenly her attention was drawn to a noise in the outward lobby, which induced her to leave the room. The moment she got into the entrance she was seized, and thrown down a staircase which led to some apart- ments below. Her screams and the noise brought Major to the door of his office with a candle in his hand, when a blow from an axe fell upon his head, and he never breathed again. After this the murderers took the box and the gold, ransacked the place in search of other trea- sure, and then left, closing the door after them. All this time the old woman was lying at the foot of the stairs insensible. It was not until the morning of the third day after the horrible deed that one of the MAJOR MURDERED. 187 engineers under Major came from the mine to consult his master on some business of importance. On reach- ing the house, he noticed that no smoke was rising from the chimney, the windows were closed, and a solemn stillness prevailed over the place, which led him to think that something was the matter. After securing his horse in the usual place, he ascended the steps and entered the house, where lay the mutilated body of his master, his hand still grasping the candlestick. Rushing from the house he sprang into the saddle, and galloped off to announce the terrible discovery. Presently the police officers were seen hurrying to the house, the news spread- ing rapidly, and causing a great sensation. Search was made, and the old woman was found at the bottom of the stairs, still living, but insensible. Every means were employed to restore consciousness, which in time was effected. It was only then that she learned what had befallen her master, but she could give no description of the murderers. A strict investigation was made, and it was ascertained that the gold had been carried off, but the papers and letters on the table had been left un- touched. The housekeeper remained in a very danger- ous state : so great had been the injuries she received in her fall, and the effect which had been produced on her mind by her master's death, she relapsed into a state of unconsciousness, and remained so several weeks. At length she revived, her mind began to calm, and her reason was perfectly restored. Great hopes were now entertained that she would be able to give some evidence by which this mystery could be unravelled. It was well known that Major was accustomed to sit up until a very late hour, and the woman proved without doubt that the murder had been committed about a quarter before two 1 88 MINING ADVENTURE IN RUSSIA. o'clock in the morning. She had been seized so sud- denly that she could not tell how many were in the lobby, but she thought only three. This was all the evi- dence that could be obtained ; a strict watch was how- ever kept over the conduct of several workmen, in the expectation of some amongst them trying to dispose ot the gold. One of them was a small trader, whom the police had some reason to suspect. He was taken and examined, but proved clearly that he was a great many miles distant from the scene of the murder after six o'clock in the morning, so he was liberated. Years passed away, the horrible fate of poor Major was often the subject of conversation at Ekaterineberg, but all hope of penetrating the mystery in which it was enveloped was given up. At this time the quantity of gold stolen from the mines, and sent into Tartary and Bokhara, had become so enormous, that the Russian Government determined to discover how it was effected. An officer of police was sent to Ekaterineberg, where he arrived disguised as a peasant. His passport was in order, and so well was his object kept secret, that even the police of that district and other authorities believed him to be what he seemed. He soon got into favour amongst the miners, living and drinking with them, hear- ing all that passed, and gradually acquiring from his un- suspecting associates the information he wanted. He discovered that there were persons engaged in these gold robberies who lived far away from Ekaterineberg, and through whom the precious metal was got out of the country. During his stay among the peasants in the town and at the mines, he provided himself with gold, and now changed the locality of his operations. Without exciting any suspicion amongst his companions, he left THE DETECTIVE. 189 for Omsk, to dispose of his stolen treasure, and he was even entrusted by some of his friends with small parcels to sell for them. Shortly after his arrival in the western capital of Siberia, he began to associate with the Tartars, and very cautiously let them know that he had some gold to sell. This was done in so professional a manner, that he was soon introduced to the principal gold dealer, whose influence was so great that the Tartars did not dare to purchase gold, unless it had passed through his hands. Several anxious days ensued, when one morning a Tartar acquaintance called, and said the police had been making inquiries about his visit to Omsk, which might lead to unpleasant circumstances; he therefore proposed that the gold should be sold without delay, and offered to accompany him to the dealer. You may be sure that the disguised peasant was glad to hear this, and was soon ready with his parcels. The Tartar told him to be under no apprehension when he saw the buyer, as it was all right and safe. On they went, and the guide, after a long walk, led him through a yard into a large house, taking him at once into a room, in which stood a table covered with a great heap of papers. The Tartar then went out, returning in a few minutes, and saying that the gentleman would see them shortly. It was not long before a man came in who asked the assumed peasant, in a rude manner, how much gold he had stolen, where he came from, and a variety of other questions calculated to frighten him. All these were answered in a very submissive tone. The gold was then ordered to be produced, which was done, and the weight of each packet marked on it. The Tartar was told to pour all the gold into a scale, but to this the peasant objected. He was, however, instantly informed by the dealer that it all I 9 o MINING ADVENTURE IN RUSSIA. belonged to thieves, and they must settle it amongst themselves. It was found to weigh much less than the seller knew it to be, when he quietly suggested that the scales might not be correct. The other turned upon him with a frown, exclaiming in an angry tone, " What, thief, you are not content with robbing your employers, but you wish to cheat me ! I shall soon hear of your pun- ishment. What is your price ?" The man named the sum, and was offered half, but declined to take so small an amount, intimating that he would try some other dealer. This roused the anger of the dealer. " I will give you," he said, " five minutes to consider whether you will take the money I offer, or be handed over to the police." The peasant pretended to be very penitent, and promised that in all future dealings with him he would never offend again. After this he received his money, and was told to be diligent, and get more gold. He was then dismissed, with a threat that if he did not keep secret what had occurred, he would be severely punished. The Tartar also gave him some advice as to what he should do in future, and introduced him to several of his friends, who were engaged in the same traffic. The following morning the scene was changed ; the police officer was seen driving through the streets of Omsk, followed by two mounted soldiers. He went straight to the house of the chief of the police of the town, who received him with great politeness, not recog- nising his visitor of the preceding evening, and when the soldiers were called in to take him to prison, he appeared as if struck dumb. The smaller agents were left for other parties to secure, and several of the Tartars suc- ceeded in making their escape. The police officer having accomplished his mission at THE MURDERER FOUND, 191 Omsk, now started for Ekaterineberg, to complete what he had so well begun. The first person arrested was the small trader who had been examined, and acquitted of Major's murder. He was again accused of this crime, and two other men were soon in custody on the same charge. The wife of the trader revealed where the gold had been hidden, and on searching for it, the axe was found with which the murder had been committed. This man had been long engaged in smuggling stolen gold. For this purpose he required good horses, and he possessed one of extraordinary power and speed. Immediately the gold had been hidden, after the murder of Major, he mounted his horse, and in about four hours, having ridden with wonderful haste, he reached a town called Kamenskoi, about fifty miles distant, where he took care to be seen by the police. As it was con- sidered impossible, at the time of the murder, for such a feat to be accomplished, he got off, but it was now proved that he was the actual murderer, and his two associates had assisted him. All three were condemned to " run the gauntlet," that is, to walk between the lines formed by two regiments of soldiers, consisting of three thousand men, each man striking them a terrible blow with a rod. The three murderers died under this pun- ishment. The bands of gold stealers were soon broken up, and many of them severely dealt with. The police officer returned to St. Petersburg, and received a sub- stantial reward for his arduous and dangerous labours. " Puissant gold ! red earth at first made man ; Now it makes villain : this refined clod Does what nor love, nor time, nor valour can ; Jove could do more in gold than as a god. Destruction surer comes, and rattles louder, Out of a mine of gold than one of powder. " 192 MINING ADVENTURE IN RUSSIA. While on the subject of Russian mining, I will give you some particulars respecting a curious and interesting "training school," or " college for miners," established at St. Petersburg. An association of miners was founded by Peter the Great, for the education of mining engineers, and to render them capable of exploring the mineral resources of the empire. The building devoted to this purpose is sufficiently striking, to attract the notice of the traveller in the Russian capital; the present edifice is, however, of much later date than the original. Enter- ing by a broad flight of steps, under a noble portico, we reach a spacious ante-chamber, from which several long halls branch off, leading to the different departments of the establishment. The building encloses a hollow square, and covers a space of many hundred feet in extent. No ticket of admission is required ; you ascend a flight of steps, walk into the secretary's room, and after the name of the visitor is inscribed, enter at once the Museum, which is singularly attractive. Murray gives the follow- ing account of the college : " It is the chief of various schools scattered throughout the mining provinces of Russia, and is composed of forty scholars, who have attained the rank of officers, and two hundred arid eighty pupils, one hundred of whom are educated and main- tained at the expense of the government, and one hundred and eighty, either at the expense of their friends or of the directors of the provincial mining establish- ments. The pupils supported at the public expense are sons of persons employed in the Government mines ; the other pupils must be either children of noblemen, clergymen, or merchants of the first guild, or station. They must remain eight years in the establishment ; their education is extensive and liberal, embracing also dancing, A RUSSIAN MUSEUM. 193 music, fencing, &c. After they have finished the several branches of study required, they are sent to superintend the Government mines, or are placed in the mint. They hold a military rank and wear a uniform." Among the beautiful rich and rare specimens in the Museum is one of gold, taken from the mine of Alexan- drofsky, in the Ural mountains, about eighty pounds English weight. There is another large mass of great value, an immense block of malachite (a beautiful green mineral, used for many ornamental purposes), weighing several thousand pounds, and numerous speci- mens of metals, precious stones, jewels of great price, enough to convince one of the wonderful riches of the Russian mines. These are all admirably arranged in cases. The halls and galleries are filled with models, implements, tools, and machinery adapted to the differ- ent mining regions. There are also fac-simile represen- tations, in miniature, of several mines, showing in what manner the metals are worked, and the kind of machinery employed. Many curious objects are scattered through the halls, such as the bones of a human being found embedded in the trunk of a tree, mammoth bones, and the great mass of meteoric iron, to which I have already alluded as discovered by Pallas in Siberia, and which, after having been reduced in size by pieces sent to various foreign collections, still measures upwards of three feet square. Having visited the bright side of the Museum, and looked with wonder at the wealth wrested from the dark caverns of the earth, we ought now to look at the other side of the picture, in order to realize in some measure the toil, labour, hardship, and suffering spent in bring- ing all these precious metals and jewels to light. A o 194 LEAD MINES OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. guide precedes the visitor with two candles in hand, and after passing through several passages, and unlock- ing two ponderous doors, he is led into the gloomy recesses of a counterfeit mine, absolutely underground, furnished with all the machinery, tools, and implements used in a real mine. Here the pupils of the mining college are instructed, by an exact representation of various mines, how the different ores are found. But as it is damp, cold, and dark, visitors are too glad to reach again the lighter and warmer quarters above ground. CHAPTER XIV. THE LEAD MINES OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. I HAVE always thought that a visit to factories, where the arts that tend to civilize mankind are in active operation upon a large scale, is one of the greatest enjoyments that a young and inquiring mind can have. I think you would find few more interesting than a LEAD FACTORY, where you would be able to understand some of the many purposes to which this extremely useful metal is applied. But I will not pursue this part of the subject, as I wish more particularly to direct your notice to the mines in which lead is produced. There are two pro- cesses of lead manufacture I would, however, recommend you to observe when you have the opportunity, not only on account of the ingenious methods adopted, but from the very general uses to which the articles are applied. You would see how sheet lead is made (which is so useful for covering the roofs of houses and terraces, and for BOOKS MADE OF LEAD. 195 lining cisterns) by the modern method of " milling " or "rolling." Plates or sheets of this metal were employed in ancient times for writing upon. Hesiod, next to Homer the earliest Greek poet of whom we have any knowledge, and who is supposed to have been born in the eighth century before Christ, wrote seven of his books on sheets of lead; and Pliny, the Roman his- torian, born twenty- three years after the birth of oui: Saviour, tells us that the public acts in his time were preserved on plates of lead. But the most ancient men- tion of the use of lead, in plates or sheets, you will find in the Book of Job (chap, xix., ver. 23, 24) : " Oh that my words were now written ! oh that they were printed in a book ! that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!" proving that lead, in the earliest times recorded, was applied to the fine arts. Montfaucon purchased at Rome, in 1699, an ancient book, entirely composed of lead. It was about four inches long and three inches wide ; and not only were the two pieces that formed the cover and the leaves, six in number, of lead, but also the stick inserted through the rings to hold the leaves together. Historians mention the use of solid sheets of lead for covering purposes in reference to the stupendous hanging gardens of Babylon, attributed to the king Nebuchad- nezzar you read of in the prophet Daniel. The other process of lead manufacture to which I have alluded to be observed in a lead factory, is the making of pipes by "casting" and "drawing." The most extensive use of lead is in the form of sheets and pipes ; the latter being employed for the conveyance of water, and used for this purpose by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Gas is also conveyed in this manner, and 196 LEAD MINES OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. gutters are made of the same material for carrying off rain-water from roofs. A striking illustration of the employment of lead for water-pipes in the time of Cardinal Wolsey occurs in the instance of Hampton Court Palace, which is supplied with water from some springs in Coombe Wood. The distance is two miles in a direct line. There are two pipes from each conduit, making eight miles of leaden pipes. Lead, as we have thus seen, was known in the earliest ages ; and although it probably never occurs in a native state (apart from the ore in which it is found), still the ore of lead is extremely abundant, and admits of reduc- tion by a very rude application of fire. It is found in combination with other substances, especially with sul- phur, and was anciently known as galena^ from the Greek, signifying " to shine." It has a lustre resembling that of the pure metal, but is instantly distinguished from it by readily breaking when slightly struck by a hammer. The ores of lead are white, green, or blue, especially the latter. The mode of extracting the metal from the ore is somewhat similar to that adopted for copper and tin. The ore is generally found in veins of rocks, and has to be dug out in masses, which are often mixed with earthy matters. These masses are broken into small pieces, and then crushed fine, and the whole washed in a stream of water, which carries away a great part of the earthy matters, owing to their being lighter than the lead ore. The remaining ore is collected and dried, then subjected to the operation of smelting. In this way the lead sinks to the bottom of a furnace, from whence it is run out into oblong moulds, and in these it cools into solid masses called " pigs," and is sufficiently pure for all ordinary purposes. VISIT TO A LEAD MINE. 197 In our own country the ore of lead was so abundant in ancient times that it was forbidden to extract more than a certain quantity annually. The ore was found actually upon, or only beneath the surface of the earth to a slight depth, in Derbyshire, where it was chiefly wrought by the Romans, who appear to have been igno- rant of the rich deposits of lead in Cumberland. Sir Roderic I. Murchison says that lead cast in Roman moulds (pigs, in fact, as they are now called) has been found in Scotland (Fifeshire), Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and some other counties. The shape of the ancient ingots, or " pigs," is nearly the same as at present, and the in- scriptions were made in raised letters on the top. This is worthy of observation, because if these letters were raised in the mould, and thus appear raised on the top, it seems singular that this did not suggest the idea of printing. Lead is one of the softest, most ponderous, and most widely diffused, and, generally speaking, best known of the perfect metals. For the purposes to which iron is generally devoted, lead would be utterly useless, while to many of the uses for which the precious metals are con- sumed, lead might be applied. When newly melted, this metal is very bright, resembling tin, but less silvery ; on cooling, however, it soon becomes tarnished, and on ex- posure to the air assumes the dull bluish hue generally known as lead colour. Mr. Sopwith, in his account of the mining districts of Alston Moor, Cumberland, thus describes a visit to a lead mine : " The party, being suitably arrayed, have sometimes to wait a little until the waggons come out, and meanwhile are furnished each with a candle, round which a piece of clay is fixed to hold it by. At length the rumbling noise of approaching waggons rapidly in- 198 LEAD MINES OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. creases, and their contents having been deposited, they are prepared for the visitors, the inside being cleaned, and a board placed at each end for a seat. The entrance to the mine, or the level mouth, resembles an open arched doorway, into which the waggons are driven at a moderate pace, and the visitors experience the novel sensation which so unusual a conveyance is apt to create. The jolting, tottering motion of the waggon, the splash- ing of the water, and the dark and narrow passage, all concur to produce a strange effect, which, however, soon wears off, and the subterranean traveller finds leisure to observe the rugged roof and walls of the level, or to listen to the guide urging forward his horse in tones which the echoes of the mine often render musical. Even the frag- ment of a song from the driver sometimes enlivens the journey, but on no account is whistling allowed in a mine. The same prejudice exists among seamen on board a ship, but the origin of this superstition is not known. The ascent, or what the miners call a rise, is frequently attended with some difficulty, especially to ladies j but the gallantry of the gentlemen and the civility of the miners soon overcome the apparent dangers, and one by one they are raised into the workings of the vein. Hence the party are conducted along the mine drift of the vein, and this part of the expedition must, of course, vary in different mines ; in all, however, the stranger is apt to be impressed with feelings of awe at the idea of being so far underground. The contemplative mind cannot but find many interesting subjects of reflection on the distribution of so much wealth in a country otherwise so barren: the various uncertainties which are the means of such extensive employment the fluctuations of fortune so often resulting from mining adventures, and the inge- VISIT TO A LEAD MINE. 199 nuity displayed in prosecuting them, are all circumstances which may engage the attention of a reflecting mind. To the mineralogist the interior of a mine, especially if it contains any spar-encrusted caverns, is a sort of * home, sweet home,' where the lovers of the sciences of mineralogy and geology may derive copious stores of intellectual en- joyment. "The progress along vein workings is often with cautious steps and slow, especially among the intricacies of flat workings, the friendly hint of ' take care you do not fall down the rise ' sometimes calling the visitor's attention, absorbed perhaps in other thoughts, to a yawning gulf not to be passed over without caution. Sometimes an almost perfect stillness is suddenly broken by a noise like distant thunder, the report of a blast, which, rolling through the workings of the mine, at length, after many reverberations, dies away. The noise of rubbish falling down a rise and the rumbling of the waggons occasionally salute the ear; the sound of the latter, gradually in- creasing and lessening, resembles the solemn effect of distant thunder. " The miners usually describe the blasting and other modes of working the ore, and frequently fire a shot for the entertainment of the visitor ; but when near at hand the effect is by no means so striking as when distance softens the noise, and adds repeated echoes to it. At length, arrived at the far end, or 'forehead,' as the miners term it, of the vein, the party usually rest. The miners work by what is often, in other trades, called piecework, so that the time spent with strangers is taken irom their own labour, and the expense of candles is also at their own cost. By the latter is meant the custom of miners o. not putting out their candles, however numerous 200 LEAD MINES OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. the visitors may be, causing a brilliant illumination, twenty or thirty candles being sometimes placed against the walls. The conversation of the miners sometimes has a curious effect, from their assuming, as it were, a sort of feeling in the mineral world. Thus they speak of a vein being ' frightened ' to climb the hill ; and that she, there- fore, ' swims away ' to the sun-side (a feminine appellation being generally used). The throw of the strata is attri- buted, as it were, to an ' act ' of the vein, ' she throws the north cheek up;' these are homely, but they are also expressive modes of describing what they have occasion to speak of, and they save a world of words. " Ladies seldom pursue a subterranean excursion further than the main workings, or such others as are easily accessible, while 'their more adventurous companions frequently accompany the guides into other parts of the mine. In so doing, obstacles present themselves more difficult of accomplishment than those already described. Lofty rises, with rude and slippery * stemples ' (pieces of wood placed at two opposite sides, three or four feet above each other), are sometimes found awkward to climb, and still more so to descend. It sometimes happens that these stemples are covered over with boards, to prevent them from being injured by the falling ore, thrown from the workings above, and the only foot holds then to be had are the spaces between these boards. The attention of the miners, however, who climb and descend with perfect confidence, prevents any real danger, though to a stranger the idea of climbing fifty or a hundred feet on so perilous a footing, is seldom unat- tended with some sense of fear. " Journeying through the drifts, or passages, of a narrow vein is a less dangerous, but often equally fatiguing task, VISIT TO A LEAD MINE. 20: especially if, by reason of accumulated work, the hands and knees are to be put in requisition for several fathoms over sharp angular blocks of rock, which all but fill the narrow passage. At the end of such drifts, buried, as it were, in a deep and lonely cavern, a single miner is often found pursuing his solitary labours at a string, or thin vein of ore, which, like a bright silvery stream, is seen traversing the rock. It is considered that, in general, a solid rib of ore, two or three inches wide, will pay for working; and as a much greater space is required for vein-room, the procuring this slender thread of ore is attended with a great proportion of unprofitable labour, hence the inconvenient but economical narrowness of the drift. The persevering visitor, who would explore every part of a mine, after descending the rise to a level, is probably next taken to the head of a pit, where he is required to trust his person to a substantial rope hung on the axle of a hand-whimsey (a roller and handle similar to what are commonly used for draw-wells), often of apparently frail construction, and is thus lowered down into the deeper workings of the mine, the aspect of which is similar to those above. "The subterranean researches of our visitors being at length completed, the waggons are again entered, and the eye, accustomed to such scenery, surveys with greater clearness the strata of the roof and sides, pendent drops are seen hanging from above, and the wooden posts, which in some places support the level roof, are covered with woolly, snow-like fungi. The timorous sensations felt on entering are now dissipated, and the party can fearlessly look at these and other swiftly-passing objects, on which, at length, a faint white gleam of light is seen to blend with the yellower rays of 202 LEAD MINES OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. the candles. The rocky prominences become more and more illuminated, and the solar light, together with the sparkling drops of water, impart so bright and silvery an aspect as to excite the greatest admiration. This rapidly increases, until, amid the splashing of water and the noisy rattling of their rugged cars, the party emerge from the dark chambers of the earth to the magnificent and almost overpowering brightness of the day." The lead- works of the London Lead Company, at Nent Head, four miles from Alston, are on a large scale. Mr. Walter White says : " In some places the metallic veins lie open to the daylight. Higher up the hill stand the smelting works where the ore is roasted and melted, and cast into pigs of lead. In roasting, the ore is spread on the sole or floor of a furnace, and is heated to a temperature at which it parts with its sulphur and takes up oxygen, but does not melt. In another furnace it is melted, and you see the molten stream flowing from the mouth into a pot. In another, the stubborn slag, or the dross and refuse, is treated by a roaring blast, becomes docile, yields every particle of lead, while splendid blue and green flames leap and play in the impetuous current. You see how even the sweepings of the chimney are converted into metal by the action of fire ; how silver is separated from the baser metal ; and not the least astonishing among the strange sights is the huge water- wheel, exceeding in circumference, perhaps, all that you have ever seen before, which drives the condensing apparatus." Lead is the most malleable of all metals ; it may be spread out by hammering with the greatest ease, and the slightest stroke is sufficient to indent a solid lump. It is remarkable that lead, under the hammer, neither becomes LEAD MINES IN ENGLAND. 203 harder, nor is its weight increased, as is the case with other metals, upon which beating produces the effect of compression. Although its ductility is not great, it may, nevertheless, be drawn into wire, in which state its tenacity is considerable. Spun-lead, or lead-wire, is ex- tensively used for horticultural purposes, as it is capable of resisting atmospheric influences. It is often supposed that England, so rich in regard to iron, copper, and tin, is comparatively poor in lead, or at least that the lead mines are of secondary importance. This is an error, arising from the fact that the production of lead, instead of being concentrated in a few districts like that of copper and tin, is spread over a great number of mines. Some, like those of Alston Moor, in Cumber- land ; Snailbatch, in Shropshire ; Wanlock, in Dumfries- shire ; Laxey, in the Isle of Man, are indeed well known, but most of the others are comparatively unknown. Their number, however, is considerable, and they raise the production of this metal to an amount which may perhaps place England at the head of supply in this respect. Spain is, at any rate, the only country that can come into competition with her. Of the lead districts in England, the most noted are the Mendip Hills (formerly very famous), in Somerset- shire ; about Hexham, in Northumberland; and the High Peak, in Derbyshire. In the earliest periods of lead mining in this country the ore was smelted on the tops of high hills, by fires made of charcoal and wood, and blown by the wind only; these ancient hearths were termed boles. One of the bleak eminences near Ches- terfield, crowned with a fine plantation, has been cele- brated by Montgomery in some charming verses called "Bole Hill Tree." These very ancient wind hearths 204 LEAD MINES OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. were succeeded by " slag-mills " (slags are vitrified cin- ders of metals), somewhat like a blacksmith's forge on a large scale, and blown by bellows, worked by men or horses. The uses of lead are multifarious ; it is employed in making the fine kinds of glass, enabling them to bear the sudden changes of heat and cold better ; also to give glass a proper degree of weight, and render it more easy to be cut without breaking. Lead gives to glass a greater power of refracting the rays of light, and confers upon it a higher polish. A mixture of lead with tin forms pewter, and the same metal in different proportions makes that useful article to plumbers and others, soft-solder. Lead, in the condition of sheets, has long been em- ployed in this country for the preservation of the bodies of great personages, and is still in common use for coffins. You have often seen the thin sheet lead with which boxes of tea, imported from China, are lined. The manufacture of this by the Chinese is very simple. The lead plates are not rolled, as from their extreme thinness might be supposed ; nor even hammered, as the appearance of the surface might indicate ; but actually cast at once in the state in which we see them. Two men are employed ; one of them is seated on the floor, with a large flat stone before him, and with a moveable flat stone-stand at his side. His fellow-workman stands beside him with a crucible filled with melted lead; and having poured a sufficient quantity on the slab, the other lifts the move- able stone, and placing it suddenly on the fluid lead, presses it out into a flat and thin plate, which he instantly removes from the stone. A second quantity of lead is poured on in a similar manner, and a like plate formed A STRANGE DREAM. 205 the process being carried on with singular rapidity. The rough edges of the plates are then cut off, and they are afterwards soldered together for use. Large quantities of lead are used for the manufacture of shot and bullets, so distinguished as the round masses are small or large. The smaller kinds of shot are made by pouring the metal from a considerable height, in con- sequence of which it separates into globular masses of different sizes, which cool during their descent, and in the water into which they fall. The shot towers on the south bank of the Thames in London, where these processes are carried on, are well worthy a visit. The invention of this method of making shot is said to have happened in a curious manner about the year 1782. William Watts, a plumber, of Bristol, or as some say, his wife, dreamt one night, that by letting melted lead fall from a considerable height into water, the drops would become round, and a great improvement might thus be effected in the manufacture of shot. The experiment was tried from a tower of St. Mary Redcliffe Church, at Bristol ; and the result proving successful, he erected a manufactory, and obtained a patent, which he sold for ten thousand pounds. Here his good dreams left him, for he expended his money in building houses at Clifton, for which immense excavations were necessary, and the half-finished parts of the buildings were long afterwards called "Watts's Folly." The common ore of lead is made use of as a glazing for coarse pottery. Litharge, which is obtained on a large scale by the oxidation or crusting of lead in a cur- rent of air, when it forms a scaly mass of a yellow or reddish tint, is much used in assaying or testing the qualities of metals as a flux to facilitate the fusion of 2o5 LEAD MINES OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. ores. Litharge enters largely into various compositions, amongst others it is employed by chemists in the pre- paration of plasters. Combined with another proportion of oxygen it forms red lead, which is also used in the manufacture of flint glass, and as a paint. White lead, which is also used as a paint, is a mixture of the metal with oxygen and carbonic acid. Sugar of lead, so called from its sweet taste, is a compound of lead and vinegar, and is used very largely in several manufactures, particu- larly in calico printing, and also in medicine, as an external application. The ancients knew that it had the quality of rendering harsh wines milder, but they were not aware that it was poisonous. White lead works are most common in London and at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The process of obtaining this is so curious that it deserves explanation. The lead em- ployed is of the purest quality, and is cast into the form of " stars," or circular " gratings," of six or eight inches in diameter, and from a quarter to half an inch in thick- ness. Five or six of these are placed one above another in the upper part of an earthen vessel, resembling a com- mon flower-pot, into which a small quantity of strong vinegar has been introduced. These pots are then ar- ranged, side by side, upon the floor of a long brick chamber, and are embedded in a mixture of new and " spent " tan from the tanyard ; this first range of pots is then covered with loose boards, and a second range of pots is placed upon them, likewise embedded in tan, and so on until the chamber contains several " stacks," each consisting of twelve thousand pots, containing from fifty to sixty tons of lead. These arrangements being com- pleted, the tan soon heats, as it does in a gardener's hot- bed, the vinegar rises in vapour, passes through the WHITE LEAD. 207 openings in the gratings, and between the angles of the stars, gradually rusting their surfaces, inducing the forma- tion of protoxide of lead (or first oxide that the metal is capable of forming), then combining with it to form the compound called acetate, or sugar of lead ; this is after- wards decomposed by the carbonic acid produced by the fermentation of the tan, and forms carbonate of lead or white lead. This operation is allowed to proceed for about six weeks. The stacks are then unpacked, and the gratings and stars are either found greatly or entirely corroded, containing in the one case only a mere skeleton, and in the other no trace whatever of the metal, but retaining its original form, though in perfectly white lead. This is broken from the remaining skeleton (which is remelted and recast) and crushed between heavy rollers, then ground to fine powder, washed with water, and allowed to settle until it becomes a fine paste, which after being drkd is known as dried white lead. Lead reduced from galena, or sulphuret of lead, always contains a little silver, of which eight or ten ounces to the ton is a very common proportion. The separation of this silver is now greatly facilitated by means of a de-silvering process, patented by the late Mr. H. Pattin- son, of Newcastle-on-Tyne. This is so very interesting that I will explain it to you. The lead is melted and allowed to cool slowly, at the same time the mass is briskly stirred. A portion of the lead is thus allowed to crystallize in small grains, as pure lead becomes solid at a lower temperature than when mixed with silver. In this operation a row of about nine cast-iron pots are used. They are usually about six feet in diameter, and each heated with a fire below. The lead from the smelting 208 LEAD MINES OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. furnace is treated as above in the middle pot, from which the poorer crystallized portion is ladled with a strainer into the first pot on the right, and the richer portion, which remains liquid, is removed to the first pot on the left. With both kinds the process is several times re- peated the one becoming poorer and the other richer in silver every time, till the lead in the pot on the extreme right, has had its silver almost entirely removed, and that in the pot on the extreme left, contains about three hun- dred ounces of silver to the ton. The silver is then obtained from this rich lead, by melting it on a flat bone- ash cupel (or cup for purifying metals), placed in a rever- beratory furnace (where flame is reverberated or driven back upon matter to be melted), and exposing it to a current of air which reduces the lead to the oxide, or litharge of commerce, leaving the silver on the cupel. Nearly six hundred thousand ounces of silver are in this way annually separated from British lead, the latter at the same time being by the operation much improved in quality. There are valuable lead mines in Spain, situated in Andalusia. The mountains of Granada yield a large supply. The great silver and lead mines of the Sierra de Almagrera, in Spain, of extraordinary richness, were almost accidentally discovered by a few humble indi- viduals with very small means. They first tried some old mine-workings of the Romans with little success, but by persevering, and trying in other directions, at last struck the present wonderful deposit, which appears to have been unknown to the ancients. To show how little the early discoverers were aware of the import- ance of the discovery, the first cottages in which they lived were built of extremely rich and valuable mineral, ARSENICAL ORE. 209 thus realizing the old fables of silver houses in fairy- land. A great number of the shareholders in the first in- stance were Spaniards most of them men of small means, and some large fortunes were made by men in the lowest grades of society. A peasant had taken a share, for which he paid a few dollars. These being expended, the manager of the mine called upon him for a further payment to defray expenses. To this the man demurred, when a neighbour said, " This mule of mine is about the value of your share and the money they now require ; take it, and give me your ticket." This was agreed to, and the holder of the ticket, a few months afterwards, sold one-half of his prize for nine thousand pounds ! Other instances of sudden wealth were very common. There are lead mines in Hungary of great interest from their antiquity. In one of these, called "Felso Banya," an accident occurred that almost proved fatal to Baron Borro, one of the most intelligent and earliest writers on Hungarian science and natural history. The ore is arsenical, and of an extremely poisonous nature. It was in former times the practice to apply heat to render the work of removing the ore more easy. De- scending on one occasion into the mine, somewhat too soon after an operation of this kind had been performed, the baron was almost suffocated by the arsenical vapours, and his constitution received a shock from which he never afterwards recovered. " I lost my senses," says the baron, " and fifteen hours afterwards I was restored to myself by blisters and other applications. My lips were swollen, my eyes ran with blood, and my limbs were benumbed. Violent coughing and acute pains in p 210 LEAD MINES OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. the loins followed, and seemed more than sufficient to destroy this thinly-framed machine." The poisonous properties of lead are well known, and should be carefully guarded against. Persons whose system becomes impregnated with lead as, for example, painters, who are constantly handling white lead, or persons who, for a length of time, have been using water charged with a lead salt partake, in a more or less degree, of lead poison. This frequently produces colic, rheu- matism, and palsy, or paralysis, and sometimes disease of the brain. Persons exposed, from their occupations, to the risk of lead poisoning should be especially atten- tive to cleanliness, and if they combine the use of the warm bath with drinking sulphuric lemonade, they may escape the effects of this metallic poison. I must not conclude my notice of lead without some allusion to an article with which we are all familiar, under the popular name of a lead pencil. The truth is, however, that the metal which I have been describing does not enter into the composition of the pencil, so the term can have no other foundation than the lead colour which it imparts when traced upon paper. The material used for pencils is called by mineralogists graphite, from a Greek word signifying "to write." It is a mineral consisting of carbon, or charcoal, with a very small mixture of iron. It is of a greyish-black colour, is soft and greasy to the touch, and stains the fingers with a lead-grey hue. It is a perfect conductor of electricity. The black-lead used for domestic purposes contains only a small portion of true graphite, and stoves are blackened with this material because it radiates heat more freely than any other known substance. Graphite is found chiefly in primitive rocks, and in the coal formations ; it GRAPHITE BLACK-LEAD. 211 is obtained in crystals, but is generally massive. It is discovered in India, Greenland, Mexico, America, Nor- way, Germany, Spain, and other localities. The best substitute for Cumberland graphite is that of Bohemia and Bavaria, but the purest and most valuable quality is obtained in Cumberland. In the clay slate of Borrowdale is a bed of greenstone rock, and in this is the graphite ; but there is great uncertainty in finding it. At one time a mass was discovered lying along like a mighty tree, the thickest part being of the finest quality, and the other part wearing poorer until it was not worthy even to clean stoves. At other times the searchers have been alto- gether at fault for a long time together, and the mine has occasionally been closed from this cause. There was a time when the value of this graphite was so little- known that the shepherds used it freely to mark their sheep; some time after, the proprietors were obtaining from thirty to forty shillings a pound for the graphite of one single deposit, which yielded upwards of twenty- eight tons. At that time houses were built at the entrance of the mine, where the miners were obliged to change their clothes under inspection, lest they should be tempted to carry away any of the precious stuff in their pockets. The great scarcity of the pure mineral, and its high price, made it, according to Dr. Ure, "so common a subject of robbery about a century ago, as to have enriched, it is said, a great many persons living in the neighbourhood. Even the guard stationed over it by the proprietors was of little avail against men infuriated with the love of plunder ; since in those days a body of miners broke into the mine by main force, and held 212 LEAD MINES OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. possession of it for a considerable time. The treasure is now protected by a strong building, consisting of four rooms upon the ground-floor; and immediately under one of them is the opening, secured by a trap-door, through which alone workmen can enter the interior of the mountain. In this apartment, called the dressing- room, the miners change their ordinary clothes for their working dress as they come in, and after their six hours' work they again change their dress under the superintend- ence of the steward, before they are suffered to go out. In the innermost of the four rooms two men are seated at a large table sorting and dressing the mineral, who are locked in while at work, and watched by the steward from an adjoining room, who is armed with two loaded blunderbusses. Such formidable apparatus of security is deemed requisite to check the pilfering spirit of the Cumberland mountaineers." The cleansed black-lead is packed up into strong casks and sent to London, where it is sold at a monthly auction. The produce of six weeks' annual working of these mines is said to have been from thirty to forty thousand pounds. The Borrowdale mine is said to be almost exhausted, having, until lately, supplied most of the materials for English pencils. It is about halfway up a mountain two thousand feet high, somewhat difficult of access. A material for pencils is very much used, especially in France, made of graphite mixed up with very fine clay. The best pencils are, of course, made of the best graphite ; the worst kinds are made with the powder which results from the sawing, mixed up into a paste with sulphur, gum, &c. A case occurred some years ago in which a curious use was made of pencils. A great number of forged DIAMOND MINES. 213 notes of the Bank of Russia got into circulation in that country by some means unknown. At length, informa- tion was given by the Russian Government to the custom- house authorities at the port of Cronstadt, that a certain vessel would shortly arrive from England with a miscel- laneous cargo, including several gross of black-lead pencils; these, on arrival, were to be broken. In due time the vessel arrived, the box of pencils was landed, and on being opened, each pencil was found to contain a bank note tightly rolled up. The pencils had black- lead at each end, bore the stamp of a maker, and in all respects were so like ordinary pencils that no suspicion could have arisen without warning having been given. CHAPTER XV. DIAMOND MINES AND CELEBRATED DIAMONDS. You will naturally inquire where diamonds are found, and your thoughts will probably wander over many won- derful stories of diamond finding, especially that of Sinbad the Sailor, in the "Arabian Nights' Entertain- ments," whose adventures in the valley of jewels are so amusing. However improbable the story, it is supposed to have originated from a fable long current in India, and which is thus related by Marco Polo, a Venetian traveller, an account of whose voyages was written in 1298. Speaking of India, he says: "In the summer the inhabitants of Golconda ascend the mountains with great fatigue, as well as with considerable danger, from the number of snakes with which they are infested. Near 214 DIAMOND MINES. to the summit, it is said, there are deep valleys full of caverns, and surrounded by precipices, amongst which the diamonds are found; and here many eagles and white storks, attracted by the snakes on which they feed, are accustomed to make their nests. The persons who are in quest of diamonds take their stand near the mouth of the caverns, and from thence cast down several pieces of flesh, which the eagles and storks pursue into the valleys, and carry off with them to the tops of the rocks. Thither the men immediately ascend, drive the birds away, and recovering the pieces of meat, frequently find diamonds sticking to them." I must tell you, however, that Marco Polo, though a remarkably active and intelligent traveller, was a very credulous one, and easily imposed upon, and in this in- stance he certainly must have been duped. The two principal countries where diamond mines, or rather districts, are chiefly found, are India and Brazil. They are also found in Malacca, Borneo, and other parts of the East ; and America, Algiers, Australia, and Russia. The mines consist, in general, of mere diggings and washings of the mud of rivers. The richness of the Golconda mines has long been proverbial, and it is from this source that the most remarkable diamonds have been obtained. The gems, however, are merely cut and polished at that place, being found near the southern frontier of the Nizam's, or sovereign's dominions. In all the Indian diamond soils the stones are so dispersed that they are rarely found directly, even in searching the richest spots, because they are enveloped in an earthy crust, which must be removed before they are seen. The loose earth containing dia- monds lies always a little way beneath the surface of the A PRETTY PEBBLE. 2 1 5 soil, towards the lower outlet of broad valleys, rather than upon the ridges of the adjoining hills. The first diamonds that were known to the traders in precious stones in Europe were brought from Visapoor and Golconda. The discovery of the mine in the latter place is attributed to a poor shepherd, who, while tending his flocks, stumbled on what appeared to him a pretty pebble. This stone he gave in exchange for some rice, to a man as poor as himself. After passing through several hands it fell into those of a merchant, who knew its worth, and who, after diligent search, succeeded in finding the mine. Having made excavations he found a reddish earth, mixed with pebbles, and intersected by white and yellow veins resembling lime. Tavernier, an eminent French traveller of the seven teenth century, supposed that he was the first Europear. that had visited the mines of Golconda ; but he was mis- taken. An Englishman, of the name of Methold, had been there before him, in 1622, and found thirty thousand labourers at work in the mine he visited, and which he stated to be but two leagues from the capital. It was then leased by the Government to bne Marcandar, a rich merchant jeweller, who divided the soil in which the diamonds were supposed to be found into square lots, which he rented to other merchants. All stones weighing more than two carats (eight grains) were reserved for the king. Severe punishments were inflicted on whosoever attempted to defraud the sovereign of his dues, but these did not prevent a quantity of fine diamonds from being abstracted. Tavernier describes a visit he paid to Raolconde, the principal mine of Golconda. "A very pretty sight is that presented every morning by the children of the 216 DIAMOND MINES. master miners and of other inhabitants of the distiict. The boys the eldest of whom is not yet over sixteen, or the youngest under ten years of age assemble, and sit under a large tree in the public square of the village. Each has his diamond weight in a bag, hung on one side of his girdle, and on the other a purse, containing, some- times, as much as five or six hundred pagodas. Here they wait for such persons as have diamonds to sell, either from the vicinity, or from any other mine. When a diamond is brought to them it is immediately handed to the eldest boy, who is tacitly acknowledged as the head of this little band. By him it is carefully examined, and then passed to his next neighbour, who, having also inspected it, gives it to the next boy. The diamond is thus passed from hand to hand amidst unbroken silence, until it returns to that of the eldest, who then asks the price and makes the bargain. If the eldest boy is thought by his comrades to have given too high a price he must keep the stone on his own account. In the evening the children take an account of their stock, examine their purchases, and class the diamonds according to their water, size, and purity, putting on each stone the price they expect to get for it. They then return the stones to their masters, who have always assortments of diamonds to complete, and the profits are divided among the young traders, a somewhat larger portion being given to the eldest. These children are so perfectly acquainted with the value of all sorts of gems, that if one of them, after buying a stone, is willing to lose one-half per cent, upon it, a companion is always ready to take it." This singular custom, which was practised nearly two hundred years ago, shows the cleverness of the Indian youth at that period. The diamond mines of Brazil VAL UABLE PL A YTH1NGS. 217 were discovered by a curious circumstance, in 1730. Some miners in searching for gold found some curious pebbles, which they carried home to their masters as curiosities. Not being considered of any value, they were given to the children to play with. An officer who had spent some years in the East Indies saw these peb- bles, and sent a handful to a friend in Lisbon to be ex- amined. They proved to be diamonds. A few were collected and sent to Holland, and were pronounced to be equal to those of Golconda. The news soon reached Brazil, and those who possessed any of the " pebbles " soon realized large sums of money. The Portuguese Government laid a claim upon all diamonds that might be found thereafter, and a search was made, and mines discovered. Monsieur Castlenau gives some interesting particulars of the diamond seekers of Brazil. " Gold and diamonds, which in these regions, as in many others, are always found united, are gathered more especially in the numer- ous streams that traverse it, and even in all the extent of its soil. After the rains the children of the city of Dia- mantino seek for gold in the soil of the streets, and in the river Ouro that runs through it, and sometimes they pick up the value of eight to fifteen grains. As to dia- monds, a negro is reported to have found one of nine carats among the roots of some vegetables which he pulled up in his garden. Diamonds have been some- times found in the crops of chickens. The extraction of these precious gems is carried on in a very simple man- ner. In the season of low waters the negroes plunge and bring up from the bed .of the stream the mud, which is removed to a convenient spot on the banks for work- ing. The process is as follows : A hut is erected about 2i 8 DIAMOND MINES. a hundred feet long, and half that distance in width; down the middle of the area is conveyed a canal covered with earth ; on the other side of the area is a flooring of planks, about sixteen feet in width, extending the whole length of the shed, and to which an inclined direction is given. This flooring is divided into troughs, in which is thrown a portion of the river mud ; the water is then let in, and the earth raked until the water becomes clear. The earthy particles having been washed away, the gravel is raked up to the extremity of the trough; the largest stones are thrown out, and afterwards the smaller ones ; the whole is then examined with great care for diamonds. When a negro finds one, he claps his hands, and stands up, holding the diamond between his finger and thumb. It is received by one of the overseers, posted on lofty seats, at equal distances, along the line of work. On the conclusion of the work the diamonds found during the day are registered by the head overseer. If a negro has the good fortune to find a stone weighing upwards of sixty grains, he is made a free man ; for smaller stones, proportionate rewards are given. These men are strictly watched while at their work, and severely punished when they are detected in stealing any diamonds, but for all this they manage to purloin half of the produce." When diamonds were discovered in Brazil, the Portu- guese fleet brought in one year more than seventy pounds weight of diamonds from that country to Europe. The Sincora diamond mine in Bahia, a province of Brazil, was discovered in 1843, by a mulatto miner, who had previously been engaged at the mine of Surua, in the same province. On leaving Surua, he proceeded into che interior of the country alone, and with but fourteen days' provisions, in search of other washings, which he THE NEGRO'S CRYSTAL. 219 succeeded in finding in a few days. After labouring with success for some days, he found that his provisions were barely sufficient to carry him back to his home. He was therefore obliged to relinquish his labours, and return with the stones he had collected, which he offered for sale to some of the parties who had been engaged at the Surua mine. As the stones were of a different quality and shape to any they had seen before, they taxed him with having discovered a new mine. For some time he strongly denied having done so, but on being thrown into prison, and accused of having stolen the diamonds, he confessed his discovery, and on promise of making it known, was released. Six or eight months after, from ten to fifteen thousand persons had collected on the spot. The production of diamonds was so abundant that for the first two years it is supposed nearly six hundred thousand carats were extracted and forwarded to Europe. " All is not gold that glitters," as we have before re- marked, so it is with regard to diamonds. Mr. Mawe, in his " Travels through the Brazils," gives an amusing instance of a curious deception in this respect. A free negro wrote to the Prince Regent that he possessed a diamond so enormous that he begged to be allowed to show it in person to the prince himself. Believing in the accuracy of the man's statement, a carriage and an escort of attendants were sent to bring the fortunate prize-holder to court The negro prostrated himself in the royal pre- sence, and displayed the precious stone, which weighed nearly a pound, to the amazement and surprise of the prince. Conjectures were made as to the value of this presumed diamond, which was supposed to be worth several millions. It was sent to the royal treasury with 220 DIAMOND MINES. a strong escort, and deposited in the hall of gems. Some doubt, however, of the stone being a real diamond, seems to have been entertained by a few persons at court, and Mr. Mawe happening to be at Rio de Janeiro at the time, he was requested to examine the stone, being a distinguished mineralogist. He went to the treasury, proceeded through several magnificent apartments, and crossed a great hall hung with crimson and gold, in which was a statue of natural size, representing Justice with her scales. At length he came to a room in which were several chests; three officers, each having a key, opened one of these chests, and the treasurer produced the stone. Mr. Mawe, at a glance, saw that it was no- thing but a piece of rounded crystal, and proved it by scratching it with a real diamond. What had been sup- posed to be worth millions, turned out to be of no value whatever. The negro, who had been escorted to court with such pomp, had to trudge back home on foot. Notwithstanding the great rarity and value of the diamond, it is (as I have before stated) only carbon, or charcoal in its purest state, and can be consumed by fire at a heat less than that required for melting silver. By what process nature has concentrated and crystallized the substance has never been discovered. Numerous attempts have been made to obtain diamonds artificially, and, according to some accounts, not altogether without success, although those obtained have been so exceed- ingly small as to be of no use. It is the hardest of all known substances, the purest and most brilliant of all gems. It is found of various colours, blue, red, yellow, green, brown, grey, and even black ; with the exception of the latter, however, all these shades are light and pale. "DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND." 221 The diamond is found always crystallized, and in its rough state the surface is often dull and uneven, and although known from the earliest ages, the ancients were totally unacquainted with the mode of cutting and polish- ing it ; even in the time of Charlemagne the process was unknown, as the clasps of that monarch's mantle, still preserved in Paris, have four large diamonds in their rough state. The diamonds worn by St. Louis, King of France, in the thirteenth century, are said to have been uncut. You will perhaps wonder at this, but the great difficulty of cutting diamonds arises from their extreme hardness, and no other mineral having the power of scratching them, thus the name is derived from a Greek word signifying "unsubdued." To cut and polish the diamond it is necessary, therefore, to use the powder of other diamonds. This was discovered in 1476 by Louis de Berquem, a young man of Bruges, who, having observed the effect produced by rubbing one diamond against another, con- ceived the idea of using diamond-dust, and thus was the first diamond polished in Europe by him. Diamonds are now cut, at least in Europe, in three principal forms, called the table, the rose, and the bril- liant, the first being the least, and the last the most advantageous for the production of that splendid play of colours for which the diamond is esteemed. The forms depend upon the shape of the rough stone ; if this should be flat, the table, or rose form, is given, but if it should be thick, it admits of the brilliant. In cutting diamonds from the rough, the process is so uncertain that the workmen think themselves fortunate in retaining one-half of the original weight. The Koh-i- noor diamond, when first presented to our Queen, was 222 DIAMOND MINES. merely surface-cut, no attempt having been made to pro- duce the regular form of a brilliant. The process of diamond-cutting is effected by a level iron plate, of about ten inches diameter, called a mill, which turns from two thousand to three thousand times each minute. The diamond is fixed in a ball of pewter at the end of an arm resting upon the table in which the iron plate turns ; the other end, at which the ball con- taining the diamond is fixed, is pressed upon the wheel by moveable weights, at the discretion of the workman. The recutting of the Koh-i-noor diamond, which was commenced July 16, 1852, occupied thirty-eight days, working twelve hours daily without cessation. The late Duke of Wellington was the first person who placed the diamond on the mill for that purpose. I may explain to you that the term carat is said to be derived from the name of a bean, the produce of a tree Called " kuara," a native of Africa, and signifying " sun " in the language of the country, because it bears flowers and fruit of a flame colour. As tht seeds of this pod are always of nearly uniform weight, the natives have used them, from time immemorial, to weigh gold. The beans were transported into India at an ancient period, and have been long employed there to weigh diamonds. The carat is, in fact, an imaginary weight, consisting of four nominal grains, a little lighter than four grains troy. I will briefly notice some of the most celebrated diamonds that are known for their size, or from the historic interest connected with them. There are but few diamonds in the world that exceed a hundred carats in weight. The largest known belongs to the Rajah of Mattan, in the East Indies. It is of the purest water, and weighs three hundred and sixty-seven carats. In shape THE RAJAH OF MATTAN'S DIAMOND. 223 it is like an egg, with an indented hollow at the smaller end. It was discovered at Landak about one hundred and twenty years ago, and although the possession of it has cost several wars, it has remained in the royal family of Mattan more than a century. You will be surprised, no doubt, that the possession of a diamond should occa- sion wars, but such has been the case, not only in this, but in other instances. This jewel has roused some of the worst passions in human nature ; envy and covetousness have led to murders and crimes, and men havQ rushed on destruction to obtain the glittering prize that cannot make them wiser or happier. A governor of Batavia, the capital of the Dutch possessions in the East Indies, wished to become the purchaser of the Mattan diamond, and offered one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for it, besides two war brigs with their guns and ammunition, together with a great number of guns, and a quantity of powder and shot. But this offer was refused, for the diamond was celebrated throughout India for a miracu- lous power it was said to possess for curing every kind of disease, by means of the water in which it was steeped. This was a foolish superstition, but the Rajah himself believed that if he parted with a jewel so precious, some evil would happen to himself or his family. The next in point of size is the magnificent Koh-i-noor, or Mountain of Light, diamond, belonging to the English Crown, and exhibited at the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, in 1851. A singular interest is attached to this jewel, which was discovered in the mines of Golconda, and remained in the possession of the rulers of that coun- try until the time of the father of the famous Emperor Aurungzebe, who having conquered its owner, took the splendid gem also. 224 DIAMOND MINES. While the Koh-i-noor was in the hands of the Moguls it was first seen by Tavern ier, a French traveller, in 1665. This gentleman was permitted by Aurungzebe, as an act of indulgence, to examine the diamond closely, and from the account he gave, it became known to the European world as the diamond of the great Mogul. In this interview the emperor is described as being seated on a throne of state, while the chief keeper of his jewels produced his treasures for inspection on two golden dishes. The magnificence of the collection was in- describable, but conspicuous above all, in lustre, esteem, and value, was the Koh-i-noor. I may here remark that in the royal cabinet at Dres- den there is a representation of Aurungzebe on his throne, a piece comprising one hundred and thirty different figures in enamelled gold. This work is said to have occupied the celebrated artist Dinglinger and his family and fourteen assistants no less than eight years. The Koh-i-noor, sometimes worn on the person oi the Moguls, or adorning their famous peacock throne, was safely preserved at Delhi, until, in 1739, the empire was overrun by the Persians under Nadir Shah. Together with the spoils of conquest (estimated at ninety millions sterling), the great diamond was transferred to Khoras- san. Nadir Shah, however, was killed by his subjects, and the jewel was carried away by a party of Affghan soldiers under Ahmed Shah, to their own country. It seems as if the Koh-i-noor carried with it the sovereignty of India, for the conquests of Ahmed gave him the con- trol of Hindostan. In his family the diamond remained until the year 1800, when its then owner, Zemaun Shah, was overthrown by Shah Shuja and imprisoned. But THE KOH-I-NOOR. 225 the usurper on ascending the throne could not find the precious jewel; the treasury at Cabul was searched in vain, until at last it was found ingeniously secreted in the prison wall of the dethroned monarch. Eight years afterwards the Shah Shuja had become so powerful that the British Government sent Mr. Elphin stone as ambas- sador to his court, for the purpose of maintaining friendly relations. At the audience given to the ambassador, Shah Shuja appeared, magnificently arrayed in a green tunic, glittering with gold and precious stones, and wear- ing the Koh-i-noor in a bracelet upon his right arm. This was a second time that a European had been favoured with a sight of it, one hundred and forty-three years having elapsed since its exhibition to Tavernier. Hardly, however, had Mr. Elphinstone left the court, when the Shah was expelled from Cabul, carrying away the far-famed diamond concealed on his person. Aftei many adventures he at length found refuge among the Sikhs. Runjeet Singh, the chieftain, was fully able to protect or to give up the exile, but he knew, or suspected, that the Koh-i-noor was in his possession. He put the Shah under strict watchers, and then made a formal de- mand for the jewel. The Shah hesitated, prevaricated, and made every effort to evade the matter, but Runjeet was resolute, and a day was at length fixed upon for the surrender of the diamond. This was in 1813. The two princes met in a room appointed for the purpose, and took their seats upon the ground. A solemn silence then ensued, which continued unbroken for an hour. At length Runjeet's impatience could not be controlled, and he quickened the memory of the Shah. The exiled prince spoke not a word in reply, but calmly motioned to an attendant, who produced a small roll which he Q 226 DIAMOND MINES. placed midway between the two chiefs. Again a pause ensued, when, at a signal from Runjeet, the roll was un- folded, and the glittering Koh-i-noor passed into his possession. This diamond was afterwards worn by Runjeet Singh as an armlet, and was considered in itself an ornament of such extraordinary value as to allow the wearer to dispense with the decoration of many other jewels. The Hon. W. G. Osborne, describing a visit to the hall of audience of this potentate, says, " The whole place behind the throne was crowded with Runjeet's chiefs, mingled with natives from Candahar, Cabul, and Afghanistan, blazing with gold and jewels, and dressed and armed in every conceivable variety of colour and fashion. Cross-legged, in a golden chair, sat Runjeet Singh, dressed in simple white, wearing no ornaments but a single string of enormous pearls round the waist, and the celebrated Koh-i-noor, or Mountain of Light, on his arm." This diamond, in common with many other jewels of great price, were used to adorn the favourite horses of this prince. The Hon. Miss Eden states " that the jewelled trappings of the horses were of the most costly descrip- tion, being chiefly emeralds of immense size and value, hanging around the neck, covering the forehead, and fastened on the front of the saddle. The jewels and ornaments were said to be worth three thousand pounds." Sometimes the horses were honoured with the addition of the Koh-i-noor. With great kindness the prince sent this diamond, with other jewels, to the camp of the governor-general for the inspection of the ladies, and thus Miss Eden was able, from actual measurement, to make a drawing of the Koh-i-noor at a time when there was no reason to suppose it would ever make its appear- SUPERSTITION ABOUT THE KOH-I-NOOR. 227 ance in this country. On the annexation of the Punjab, however, it was given up to the East India Company for the Queen of England, and was brought over to London in 1850. For a few years previous to this the Koh-i-noor had formed a part of the decorations of a hideous idol kept at Orissa. The loss of the diamond is regarded by the supersti- tious natives of India as the downfall of their supremacy. How many ages have elapsed since the Koh-i-noor was found in the mines at Golconda no one can tell, but the Hindoos, who are fond of exaggerated numbers, say that it belonged to Kama, a king of Auga, three thousand years ago. This is of course a tradition only, but the first discovery of the jewel belongs to very early times. When first given to Shah Jehaun the Koh-i-noor was still uncut, weighing, it is said, in that rough state nearly three hundred carats, which were reduced by the person employed to cut it, by his unskilful treatment, to two hundred and seventy-nine carats. The workman, a Venetian, instead of being rewarded for his labour, was fined a large sum of money by the enraged Mogul, and was probably glad enough to escape with his head saie on his shoulders. After the arrival of the Koh-i-noor in England, to improve its brilliancy it was recut, by which its weight was reduced one-third. As exhibited at the Crystal Palace in 1851 the diamond weighed over one hundred and eighty-six carats. As to the value of the Koh-i-noor, guesses have varied from half a million to three millions and a half sterling, showing how vague are all attempts to estimate such rarities, and, after all, the chemical value of diamonds is only equal to that of a similar weight of pure charcoal of which, as I before mentioned, they consist. Mr. 228 DIAMOND MINES. Tennant observes, that to express the value of an ounce of coal we have no coin sufficiently small. It is the same with iron and lead, metals of inestimable import- ance. An ounce of copper may be worth a penny, an ounce of silver may be worth five shillings, an ounce of pure gold four pounds ; but the very refuse of the diamond that which is only used for the purpose of breaking up into small particles for cutting other stones is worth fifty pounds an ounce ! A magnificent diamond, belonging to the Emperor of Russia, bought by the Empress Catherine, weighs over one hundred and ninety-three carats. It is said to be the size of a pigeon's head, and to have been purchased for ninety thousand pounds, besides a yearly sum for life to the Greek merchant who sold it for four thousand pounds. It is reported that this diamond formed one of the eyes of the famous idol Juggernaut, whose temple is on the Coromandel coast, and that a French soldier, who had deserted into the Malabar service, found the means of robbing the temple of it, and escaped with it to Madras, where he disposed of it to a ship captain for two thou- sand pounds, by whom it was resold to a Jew for twelve thousand pounds. From him it was transferred for a large sum to the Greek merchant. This diamond now surmounts the imperial sceptre. The diamond of the Emperor of Austria, which for- merly belonged to the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, weighs one hundred and thirty-nine and a half carats. Its esti- mated value is one hundred and fifty-five thousand pounds. This stone is of a lemon-yellow colour, which greatly lessens its value. Among the Prussian crown jewels is the famous Regent or Pitt diamond, discovered in the Pasteal mine at Gol- THE "PITT" DIAMOND. p. 229 THE "PITT" DIAMOND. 229 conda. It weighs one hundred and thirty-six and three- quarters carats, and is remarkable for its form and clear- ness, which have caused it to be valued at one hundred and sixty thousand pounds, although it cost only one hundred thousand pounds. It was stolen from the mine and sold to Mr. Pitt, grandfather of the great Earl of Chatham. The Duke of Orleans purchased the dia- mond, for presentation to King Louis the Fifteenth. Madame de Barrera informs us, that "when, after the fall of Louis the Sixteenth, the people insisted that the beautiful works of art and nature hitherto reserved for the enjoyment of the refined and educated should be exposed to the gaze of the mob, the Regent diamond was paraded. So little, however, did the exhibitors confide in the integrity of these patriots that great pre- cautions were taken to prevent the consequences of too strong an attraction. The passer-by, who chanced to demand, in the name of the sovereign people, a sight of the finest of the ex-tyrant's (as King Louis was called) jewels, entered a small room, within which, through a little wicket, the diamond was presented for sight. It was fastened by a strong steel clasp to an iron chain, the other end of which was secured within the aperture through which it was handed to the spectator. Two policemen kept a vigilant watch on the momentary possessor of the gem, until, having held in his hand the value of twelve millions of francs, according to the estimate in the inventory of the crown jewels, he again took up his hook and basket at the door and disappeared." This diamond, which decorated the hilt of the sword of state of the first Napoleon, was taken by the Prussians at Waterloo, and now belongs to the King of Prussia. 230 DIAMOND MINES. The largest diamond furnished by Brazil, now in pos- session of the crown of Portugal, weighs one hundred and twenty carats. The Sand diamond, supposed to have been the first that was cut and polished in Europe, has a curious history attached to it. It is said to have belonged for- merly to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who wore it in his hat at the battle of Nancy, where his army was completely defeated, and where he lost his life in 1477. It was found on the field of battle by a Swiss soldier, who sold it to a French gentleman of the name of Sanci. The diamond was preserved in his family for nearly a century, until Henry III. commissioned a descend- ant of the original purchaser, and who was a captain of Swiss troops in his service, to raise fresh recruits among the Swiss. King Henry, driven from his throne by a league against him formed by his subjects, and without money to pay his troops, borrowed the Sanci diamond in order to pawn it to the Swiss. Sanci ordered one of his servants to take it to its destination, but both the man and the diamond disappeared, and for a time all trace of them was lost. It seems, however, that Sanci had great faith in the honesty of his servant, and deter- mined to make a search for him. At length he dis- covered that the man had been assassinated by robbers, and the body had been buried in a neighbouring forest. Thither he went, and ordered the body to be disinterred and opened, when the diamond was discovered in his stomach, the faithful servant having swallowed it to con- ceal the precious gem from the robbers. This diamond came into the possession of the English crown ; and James II., when forced to leave the country, took it with him to France in 1688. Louis XV. wore it WARREN HASTINGS' DIAMOND. 231 at his coronation. In 1835 it was purchased by a Russian nobleman for eighty thousand pounds. In 1786 a very valuable diamond, of unusual size and brilliancy, was presented to George III. by Warren Hastings (who had been Governor of India) as a gift from the Nizam, or ruler of the Deccan in India. As Hastings was then about to be put on his trial for alleged oifences committed by him in India this present was looked upon as a bribe, and caricatures appeared, one representing Hastings wheeling the king in a barrow to market, and saying, "What a man buys he may sell again." In another the king was represented in a kneel- ing posture, with his mouth open, and Hastings throwing diamonds into it. In former times, superstition attributed to the diamond many virtues. It was supposed to protect the possessor from poison, pestilence, panic-fear, and enchantments of every kind. A wonderful property was also ascribed to it when the figure of Mars, whom the ancients repre- sented as the god of war, was engraved upon it. In such cases the diamond was believed to insure victory in battle to its fortunate owner, whatever might be the number of his enemies. For a long time diamonds were sent to Holland to be cut and polished, but no workmen now succeed better in this art than our own. Diamonds are not only worn as ornaments of dress, or rare objects of art, but they are employed for several useful purposes, as for cutting glass by the glazier, and all kinds of hard stones by the lapidary. The portion of the precious jewel that is usually employed for a "glazier's diamond" seldom exceeds one-twentieth part of a grain. It is carefully set in a brass socket at the 23 2 DIAMOND MINES. lower end of a wooden handle, so hollowed out as to receive the ball of the thumb and the balls of the first and second finger, by which it is steadily held in an upright position, that the brass socket may present the edge of the diamond at the proper angle to cut the glass. Diamond dust is very useful for polishing other pre- cious stones, as well as for engraving on them. An instrument for boring into hard rock has been employed in France, made out of a tube furnished with a circular cutter of rough diamonds. It is caused to revolve, and as it enters into the stone, the cutter scoops out a cylinder, which is afterwards easily taken out of the tube. Holes in hard granite, for blasting purposes, are thus bored in one hour, which would have required two days' work in the ordinary way. The diamonds, when examined through a magnifying glass, do not seem at all injured by the process. In concluding my remarks on diamonds I will give you an account (as related by Professor Tennant) of the jewels that compose the imperial crown of England. The state crown of her Majesty was made by Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, in 1838, with jewels taken from old crowns, and others furnished by command of the Queen. It consist? of diamonds, pearls, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, set in silver and gold ; it has a crimson velvet cap with ermine border, and is lined with white silk. Its gross weight is thirty-nine ounces five pennyweights troy. The lower part of the band, above the ermine border, consists of a row of one hundred and twenty-nine pearls, and the upper part of the band a row of one hundred and twelve pearls, between which, in front of the crown, is a large sapphire (partly drilled), purchased THE CROWN JEWELS. 233 for the crown by George the Fourth. At the back is a sapphire of smaller size, and six other sapphires (three on each side), between which are eight emeralds. Above and below the several sapphires are fourteen diamonds, and around the eight emeralds, one hundred and twenty- eight diamonds. Between the emeralds and sapphires are sixteen trefoil ornaments, containing one hundred and sixty diamonds. Above the band are eight sapphires, surmounted by eight diamonds, between which are eight festoons, consisting of one hundred and forty-eight dia- monds. In the front of the crown, and in the centre of a diamond Maltese cross, is the famous ruby said to have been given to Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Edward the Third, called the Black Prince, by Don Pedro, King of Castile, after the battle of Najera, near Vittoria, in 1367. This ruby was worn in the helmet of Henry the Fifth at the battle of Agin court, 1415. It is pierced quite through after the Eastern custom, the upper part of the piercing being fitted up by a small ruby. Around this ruby, to form the cross, are seventy-five brilliant diamonds. Three other Maltese crosses, forming the two sides and back of the crown, have emerald centres, and contain each one hundred and thirty-two, one hundred and twenty-four, and one hundred and thirty brilliant diamonds. Between the four Maltese crosses are four ornaments in the form of the French fleui de lys, with four rubies in the centres, and surrounded by rose diamonds, containing respectively eighty-five, eighty-six, eighty-six, and eighty-seven rose diamonds. From the Maltese crosses issue four imperial arches, composed of oak leaves and acorns, the leaves con- taining seven hundred and twenty-eight rose, table, and brilliant diamonds, twenty-two pearls forming the acorns, 234 DIAMOND MINES. set in cups containing fifty-four rose diamonds and one table diamond. The total number of diamonds in the arches and acorns is one hundred and eight brilliants. one hundred and sixteen table, and five hundred and fifty-nine rose diamonds. From the upper part of the arches are suspended four large pendent pear-shaped pearls, with rose diamond caps^ containing twelve rose diamonds, and stems containing twenty-four very small rose diamonds. Above the arch stands the mound, containing, in the lower hemisphere, three hundred and four brilliants, and in the upper, two hundred and forty- four brilliants; the zone and arc being composed of thirty-three rose diamonds. The cross on the summit has a rose-cut sapphire in the centre, surrounded by four large brilliants, and one hundred and eight smaller brilliants. Total of the jewels comprised in the crown : one large ruby, irregularly polished, one large broad-spread sapphire, sixteen sapphires, eleven emeralds, four rubies, one thousand three hundred and sixty-three brilliant dia- monds, one thousand two hundred and seventy-three rose diamonds, one hundred and forty-seven table diamonds, four drop-shaped pearls, two hundred and seventy-three pearls. CHAPTER XVI. PRECIOUS STONES, AND SUPERSTITIONS CONNECTED WITH THEM. " Fiery opals, sapphires, amethysts, Jacinths, hard topaz, grass-green emeralds, Beauteous rubies, sparkling diamonds, And seld-seen costly stones of so great price, As one of them, indifferently rated, Might serve, in peril of calamity, To ransom great kings from captivity. " MARLOW. I HAVE, in the preceding chapter, given you some information respecting the " king of gems," the diamond. A few observations on some of the other precious stones may prove useful and interesting. The chemical value of these beautiful objects of luxury is but small, the diamond itself, " Transparent image of eternal light," being, as I have mentioned, only charcoal or pure carbon ; and the corundum, including the sapphire, ruby, girasole, topaz, emerald, amethyst, aquamarina, asteria, &c., being composed, almost exclusively, of crystallized clay tinged with iron, which has been called the great colourist of mineral nature ; while the opal, the carnelian, the agate, the jasper, and the bloodstone are merely modifications of silex, or pure flint. Still, as objects of ornament, rarity, and value, precious stones 236 PRECIOUS STONES. have always been held in the highest estimation, and too often, I may add, of veneration. In the holy Scriptures we have the earliest source of information respecting jewels. You will find in the Book of Exodus (chap, xxviii. 17 19) a particular description of the jewelled breastplate of Aaron, the high priest of the Jews. It consisted in a richly em- broidered cloth, in which were set, in four rows, twelve precious stones, on each of which was engraved the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel : these are dis- tinguished as sardius (ruby), topaz, carbuncle, emerald, sapphire, diamond, ligure (jacinth), agate, amethyst, beryl, onyx, and jasper. We have -here, also, the first instance recorded of writing or engraving on precious stones. The Jews, in all probability, learnt this art from the Egyptians; the commandment prohibiting the representation of any animal or thing confined their skill to the engraving of names, &c., as seals. In the sublime description of the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. xxi. ii 21) the twelve foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with precious stones. You will see, therefore, from these and other passages in the Bible, that the mention of such objects was to convey conceptions of the greatest beauty and perfection; proving the high esteem in which jewels were held. In the holy Scriptures we find also the earliest traces of superstitions with regard to charms, amulets, and other virtues that jewels were supposed to possess. The ear- rings mentioned by Isaiah (iii. 20) are believed to have denoted amulets, although they served also the purposes of ornament. They were probably precious stones, with sentences of the law, or magical inscriptions, worn in DIVINA TION B Y GEMS. 23 7 the ears, or suspended round the neck. For the same purpose were, no doubt, the pebbles and curious stones which are found in ancient British places of sepulture. Superstitions, we are told, " Cling like the leech, tenacious to the last ;" and thus the same kind of charms are still used in the East. The Jews entertained many strange notions with regard to the mysterious influence of precious stones : one I will mention, as it was, no doubt, founded upon the jewelled breastplate of Aaron. They pretended to foretell future events by the change of colour, or brilliancy, on twelve precious stones, on which were engraved as many anagrams (a conceit arising from the letters of a name being transposed) of the name of God. In the Talmud (a book of Jewish traditions) it is stated that Noah derived all the light he had in the ark from precious stones. Among the Greeks and Romans the most wonderful stories were also prevalent. Orpheus, in his poem on gems (supposed to have been written by an Asiatic Greek, in the fourth century), thus describes the cave of Hermes (the Greek name for Mercury, who was adored among other attributes as the god of commerce, gain, riches, and unexpected fortune) : " That mystic cave, where the wise god, a hoard Of all things good hath in his treasure stored : He shall return, and bear in both his hands A heap of blessings numerous as the sands. No care or sorrow shall he ever taste, No pining sickness his strong body waste ; Nor dreading his foes' might, from battle flee, Abandoning the hope of victory; Nor in the games when he disputes the prize Shall e'er opponent dare 'gainst him to rise, 238 PRECIOUS STONES. Though limbs of brass, though souls of iron they bring, All burning for the crown, into the ring j By mountain herds as the great lion feared, And by his followers as a god revered. In regal courts, he honour shall command, And 'mid the people of each foreign land." " A thousand other blessings heaped on high Stored in the caves of skilful Hermes lie ; Immortal, true, of wondrous potency, Who so attains a happy man as he ? " KING. Pliny tells us it was the common belief in his time (the first century after the death of Jesus Christ), that the first individual who wore a ring with a stone upon it was Prometheus, who was condemned, for having deceived Jupiter, to carry on his finger, as a memorial of his offences, a piece of the rock of Caucasus, to which he had been enchained, set in a ring of iron. I must add, however, that Pliny, who was in considerable advance of the age in which he lived, discredited, very naturally, this fiction. The same writer mentions the celebrated jewel of Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, as being con- sidered so valuable that the opulent owner even imagined the loss of it would save him from any reverses that might happen, and accordingly he cast it into the sea. It was greedily swallowed by a large fish which was afterwards taken, and on being prepared for the royal table, the ring was discovered in his stomach, and returned to Polycrates, who ended his days miserably. Pliny adds, that the precious stone thus strangely returned to its owner was a sardonyx, which was still preserved in his time at Rome. You may, probably, have heard of the wonderful ring SYMPATHY OF THE PLANETS. 239 of Gyges, king of Lydia, who died 680 years before the birth of Christ. By means of this jewel it was pre- tended that the wearer could render himself invisible. The ancients believed that there was a mysterious sympathy between what they termed the seven planets and seven precious stones. Thus the turquois had relation to Saturn; the carnelian,y^Vo one had been found with sufficient energy or skill to face the difficulties of the undertaking, even had the meanbeen supplied. It was in 1606 that Middleton 2 C 3 86 EMINENT MEN CONNECTED WITH MINING. came forward, alone, to grapple with the obstacles ; the necessary powers were obtained, and two springs, one at Amwell, in Herts, the other called Chadwell, near Ware, were chosen, and on the first of February, 1608, pro- ceedings were commenced. Having united the two streams as near to their respective sources as the nature of the ground would permit, Middleton led it on its winding course, sometimes in deep channels, cut often with enormous labour through stubborn soils ; some- times raised aloft on arches ; building over it (a num- ber afterwards considerably diminished) eight hundred bridges of various dimensions, and seldom employing fewer than six hundred workmen. When the line had reached Enfield his means were nearly exhausted. He lequested aid from the corporation of London, and to the disgrace of that body, whose interests were so much involved in the completion of the scheme, he was re- fused. An application to King James was more suc- cessful, though that cautious monarch claimed, in return, a moiety of the profits. In a twelvemonth from that time the New River, the sinuous course of which extends thirty-nine miles, was in existence. The cistern by Islington was built to receive its waters, and a splendid ceremony, on Michaelmas Day, 1613, inaugurated their admission into it. This, as you can readily imagine, must have been a proud day for the patient and ener- getic contriver of the most precious boon that London could then receive. He had struggled through every difficulty, the opposition of friends, the ridicule of ene- mies, the desertion of those who had promised assistance, added to the want of resources. On this interesting occasion, his brother, elected Lord Mayor on that day, was present. The procession first REVERSES. 387 began " by a troop of labourers, to the number of sixty or more, well apparelled, and wearing green Monmouth caps, all alike, who carried spades, shovels, pickaxes, and such like instruments of laborious employment, and marching, after drums, twice or thrice about the cistern, presented themselves before the mount, where the lord mayor, aldermen, and a worthy company beside, stood to behold them. After a poetical address from one of the men, ending with " Loudly sing ; And with the crystal murmurs strook together, Bid all thy true well-wishers welcome hither." At these words the floodgates flew open, the stream ran gallantly into the cistern, drums and trumpets sounding in a triumphal manner, and a brave peal of ordnance gave full issue to the intended entertainment. In 1622, King James knighted Middleton. But, alas for human prosperity ! Reverses soon overtook this estimable man. For eighteen years after the completion of the New River there was no dividend whatever, and in the nineteenth, it amounted but to 11 igs. 6d. each share. A share has been sold since that time for four- teen thousand pounds! The founder of the gigantic sys- tem that rendered useless the sixteen public conduits of London, imperfect in their supply, became embarrassed in circumstances, and died November 2ist, 1631, de- frauded of the substantial rewards to which he was justly entitled. He was buried in the parish church of St. Matthew, in London. There is an excellent portrait of Sir Hugh Middleton in the Hall of the Goldsmiths' Company, and a few years ago (realizing the old saying, " better late than never") a memorial statue was erected, by public subscription, at Islington. 388 EMINENT MEN CONNECTED WITH MINING. The inventor of the " Davy," as the " Miner's Safety Lamp " is popularly termed (the principles of which my young readers will find explained in page 68), has a distinctive claim among the " eminent men who have been connected with mining," for previous to the dis- covery of SIR HUMPHREY DAVY, numerous lives were annually sacrificed to the fatal fire-damp. Many terrible accidents in mines have happened since this invention, and, I am sorry to add, still frequently occur, arising from recklessness, and a want of caution in the use of the lamp by the miners. It was not until after a fearful explosion in 1812, that efforts were made to prevent these calamities. The Rev. John Hodgson, Rector of Jarrow, near Newcastle, to- gether with a few friends, took ad vantage of Sir Humphrey Davy's visit to Northumberland, in 1815, to consult him on the best means of protecting the miners. A bottle of fire-damp was afterwards sent to him, and with this he made the experiments which resulted in securing to the miner the most invaluable boon he could possess. If you should have an opportunity of visiting that admirable institution, the Museum of Practical Geology, in Jermyn Street, London, you will see the identical lamp that was first made by Sir Humphrey Davy, and sent by him to the Rev. John Hodgson. In the memoirs of this accomplished clergyman, is an interesting anecdote of the first introduction of the Davy lamp, on its beneficent mission, in a mine. This occurred on the 9th of January, 1 8 1 6. I have already explained (page 66) the dangerous expedients resorted to by the miners to obtain light, especially that of the "steel-mill," as it was called. Furnished with a Davy lamp, Mr. Hodgson descended Hebben Pit, and walked through a portion of it, where THE SAFETY LAMP. 389 the dangerous gases had accumulated, and saw his lamp become full of blazing gas, without any explosion taking place. He afterwards approached a miner who was working by the spark-light of a " mill," and who had not the slightest knowledge that such a wonder as the new lamp was in existence. No notice had been given to the man of what was about to take place. He was alone in an atmosphere of great danger, " in the midst of life or death," when he saw a light approaching, apparently a candle burning openly, the effect of which he knew would be instant destruction to him and its bearer. His command was instantly, "put out the light" The light came nearer and nearer. No regard was paid to his cries, which then became wild, mingled with impreca- tions against the comrade (for such he took Hodgson to be) who was tempting death in so rash and certain a way. Still, not one word was said in reply : the light continued to approach, and then oaths were turned into prayers that his request might be granted, until there stood before him, silently exulting in his success, a grave and thoughtful man, whom he well knew and respected, holding up in his sight, with a gentle smile, the triumph of science, the future safe-guard of the pitmen. This was a severe ordeal for the poor miner, and was acknowledged as such, afterwards, by the clergyman him- self. You might suppose that such an important discovery as the safety-lamp would have secured the inventor a handsome pecuniary remuneration, and so it would have done had such been his wish, for Sir Humphrey was advised to take out a patent from which he would, in all probability, have realised from five to ten thousand pounds a year; but the character of this distinguished man of 390 EMINENT MEN CONNECTED WITH MINING. science was as noble as his genius was great, and the reply he made was, " that he did not want to be paid for saving miners' lives. It might enable him to put four horses to his carriage, but what could it avail to have it said that Sir Humphrey drives his carriage and four?" Humphrey Davy was born at Penzance, in Cornwall, where his father was a carver in wood, December i7th, 1779, and received his early education at the grammar schools of Truro and Penzance, where he made himself conspicuous for his talents ; a highly retentive memory, aad an early passion for poetry, which never forsook him. Another prominent trait of his character was early de- veloped : as a child he would angle, even in the gutters of the street, and only two years before his death, he pub- lished his interesting volume, " Salmonia ; or, Days of Fly-fishing." At the age of fifteen he was placed as a pupil with Mr. Borlase, a surgeon in his native town, where he prepared himself for graduating at Edinburgh. Having a boundless wish for knowledge, he laid down for himself a course of study, which he followed with such perseverence, that by the time he was eighteen he had acquired the leading principles of botany, anatomy, physiology, and especially natural philosophy and che- mistry. An experiment which he made was the fortunate means of drawing him, at the age of nineteen, from obscurity. He had ascertained that sea-weed performs the same part in purifying the air contained in water that vegetables effect with respect to atmospheric air. This fact he communicated to Dr. Beddoes, who was endeavouring to establish an institution, at Bristol, to tiy the effect of gases in the cure of diseases. A corres- pondence ensued, in which Dr. Beddoes proposed to SfX HUMPHRE Y DA VY. 391 Mr. Davy to suspend his intention of going to Edinburgh, and to assist him in his experiments. He accordingly joined his friend at Bristol, and here carried on a course of experiments on the respiration of different gases tha* nearly cost him his life, from the personal tests he applied. His reputation became extended, and at the age of twenty-two, he was appointed lecturer at the Royal In- stitution of London. His eloquence and extraordinary talents procured him crowded audiences, and a few years afterwards he made his greatest discoveries, that have ranked him among the famous chemists of his own, or of any age. The origin of these was contained in his Bakerian lecture, delivered in 1806, "On some chemical agencies of electricity." This was regarded as one of the most valuable contributions ever made to chemical science, and obtained the prize of the French Institute; afterwards came his great discovery that the alkalis, potash and soda, and earth, are com- pound substances formed by oxygen united with me- tallic bases. When he first saw the globules of the new metal potassium, his delight is said to have been so great that it required some time to compose himself in order to continue the experiment. Other brilliant discoveries followed, and his fame increased far and wide. In 1812 he was knighted, having married in the previous year, a widow, Mrs. Apreece, who brought him a large fo> tune. So great was his renown throughout Europe, that when he wished to investigate his new theory of vol. canic action, he received permission from the French Government although England and France were then at war to visit the continent, and was received there with the greatest distinction by men of science* 392 EMINENT MEN CONNECTED WITH MINING. A baronetcy was afterwards conferred on him, and, m 1820, he became President of the Royal Society. This great and excellent man died at Geneva, May 29th, 1829, at the early age of fifty-one. "A short time before his death," says his brother and biographer, Dr. Davy, himself an eminent man of science, being at Rome, he mended a little, and as this process went on, " the sentiment of gratitude to Divine Providence was over- flowing, and he was most amiable and affectionate in manner. He expressed frequently the intention, if his life were spared, of devoting it to purposes of utility (seeming to think lightly of what he had done already), and to the service of his friends, rather than to the pursuits of ambition, pleasure, or happiness, with himself for their main object." What a lesson of humility and patience this should teach us ! A great man, whose life had been active and laborious, complaining that he had not done enough to assist his fellow-creatures. In a journal which he kept, he wrote, at the time of his greatest successes " Beware of too much prosperity and popularity. Life is made up of mixed passages dark and bright, sunshine and gloom. Notice the un- natural and excessive greatness of fortune, of Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon, the first died after divine honours were paid him ; the second gained empire, the consummation of his ambition, and lost his life imme- diately j the third, from a private individual, became master of continental Europe and allied to the oldest dynasty, and after his elevation, his fortune immediately began to fall. Even in private life, too much prosperity either injures the moral man, and occasions conduct which ends in suffering, or is accompanied by the work- THE NATURAL PHILOSOPHER. 393 ings of envy, calumny, and malevolence of others." Words of truth and wisdom we ought never to forget. \ "The man, Who, in right spirit, communes with the forms Of Nature who with understanding heart, Doth know and love such objects that excite No morbid passions, no disquietude, No vengeance, and no hatred needs must feel The joy of that pure principle of love So deeply, that, unsatisfied with aught Less pure and exquisite, he cannot choose But seek for objects of a kindred love In fellow creatures, and a kindred joy. :> INDEX, PAGE Abundance of salt . . 328 Accident in a submarine mine 155 to Baron Borro, in a , lead mine . . . 209 Account of the emerald mines in Egypt . . . 146 ruby and sapphire mines of Pegu and Ava . . 245 Aerolites, theories respecting 1 70 Age, great, of a Cumberland miner .... 104 Alchemy . . . .12 Alchemist, story of an Italian 1 3 Mr. Boyle and the . 14 Helvetius and the .15 Alchemists, impostures of . 17 Alexander, visit of the Em- peror, to a gold mine . 183 Almaden, quicksilver mines of 322 Almagrera, in Spain, lead mines at . . . . 208 Alston Moor, curious cavern at 150 visit to a lead mine at 197 America, silver mines in South .... 37 Anecdote of King James VI. 159 Anecdotes of miners . . 92 Animals, gold found in the bodies of. . . .36 A.rab miners, superstitions of 112, 147 Art of making salt formerly 331 Artificial diamonds . . 220 Asbestos . . . .314 Australia, first discovery of gold in . . . 31 Austria, diamond belonging to the Emperor of . . 228 Ball given in a coal mine . 58 Bars and rods of iron, how made .... 177 Bauman's Hole in the Hartz 144 Bewick, Thomas, sketch of 366 Biographical sketches of emi- nent men who have been connected with mining : 356 Bewick, Thomas . . 366 Davy, Sir Humphry . . 388 Demidoff . . . . 375 Fairbairn, William . . 368 Hargraves, Edmund Ham- mond .... 379 Humboldt, Alexander Von . 37? Hunt, Robert . . .384 Hutton, Dr. Charles . .372 Llewellyn, William . -374 Luther, Martin . . -356 Middleton, Sir Hugh . . 385 Miller, Hugh . . .378 Murchison, Sir Roderick Impey .... 382 Neilson, James Beaumont . 371 Stephenson, George . -357 Stephenson, Robert . .361 Symington, William . .367 Trevithick, Richard . . 362 Boden and Pearson, escape of two miners . . . 119 Bones of animals found in mines .... 144 Borro, Baron, accident to, in a lead mine . . . 209 Borrowdale, graphite found in 2ii Botallack submarine mine . 154 visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to . 156 Brazils, curious discovery of diamonds at the . .217 diamond-seekers at the 217 Brine springs . . . 347 British Columbia, ' discovery of gold at . . . 34 Bruce, Sir George, and the Culross collieries . . 159 Buckland on the coal forma- tion in Bohemia . . 53 395 Caillaud, M., emerald mines discovered by . , .146 California gold-fields de- scribed . . . .28 first discovery of gold in 28 Canada, do. . 34 Carat, origin of the term . 222 Caverns at Ale Burn . .150 in the Hartz Mountains 144 at Hutton . . . 143 in Iceland . . 140 in the Peak, Derbyshire 141 at Wirksworth . . 144 in Yorkshire . 139 Celebrated diamonds and diamond mines . .231 Chalcedon, ancient subma- rine mine at . . .164 Chinese mode of importing quicksilver . . .321 thin sheet lead, how made .... 204 Cinnabar, properties of . 322 Clockmaker at Malta, story of a 348 Coals, a chat about . . 49 want of, in former times 49 known to the Britons and Romans . . '5 origin of . . 52 vegetable remains in . 53 descriptions of . 56 abundance of . -56 first discovery of, in New Zealand . .33 Coal mine, glance at a -57 ball given in a $8 depth of a . . 59 interior of a . .60 under the sea . . 60 mode of working in a . 61 ventilation of a . .63 dress of pitman in . 64 fire-damp in a . 65 curious discovery of a . 71 lines on a, by a miner . 73 submarine, at White- haven .... 163 Coal mine at Quarrelton, fearful accident in a .128 Cock, submarine mine in Cornwall . St. 154 College for miners at Petersburg . . .192 Collieries, Staffordshire, fear- ful accident in the . .123 at Irvine . . . 133 Colliery village, evening in a 99 Common stones . . . 295 chalk, composition of . 298 fossil remains in . 298 microscopic expe- riments with . . . 298 flint described . .312 uses of. . . 312 granite, geological in- terest attached to . . 296 formations . . 296 296 297 uses of . lime, composition of . limestone, fossil remains in 301 marble composition of 299 primary formation of rocks .... 300 secondary strata . . 300 stone quarries at Paris 310 tertiary formation of rocks . . . .301 Cook, Captain, and the South Sea Islanders . . .172 Copper and tin mines of Cornwall and Devonshire 74 known in early times ... 74 nature of, and where found . springs uses of ... malleable qualities of . Coprolites .... uses of for manure Cordona, in Spain, salt mines at ...- 337 Cornish miners, mode of liv- ing of the 3IS 317 95 396 INDEX. PAGE Cornish miners, bravery of the 96 miner, anecdote of a . 96 Cornwall, relics of old mines in 146 mineral veins in . .85 submarine mines in . 154 Corpse-candle, superstition among miners . . .114 Cottages of the pitmen . 102 Counterfeit mine at St. Petersburg . . . 194 Crawley Rocks, discovery of a cave in . . . . 144 Croesus, story of . . .5 Crown submarine mine in Cornwall . . . .154 Crowns .... 276 Alfred the Great, crown of 279 ancient, in the Cluny Museum, at Paris . . 278 Blood's attempt to steal the crown regalia . . 282 British " . 280, 281, 289 Charles I., state crown of 281 Charlemagne, crown of 290 coronets of the Royal Family . . . 289 diadems . . 277 Edward, crown of St. 282 emblematic of the Re demption . . 276 Hungarian crown 290 Italy, iron crown of 291 mentioned in the Bible 276 modem . . . 277 Russian Imperial Trea- sury .... 292 Culross, submarine collieries at 1 5 9 Curious discoveries in mines 139 history of the Sanci diamond .... 230 mines in Dudley Castle 144 Curtis, Thomas, and the sub- marine mine . . .161 Customs of. the Sunderland pitmen . . . .103 Cutting and polishing dia- monds . . . .221 Danger in submarine mines Davy, Sir Humphry, bio- graphical sketch of . Davey, Mr. Thomas, in- ventor of the safety fuse . Dean Forest, miners of Delphi, submarine mine at . Demidoff, biographical sketch of Description of iron ore of a smelting furnace Diamond mines and cele- brated diamonds at Golconda . in Bahia, discovery of in Brazil Diamonds, where found first introduction of artificial false . cutting and polishing . glaziers' and other jewels in the British crown . belonging to foreign powers .... Diamond, cutting the Koh-i- noor .... history of the Koh-i- noor .... value of the Koh-i-noor superstitions connected with the .... the Mattan . history of the Sanci the Hastings dust, value of Difficulties in working sub- marine mines . Discoveries, curious, in mines . . Divining-rod . . 84 Droitwich, salt ways at Dragons in mines, supersti- tions respecting Dreams, mines discovered through .... 153 388 90 115 164 175 213 214 218 217 214 215 220 2I 9 221 2 3 I 232 228 222 223 227 231 223 230 231 232 153 139 116 346 112 INDEX. 397 Dudley Castle, curious caves in 144 Earths described . . .313 Earthquakes in mines . .121 Ekaterineberg, mines in .184 El" Dorado of Sir Walter Raleigh .... 34 Emerald mines in Egypt . 146 Eminent men connected with mining . . . .356 England, crown of, precious stones in the . . . 232 Evening in a colliery village 99 Evil spirits in mines . . 113 Escapes, perils and, of miners 117 Esquimaux, value of iron among the . . . 1 72 Esquiros', M. Alphonse, visit to salt-works . . . 33 1 Eyam, mines at, earthquake in ..... 122 Fairbairn, Thomas, biogra- phy of . . 368 Fairy butter in mines . .112 Festivals of the salt miners . 334 Fire-damp in coal mines . 55 Foley, the fiddler, story of . 178 Fossils . . . -301 Aiming, Mary, of Lyme Regis . . . .305 Coprolites . . . 315 ichthyosaurus described 305 in Paris lime quarries . 308 lessons taught by . 301 Lyme Regis rich in . 303 plesiosaurus described . 306 pterodactyl described . 307 Gathon, a sprite infesting mines . . . .no Geology, mines discovered by a knowledge of . .84 Gipsies employed in gold- washing . . . -23 Godbeheres, escape of miners at . 118 PAGE Golconda, diamond mines at 214 Tavernier's visit to .215 Gold and silver, earliest metals known i mines of Hungary and Transylvania . . 23 Spain, Chili, and Russia . . .24 mines of Wicklow, how 25 2 discovered of Ophir abundance of, in ancient times mine, the Emperor Alexander's visit to a .183 in England . . .25 in California, Australia, New Zealand, &c. . . 27 first discovery of . 28 in Australia, do. . 31 in British Columbia, do. 34 in Canada, do. . 35 in Guiana, do. . 34 in New Zealand, do. . 33 in Nova Scotia, do. . 33 seekers of California . 29 found in the bodies of animals . . * . 36 rare specimens of, at St. Petersburg . . .193 Guancavelica, quicksilver mines of . . . . 325 Graphite, where found . 211 precautions taken in collecting . . .212 scarcity of . . .210 Guinea, why so called . .21 Halle, salt mines at . . 342 Hammer, Nasmyth's steam . 181 Hampton Court Palace, lead pipes at . . . .196 Hargraves, E. H., biogra- phical sketch of . . 379 Hartz Mountains, caverns in the 144 Hastings, Warren, diamond presented by . . .231 39 8 INDEX. Hodgarts, escape of two brothers in a mine . .130 Hucklow, escape of miners at 117 Hudgill Burn, discoveries in a lead mine at . . . 152 Humboldt's theory respect- ing meteoric iron Humboldt, biography of Alexander Von Hungary, lead mines in Hunt, Robert, biographical sketch of ... Huntsman, Benjamin, in- ventor of cast steel . Hutton, Dr. Charles, bio- graphy of ... Hutton, remarkable cavern at Iceland, caverns in Idria, quicksilver mines of . Indian miners, superstitions of the Inglis's visit to the salt mines at Halle .... Invention of the safety fuse by Thomas Davey . of cast steel by Benja- min Huntsman of the steam hammer by Nasmyth Iron and its uses . earliest mention of and coal usually found together .... nature of meteoric, theo- ries respecting the . banks of, raised by ani- malcules .... varieties of wrought, how prepared 17 splitting mills in Sweden 17 smeltingof . workers in olden times Irvine, accident in the col- lieries at . . James the Sixth, visit of, to the submarine mines at Culross . . . -159 Jewels in the crown of Eng- land Just, St., mining districts in 232 170 373 209 384 179 372 143 140 326 112 343 90 179 181 165 1 66 168 170 173 176 177 178 169 166 133 Cornwall . . .154 Knockers, spirits infesting mines .... loo Koh-i-noor diamond, recut- ting of the . . 222 Laplace, his theory respect- ing meteoric iron . .170 Lead, abundance of, for- merly .... 197 characteristics of . . 197 districts in England . 203 casting and drawing . 195 uses of ... 204 made .... 204 employed for writing upon in early times . . 195 manufacture of shots and bullets . . . 205 Pattinson's process for separating silver from . 207 poisonous properties of 210 white, works . . 206 works of the London Lead Company . . 202 mines of England and Spain . 194 of Amalgrera . 208 at Alston Moor, visit to the . . 197 erns at . . . . 150 at Hudgill Burn curious caverns at . .152 mine, accident to Baron Borro in a . . . 209 pencils, how made . 210 INDEX. 399 Lead pencils, curious use made of . . . . 212 Levant submarine mine in Cornwall . . . 155 Li &ge, accident in a colliery at 135 Llewellyn, William, bio- graphy of ... 374 London badly lighted in former times . . . 50 Lowther, Sir John, and the submarine mines at White- haven .... 163 Luther, Martin, biography of 356 Major, story of, in the mines of Russia . . .184 Malta, disaster in some salt- works at . . . . 348 Man-engine, invaluable to miners . . . .87 Manufacture of rock salt . 336 Marco Polo and the dia- monds of Golconda . 213 Mattan diamond, the . . 222 Mawe, Mr., and the false diamond . . . .219 Mercury, native amalgam of 321 Metals in Cornwall . . 85 Meteoric iron, theories re- specting . . . .170 Methold's visit to the mines of Golconda . . .215 Mexico, precious metals in . 21 Midas, story of king . . 6 Middleton, Sir Hugh, bio- graphical sketch of . 385 his gains from silver mines . . . .38 Miller, Hugh, biographical sketch of . . .378 Mine, accident at Haycliff . 120 ball given in a coal . 58 description of a metallic 83 glance at a coal . . 57 visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Bo- tallack . . . .156 Mines, accidental discoveries in 83 accident in the Quar- relton . . . .128 annual loss of life in . 66 contrasted, past and present . . . -93 curious, at Dudley Castle 144 139 discoveries in tin, discovered through dreams . . . . 117 diamond . . .213 dragons in . earthquakes in . emerald, in Egypt Gurney's method of ex. 112 123 I 4 6 tinguishing fires in lead, of England and Spain .... method of blasting in . operations in metallic . overflowed by water 6 9 9 o 7 preparations for work- ing .... 85 quicksilver . . . 319 relics of the ancients found in . . .145 ruby and sapphire, of Pegu and Ava . . 245 salt, of Wieliczka and Halle . . . .327 ofNorthwich . 331 of Spain . . 337 set on fire . .69 submarine . . -153 mentioned by the ancients . . . .164 vegetables in, supersti- tions respecting . .112 ventilation of .88 Miners, anecdotes of . .92 escape of, at Hucklow and Godbeheres . .118 habits of the Cornish . 95 of the Stafford- 98 146 shire coal houses Egypt . of ancient, in 40O INDEX. 154 PAGE Miners, perils and escapes of 1 1 7 superstitions of . . 107 Mining district of St. Just, in Cornwall eminent men who have been connected with school at St. Petersburg invention in Russia Mole compared with a hu- man miner Morris, his account of the "knockers " in mines 356 192 182 57 io8 Nasmyth's steam hammer . 181 Native, or meteoric iron de- scribed . . . .170 Natural brine, where obtained 346 Neilson, James Beaumont, biography of . . . 371 Newcastle coal-field, extent of the . . . .65 colliers, habits of the . 98 Northwich, salt rocks at . 331 visit to the mines at . 332 Nova Scotia, discovery of gold in . . . .33 Old mines, curious discove- ries in .... 139 Tor mine, beautiful sta- lactites in the . . . 143 Ore of lead for glazing pot- tery . . .' .205 of iron . . . 168 Origin of the term "carat" 222 Pattinson, process for sepa- rating silver from lead . 207 Peak, in Derbyshire, remark- able caverns in the . . 141 Pearson and Boden, escape of two miners. . .119 Pegu, ruby and sapphire mines of Ava and . . . 245 Penzance, the " Wherry" submarine mine at . .160 Perils and escapes of miners 117 PAGE Peru, silver mines of Pasco, in, how discovered . . 40 tricks of the Indian miners in . . .41 Salcedo, in, silver mines 42 Pewter, a mixture of lead with tin .... 204 Phoenicians, the earliest tra- ders in metal ... 3 Philosopher's stone, the true . . . .18 Pitt diamond, history of the 229 Pixies in mines . . .no Poisonous properties of lead 210 Portugal, diamond belonging to the king of . . . 230 Potosi, the silver mines of . 46 Precious metals, abundance of the, in former times . 4 where found . . 20 Precious stones, and super- stitions connected with them .... 235 Agate . . .268 presented to Queen Elizabeth . . . 269 Aladdin and the garden of jewels . . .241 amethysts, whence ob- . tained by the ancients . 263 Oriental . . 264 origin of the name 263 Queen Charlotte's necklace of ... 264 superstitions re- garding .... 264 Arabian nights . .241 Ava, ruby and sapphire mines of . . . . 245 Becket, Thomas a jewelled shrine of . . 248 Beryls described . . 265 in the British Mu- . 265 . 274 seum Cameo, meaning of Camei brought from the East .... 274 Carnelian, where found 272 INDEX. 401 Carnelian, connected Precious stones, superstitions with the .... 272 Cat's- eye, a variety of opal .... 257 intheMaiiborough collection . . .257 Ceylon remarkable for its jewels 241, 242, 243, 254, 259, 265 Chalcedony, busts made of 268 described . . 267 chemical value of jewels 235 Chrysolite, supposed virtues of the . . .271 Crawford's account of the ruby and sapphire mines in Pegu and Ava . 245 Crystallizations, mathe- matical regularity of of St., 251 Denis, Abbey jewels in the . . .249 East, superstitions de- rived from the . .241 Edward the Confessor, jewelled shrine of . . 248 Emerald, imitation of the 263 largest known . 263 mines of Zebarah . 262 superstitions con- nected with the valued Romans . by the 262 262 worshipped in Peru 262 engraved gem of King Pyrrhus .... 267 origin of engraved gems 273 fabrication of . -273 garnets, where found . 271 gems, engraved, in British Museum . .274 the Duke of Devon- shire's collection . .274 French . .274 Joseph Pichler, a celebrated engraver . .274 the ancients where found Precious stones, gems, en- graved, Poniatowski col- lection . . . .274 Pulzky collection . 274 curious natural figures in ... 268 fables of the an- cients . . . .237 Gyges, wonderful ring of 239 Intaglio, meaning of . 274 Jasper, described . 271 Egyptian . .271 talismanic virtues of the . . . . 271 Jewish fables respecting jewels . . . .237 Lapis-lazuli described . 272 highly esteemed by 272 272 Mandeville's stories re- specting .... 254 Marco Paulo's do. . 253 mentioned in the Bible 235 Mithridates, signet rings of 273 natal, of the Poles . 239 offerings of, to the gods 247 Opal, cat's-eye . . 257 described . . 256 Empress Jose- phine's . . . .257 fine specimens of, in the British Museum, and at Vienna . . . 256 large, and common 258 largest known . 258 Pliny's description 257 superstitions con- nected with . . . 258 Oriental, a term imply- ing perfection . . . 252 Orpheus on the virtues of gems .... 237 Paris, fabrication of gems at ... 273 Pegu, rubyand sapphire mines of . . . 245 2 D 402 INDEX. PAGE \ Precious stones, Polycrates, celebrated jewel of . . 238 Prometheus, first wearer of a ring .... 238 Ratnapoora, famous for its gems .... 243 Regent Orleans, of France, gems belonging to the 273 religious dedication of jewels in the Middle Ages 248 Rome, fabrication of gems at . . . .273 Roman value of gems . 247 Ruby, abundance of the, in Ceylon . . . 254 Chinese fables about the . . .254 - largest known . 253 - Mandeville's fabu- lous account of the . .252 Marco Paulo's fabu- lous account of the . . 252 mines of Pegu and Ava .... 245 Sapphire, Oriental . 259 superstitions con- nected with . . . 260 where found . 260 similes derived from . 240 Topaz described . .270 fabulous account of the 270 where found . 270 Turquois, described . 267 Shakspere's allu- sion to the . . . 239 superstitions con- nected with the . . 266 : where found . . 266 Wedgwood's seals and camei .... 273 Prussia, diamond belonging to the king of . . . 228 Quicksilver, amalgamation process of . . -319 mines .... 319 Quicksilver mines of Al- maden, in Spain . . -- of California . -- of Guancavelica . of Idria -- properties of . . -- singular means of im- porting it from China . 325 326 320 321 Raolconde, diamond mines at 2 1 5 Regent diamond, history of the .... 228 Remarkable caverns at Hut- ton ..... 143 in the Peak . . 141 at Wirks worth . .144 Rough diamonds . .220 Runjeet Singh, and the Koh- . i-noor diamond . . 225 Russia, abundance of gold in 183 diamonds belong to the Emperor of ... 228 Russian mining engineers, intelligence of the . . 1 84 Safety-lamp of Clanny, Stephenson, and Davy principle of the for blasting in 66 67 Davy fuse, mines . . . .90 Saint Just, district of, in Cornwall . . . 154 Salt mines of Wieliczka and Halle . . . .327 mentioned in the Scrip- tures . . . .327 in Spain . . . 337 of Cordona . . 337 of Wieliczka, visit to the 338 of Halle, in Austria . 342 Salt, many uses of . . 355 customs in Scotland with regard to . . . 328 abundance of . . 328 scarcity of, in ancient times .... 33 varieties of . . . 347 INDEX. 403 Salt-rocks at Northwich .331 manufacture of rock . 330 way* at Droitwich . 347 gardens . . . 347 works, attempted by a clockmaker at Malta . 348 lakes of Utah . . 353 production of, in Eng- land .... 336 Spain, salt mines in . 337 Sanci diamond, history of the 230 Silver rojnes in South Ame- rica 37 native. . . , 37 in mixed ores . . 38 Sindbad the sailor, and the valley of jewels . .213 Sincora diamond mine, dis- covery of the . . .218 Slickensides, dangerous pro- perties of . . .120 Smelting furnace, description of a 175 works in Wales . . 175 SE&ith, the, much considered in former times . .166 Sopwith's description of a lead mine in Alston Moor 197 Spain, lead mines of England and 194 Speedwell mine, natural ca- verns in the . . .142 Staffordshire collieries, fear- ful accident in one of the . 123 coal miners, habits of the 98 Stalactites in mines . . 143 Steel, composition of . .176 invention of cast . . 1 79 Story of Croesus ... 5 of an Italian alchemist 13 of Mr. Boyle and an alchemist . . . 14 of the discovery of a silver mine in Peru . 45 of Foley, the fiddler .178 of a Franciscan monk, and the Indian miners . 45 Story of Helvetius and the alchemist . . .15 of the hermit who found a treasure . . .10 of King Midas . . 6 of an iron-founder at Sheffield . . . .179 of an English engineer in Russia. . . .184 of a clockmaker at Malta 348 of Olaf Eager . . 8 of Salcedo, the Peruvian miner . . . .42 of the schoolmaster who discovered the gold mines ofWicklow . . .25 of a Spanish Viceroy . 43 Submarine mines mentioned by the ancients . .164 the " Wherry," at Pen- zance .... 160 at Whitehaven . .163 at Botallack . .154 Superior, Lake, curious re- mains in the mines of . 146 Superstitions of the Arabian miners . . . 112 147 connected with precious stones . . , .235 of Cornish miners . 115 of Dean Forest miners. 115 of Indian miners . . 112 of miners . . . 107 Tavernier's visit to the mines ofGolconda . . .215 Taylor, John, a miner, anec- dotes of . . . . 104 Termant, Professor, account of the jewels in the English crown .... 232 Theories respecting meteoric iron . . . .1/0 Tin and copper mines of Cornwall and Devonshire 74 large production of, in Cornwall ... 80 INDEX. Tin and copper mines men- tioned in the Scriptures . 80 "Wherry" sub- marine mine of . .160 sent to smelting works in Wales. ... 83 uses of . . .82 Trevithick, Richard, biogra- phy of . . 362 Turks, the iron-forgers in former times . . .167 Under the sea, mines . : 153 Unlucky days of miners . 116 Ural mountains, mines in the 183 Uses of copper . -77 iron . . 165 lead . . . 204 salt . tin . Utah, salt lakes of . -353 Value of diamond-dust . 232 and importance of iron 165 of the Koh-i-noor dia- mond .... 227 Vegetables in mines, super- stitions respecting . .112 Ventilation of coal mines . 63 Vermilion, characteristics of 322 Visit of the Emperor Alex- ander to a gold mine . 183 of the King of Saxony to the salt mines of Wieliczka 340 King James the Sixth to Culross submarine col- lieries .... 159 . to a lead mine at Alston Moor . . .197 . of the Prince and Prin- cess of Wales to the Bo- tallack mine, Cornwall . 156 PAG 8 Visit to the salt mines at Northwich, in Cheshire . 351 Wieliczka . . 338 Halle, in Austria . 342 Wales, the Prince and Prin- cess of, visit to the Botal- lack mine . . .156 Watts, William, inventor of lead shot manufacture . 205 Wedgwood, seals and camei 273 Wesley, the Rev. John, the miner's benefactor . . 95 "Wherry" submarine tin mine at Penzance, in Corn- wall . . . .160 White-lead, process of ob- taining .... 206 pebble-pit, remains of old miners in the . . 145 W r hitehaven, submarine coal mines at . . . .163 Wieliczka, salt mines of . 338 Stevens' visit to the salt mines at . . . 339 Wirksworth, remarkable ca- verns at . . . . 144 Worth, Mrs., and the Corn- ish miner, anecdote of . 96 Wrought iron, how prepared 177 Yorkshire miners, discoveries of caverns by . . .139 Zealand, New, first discovery of gold in . . -33 Zebarah, in Egypt, emerald mines of . . . . 146 LONDON : BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., PRINTERS, WHITHFRIARS. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. USE 1963 I'D U3 UN LD 21A-50m-ll,'62 (D3279slO)476B General Library University of California Berkeley