THE MINES AND MINING IN THE WEST.

IN the mines of Devon and Cornwall, upwards of 30,000 persons are employed, men, women, and children, earning on an average upwards of £700,000 per annum. The annual consumption of coals is nearly 60,000 tons; of gunpowder, 300 tons; of timber, nearly 15,000 loads of 50 cubic feet; and of candles, about 1,500,000 lbs., costing about £35,000. These are but items of expenditure; and for what purpose? This we propose to shew in the course of the few following observations. These extensive operations are confined to comparatively small districts in the two counties, so that it is possible to be a native, and to travel much, without ever having seen amine, and without knowing anything about it. It is possible even for the casual observer to pass close by a mine without the attention being particularly attracted to the locality; but fairly set him down on one, and it is scarcely possible that curiosity should not be excited.

The first objects that strike the attention are the immense heaps of stone, presenting a considerable variety of colour, form, and structure. On one of these heaps may be seen a horse, or a pair of horses, travelling in a large circle, whirling a cage encircled by a rope, winding off and on. Presently the clanking of a chain announces the approach of the extremity of the rope, and the kibble, or iron bucket attached, dashes into daylight, and now is seen the source of the surrounding heaps. The horse stops, the contents of the kibble are emptied into an iron waggon placed on a rail, the horses start again in an opposite direction, the kibble disappears, the horses continue their slow revolving trot for some time, until the kibble at the other end of the rope makes its appearance from the depths of darkness below. If standing by the side of the shaft, the sound of the approaching kibble striking its sides may be occasionally heard. Up, and down, and around they go; and a whimsical affair it is, for a whim is the prime mover of all. A substantial definition of a whim we now may have, if we never had one before. A whim consists of a stout horizontal beam of timber, supported at each end by suitable props. In the centre of this beam revolves one end of a perpendicular axle, about twelve feet high, the other end being supported and footed in a stone. Around the upper

part of this axle, a large circular cage is built, about ten feet diameter, and from the axle below the cage, extend two long arms, from one end of which depends a strong iron arm, to it a revolving cross arm is fastened, to which the horses are attached, and on which ofttimes the juvenile driver takes his stand. The rope is so disposed around this cage, that when one end of it is at the bottom of the whim-shaft the other is at the top; and while the kibble attached to one end is ascending, the other is descending. This is a horse whim. There are also water whims and steam whims,—in the former, the power obtained is by a water wheel; in the latter, by a steam-engine. The ropes in these are wound around and off a perpendicular drum. The ropes employed are either round or flat; sometimes of hemp and sometimes of iron wire. Chains are rarely if ever employed. The horse

NO. II.-NEW SERIES.

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whims are used only for comparatively shallow depths. Water or steam is generally used for great depths.

We have seen the stuff come to grass, and presently we shall see where the railway has conducted it. We hear a loud noise like the constant heavy roll of musketry-the stamps. In our way to the noisemaker, we come upon a small square hole in the ground, with the end of a ladder sticking up-a footway shaft. A dark, dismal hole it is, the entrance to the shades below. We look down it with something approaching to a feeling of terror. Perchance, we may catch a glimpse of an approaching light. Another and another make their appearance, and presently the bearers come into full daylight.

These miners are just returned from their work, bathed in perspiration, and exhausted with the perpendicular ascent of some two hundred to three hundred fathoms, or eighteen hundred feet, independent of, perhaps, considerable travelling through levels. The underground dress of a miner, complete, consists of a flannel shirt, a thick coarse flannel or serge trowsers, a thick coat of the same material, a brown holland skull-cap, a broad-brimmed, thick, skull-hat, a pair of shoes. His other accoutrements consist of a tinder-box, flint, and steel, deposited in the breast pocket of his flannel shirt; a pound of candles hung on his shirt neck-button; slung around his neck, a bag containing a pasty; and thrown over his shoulder, a sharp-pointed pick, or instead of the pick, a bundle of borers, or boyers, as they are more commonly called These last are pieces of round iron bars, from two to three feet long, and three-quarters to one inch thick, steel-pointed, used for boring holes into the rocks for blasting A ball of well-kneaded clay to serve as a candle-holder is indispensible. This is either held in the hand, or, if the miner has many articles to carry with him, by the assistance of a little salivary moisture, the candlestick is attached to the front part of the hat, thus leaving the hands entirely free.

We can scarcely hope to convey to our readers what a mine is, after all; but invite them to bear with us while we give a sketch of our own underground excursions.

Having placed ourselves under the command of an underground captain, we were directed to exchange our usual attire for such as that just described. Our transformation being complete, we felt assured that our most intimate friends would not suspect our identity.

Our candles being lighted, we commenced our descent by a perpendicular ladder, with iron bars, having received a precautionary order not to let one hand go, before we have obtained a firm hold with the other. We watched the receding daylight with something like regret. It gradually diminishes until it appears like a star above us. At last, it disappears; and then we think ourselves fairly committed to our new undertaking. The ground continues dry for some time; it gradually becomes damp, moist, wet, and the water begins to drop on us. necessity for the precaution to hold on becomes obvious, as the ladder bars become more and more slippery from the moisture. We are glad to find ourselves at last on a platform some twenty fathoms below the starting point, and glad are we to obtain a little rest; for a portion of our pathway has been perpendicular, another portion overhanging, and another part sufficiently inclined in the opposite direction, to allow of walking instead of climbing, but not upright.

The

After a little conversation, we start again; and having descended another twenty fathoms, we come to the adit-level, where we find a fine stream of water running by us on its course towards the sea. To this channel is conducted, by means hereafter to be explained, all the water in the mine, both from above and below.

In some

The adit-level is a tunnel carried from the interior of a mine, which is most generally situated on the side of a hill, to the lowest practicable level that can be obtained above high-water mark. These tunnels vary much in length according to their locality. The longest yet made is in Cornwall, known as the great Gwennap adit. It was commenced in 1748, and finished in less than twenty years. Its length, with its various branches, is between thirty and forty miles. parts, it is sixty to seventy fathoms deep; its average depth below the surface is from twenty to thirty fathoms, and the quantity of water discharged at its exit in Restronget Creek is, probably, not less than twenty millions tons per annum. It has been calculated that the construction of this adit has effected a saving of about £20,000 per annum for fuel only, which would otherwise be required to pump the surface water out of the mine.

Recommencing our descent from the adit-level, we have more frequently to take our course for short distances through levels, where we have occasinally to prostrate ourselves, and, serpent-like, to crawl through holes, where, fortunately, our want of obesity barely relieves us from the risk of striking. By this time a little mud does not frighten us, provided we can keep our faces out of it. At last, having attained a depth of one hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty fathoms, we begin to meet with signs of life. In the level we are passing through, we are obliged to step aside occasionally, to allow of the passage on the tram-way of a loaded waggon, pushed along by men or boys, conveying ore and attle, or waste, to the whim-shaft, whence it is to be raised, in the manner we have before seen, to grass-which, bythe-bye, is a rare article on the surface of an extensive mine. We proceed a little farther, and at length arrive at an end, where we find several men at work, sinking a winze on the lode. The lode is that part of the ground which contains the metalliferous deposits; and the object of sinking a winze is to open a communication between this and the next lower level; and in so doing, if the lode be productive, the ore is obtained, either copper, lead, or tin, which is the object of the miner to procure. But at the same time that this set of men is sinking the winze, it is very probable that in the lower level, the miners are at work rising the winze; that is, working upwards to meet the sinkers. The two parties are forewarned of their proximity by their holing the winze; that is, getting sufficiently near to make a hole with a borer through the intervening space. Having arrived thus far, we find a difficulty in getting our candles to burn, our breathing is more laborious, and we feel as if a plate of lead were lying on our chests. We thus first become aware of the necessity for ventilation in a mine, and of the difficulty that there is in obtaining free ventilation in certain localities. We are obliged to hold our candles on one side, to make them burn. The men in the next level, rising the winze, experience the same difficulty with those above; but when the communication

is completed, ventilation will take place, and the difficulties will be removed.

Here, then, we see the miner breaking down the ground, now with the pick and shovel, where it is comparatively soft; in harder ground, having recourse to the gad, a small steel-edged wedge; and where harder ground still, he has recourse to the borer, which is generally held by one man and driven with a heavy hammer by another. The hole being completed, it is cleaned out and dried; a charge of gunpowder is put in, proportioned to the size of the hole, a length of safety-fuze is introduced, and the remainder of the hole is filled up with dry clay, &c. The tamping is completed by driving this hard and firm. The tamping is so managed as to allow of a sufficient length of the safety-fuze to remain above the hole, that, after it is lighted, the men may have sufficient time to get to a place of safety before the gunpowder explodes. The explosion sometimes loosens many tons of the rock; but occasionally it produces no effect whatever, and it becomes necessary to recharge the hole several times before the desired effect can be produced.

The explosion of the powder always produces much deleterious vapours, and in such a place as that just described, the miners are frequently obliged to withdraw from their work for several hours after blasting a hole.

As the explosion of the "Gun Cotton" is not attended with the evolution of noxious vapours, it is likely to prove peculiarly advantageous to the miner in his operations.

While the miner is at work loosening the ground, or the country, as he terms it, his assistants are busy in removing the loosened matters in a wheelbarrow to the place where it may be tipped or shovelled into the waggons, on the tram-way before referred to.

The captain enquires how the lode is looking? "Kindly," is the answer; or, perchance, "not so well as she did." Even the rough miner is fond of the feminine appellative, although he must needs apply it to heart of stone. And now, as pasty time is come, we sit us down with our rough-handed but kindly-spoken associates. In the midst of our low, quiet converse, "in darkness palpable,”—for the dim lights serve only to remind us that such a blessing as light does exist,— ve insensibly feel less of the anxiety natural to our novel position, we get more cheerful, and anon we whistle; but it must not be, our sage neighbour warns us," It is unlucky to whistle underground." Our thoughts gradually assume the hue of the solemn, sombre darkness around; we think of the mighty mass of solid earth above us. If a stone should fall, stop our road, and prevent our return,-what then! But we cannot afford to dwell on such thoughts. We examine the nature of the ground. The thickness of the lodes is pointed out to us as lying between the two walls or distinct surfaces, or lines of division extending at an angle from the perpendicular, and at a very regular distance, the walls being parallel and continuing on in a direction east and west. Where the whole of the load has been excavated from between the walls, as they are at a considerable angle from the perpendicular, if the ground be at all soft, it is necessary to board up the upper side, and to support it with strong beams of timber to prevent the walls running together.