principally quartz and schistus; quartz being frequently what is technically called the gangue of the ore, and schistus the rock. Some varieties of this rock are here provincially called killas, and by the geologists grauwacke. The mine produces also some tin, cobalt, pyrites, blue vitriol, and even silver. Very little progress is made without blasting, and this destroys more lives than all the other casualties of the business put together. They exploded one blast while we were there; we, of course, retired a proper distance, out of danger.

Having seen all the interesting things of the place, we began to ascend. We were drawn up a small part of the way in a bucket, worked by a windlass, but we went up principally by ladders, in a shaft quite remote from that in which we descended. It was that in which the rod of the steam-engine plays to draw up the water.

This engine is one of very great magnitude. The rod, which is made of pieces of timber, and, at the top, cannot be less than five or six feet in diameter, descends perpendicularly one hundred and eighty fathons, or, one thousand and eighty feet, and motion is propagated through this whole distance, so as to raise a weight of thirty thousand pounds at every stroke, for this is the power of the engine.

The steam-engine is now extensively employed in mining, not only to raise the water, but the ore; indeed, without it, the mine of Dolgoath could not be wrought; the strength of horses and of men is a useful auxiliary, but would effect, comparatively, very little alone.

and the ruby red, the latter often in octahedral crystals of great beauty, the arseniates of copper, &c. are found in this rich mining district.

At length, after a most laborious and painful ascent, less hazardous it is true, but incomparably more fatiguing than the descent, because the muscles now have to lift the weight of the body, we reached the surface in safety, at a great distance from the place where we first descended. With joy, with gratitude, I beheld the returning light of heaven, and although I could not think that, in my case, the enterprise was rash, because my views were profes sional, I should certainly dissuade any friend from gratifying mere curiosity at so much hazard. The danger is serious, even to the miners, for, by explosions, by falls, by mephitic gases, and other causes connected with the nature of the employments, numbers of the people are carried off every year, and, on this account, Redruth and its vicinity has an uncommon proportion of widows and orphans.

The ore, after it is brought out of the mines, is broken in stamping mills, pounded with hammers by women and young girls, washed, sifted, and sent away to Wales to be smelted. Wales has abundance of coal, and Cornwall very little, which is the reason that the ore is carried over the Bristol Channel.

Immediately after coming again into day-light, we made all possible haste to shelter ourselves from the cold wind, as we were afraid of the consequences of checking too suddenly a very profuse perspiration; the nearest house was our wardrobe, to which we immediately resorted, and performed a general ablution from head to foot. I then resumed my proper dress, and prepared to return again into more comfortable life. Before taking leave of my conductors, who, with the greatest patience, good-nature, and intelligence, had done every thing both for my safety and

gratification, I offered them a small recompense; but, with sentiments of delicacy, not often found in any country, among people of that condition in life, they declined taking any thing, alleging that it was not decent to receive money of a stranger for a mere act of civility; and it was not, till after repeated solicitations, that I could induce them to yield the point. Such magnanimity among people who are buried most of their lives, and who seem to have a kind of right to tax all those who live on the surface, was as unexpected as it was gratifying. It is not true, however, that the Cornish miners live permanently below ground; they go up regularly every night, and down again in the morning, so that they perform, every day of their lives, the tour which seemed so formidable

to me.

I now hastened back to Redruth, and dined, by invita tion of Mr. Magor, with the proprietors of the mines or their agents, and those of the several companies who manufacture copper and tin. There are certain set days when these gentlemen meet-the one party to sell, and the other to buy, the produce of the mines; the ceremony is called a ticketing, because the proposals for buying are sent in, written on tickets, and the whole affair is preceded by a dinner, of which all partake at the expense of the mines. To-day there were about fifty people assembled on this business. The steward of Lord Dedunstanville, a principal proprietor, presided at table. In the course of fifteen minutes, the ore, to the amount of about eighteen thousand pounds, was sold by a method which unites all the advantages of a vendue without any of its clamour. I have not time to describe it, for, although it is wonderfully sim

ple, it would require minute specification to render it intelligible.

The produce of the Cornish mines is now prodigiously great; that little district around Redruth is said to produce five hundred thousand pounds sterling a year.

I spent the evening with Mr. Rowe, who, with Mr. Magor, seem as if they could not do enough for me during my short stay in Cornwall.

I retired to rest, at night, well satisfied with my day's work, and most favourably impressed with Cornish hospitality, and with the spirit of civility which seems to pervade the labourers in the mines equally with the gentlemen in the country.

No. L.-EXCURSION TO THE LAND's END.

Abundance of rain-Bad roads-The last house in England-Nature of the coast-The Logan rock-Inconsistent traits in the Cornish character-Smugglers-Mines under the sea-Penzance--Mount's Bay-Granite and other rocks.

Sept. 6.-I took breakfast with Mr. Magor, and spent the morning in visiting collections of minerals, and in selecting enough of Cornish specimens for a box, to be transmitted, by the waggons, to London. Being assured, on all hands, that I should gain no additional information by visiting any of the other mines, and having devoted to this object as much time as I could spare, I took leave of those friends whose more than polite attentions entitle them to my warmest thanks, and at two o'clock P. M.

proceeded westward on my way to Penzance. It was a market day, and the streets of Redruth were so crowded with people, that it was difficult to find room for my gig to pass. The sun shone, when I left this hamlet, but, I had not proceeded two miles, before the heavens were black with clouds and wind, and the rain poured down in floods. A temporary shelter, first beneath a hedge row, then in a blacksmith's shop, and finally in a cottage, did not prevent me from being thoroughly soaked, for, the rain continued, with short intervals, most of the afternoon. My ride of eighteen miles to Penzance presented very little that was interesting. The country was hilly and barren; the roads were very bad, jolting me intolerably, and the weather was as inauspicious as possible. To make the matter worse, I mistook my road, and passed through fields, farm roads, and unfrequented paths, and had it not been for the uncommon kindness of the country people, who took much pains to set me right, I should have been benighted where I could have obtained no accommodations.

I passed the hamlets of Camborne Hale, St. Erth, and several others of no great consequence, and built, like most of the villages of Cornwall, of stone or mud. Just before I reached St. Erth, the bay of St. Ives, with the town of that name, famous for the Pilchard fishery, appeared on the right. I was now within half a mile of the ocean which washes the northern shores of Cornwall. Near this place is the residence of Mr. Giddy, M. P. to whom I had a letter of introduction, but, as my time did not allow me to call, I crossed the island, which is here not more than half a mile wide, and in a short time, the English channel came into view.