ours of night-work in impure atmosphere, and the first
great draught of the fresh air of heaven must have seemed like nectar to
his soul! His red garments were soaking, perspiration streamed from
every pore in his body, and washed the red earth in streaks down his
pale countenance. Although pale, however, the miner was strong and in
the prime of life. Chills and bad air, (the two great demons of the
mines), had not yet smitten his sturdy frame with "miner's complaint."
He looked tired, but not exhausted, and bestowed a grave glance on me
and a quiet nod on Captain Jan as he walked away to change his dress in
the drying-house. My contemplation of the retiring miner was
interrupted by Captain Jan saying--"I'll go first, sir, to catch you if
you should fall." This remark reminded me of many stories I had heard
of men "falling away from the ladders;" of beams breaking and letting
them tumble into awful gulfs; of stones giving way and coming down the
shafts like grape or cannon-shot, and the like. However, I stepped on
the ladder and prepared to follow my guide into the regions of
unchanging night! A few fathoms' descent brought us into twilight and
to a small platform on which the foot of the first ladder rested.
Through a hole in this the head of the second ladder appeared.

Here we lighted the candles, for the next ladder--a longer one, 50 feet
or so--would have landed us in midnight darkness. Half way down it, I
looked up and saw the hole at the top like a large white star. At the
foot I looked up again, the star was gone, and I felt that we were at
last in a region where, (from the time of creation), sunlight had never
shone. Down, down, ever _downwards_, was the uppermost idea in my mind
for some time after that. Other thoughts there were, of course, but
that one of never-ending descent outweighed them all for a time. As we
got lower the temperature increased; then perspiration broke out. Never
having practised on the treadmill, my muscles ere long began to feel the
unwonted exercise, and I thought to myself, "If you are in this state so
soon, what will you be when you get to the bottom, and how will you get
up again?"

At this point we reached the foot of another ladder, and Captain Jan
said, "We'll walk a bit in the level here and then go down the
pump-shaft." The change of posture and action in the level we had now
entered was agreeable, but the path was not a good one. It was an old,
low, and irregu