The inhabitants of that extremity of Britain which is called Bolerion,
excel in hospitality, and also, by their intercourse with foreign
merchants, they are civilised in their mode of life. These prepare the
tin, working very skilfully the earth which produces it."

There is said to be ground for believing that Cornish tin was used in
the construction of the temple of Jerusalem. At the present time the
men of Cornwall are to be found toiling, as did their forefathers in the
days of old, deep down in the bowels of the earth--and even out under
the bed of the sea--in quest of tin.

"Tin, Copper, and Fish" is one of the standing toasts in Cornwall, and
in these three words lie the head, backbone, and tail of the county, the
sources of its wealth, and the objects of its energies.

As my visit, however, was paid chiefly for the purpose of investigating
the mines, I will not touch on fish here. Having obtained introduction
to the managers of Botallack--the most famous of the Cornish Mines--I
was led through miles of subterranean tunnels and to depths profound, by
the obliging, amiable, and anecdotal Captain Jan--one of the "Captains"
or overseers of the mine.

He was quite an original, this Captain Jan; a man who knew the forty
miles of underground workings in Botallack as well, I suppose, as a
postman knows his beat; a man who dived into the bowels of the earth
with the vigour and confidence of a mole and the simple-minded serenity
of a seraph.

The land at this part of Cornwall is not picturesque, except at the
sea-cliffs, which rise somewhere about three hundred feet sheer out of
deep water, where there is usually no strip of beach to break the rush
of the great Atlantic billows that grind the rocks incessantly.

The most prominent objects elsewhere are masses of debris; huge pieces
of worn-out machinery; tall chimneys and old engine-houses, with big
ungainly beams, or "bobs," projecting from them. These "bobs" are
attached to pumps which work continually to keep the mines dry. They
move up and down very slowly, with a pause between each stroke, as if
they were seriously considering whether it was worth while continuing
the dreary work any longer, and could not make up their minds on the
point. Their slow motions, however, give evidence of life and toil
below the surface. Other "bobs" standing idle tell of disappointed
hopes and broken fortunes. There are not a few such landmarks at the
Land's End--stern moni