goes down: then he steps sideways on the first stage of
_B_ and waits till it goes down: then he steps sideways to the second
stage of _A_ and waits till it goes down, and so on: or if a man is
coming up he does just the same. While we were here Mr R. Taylor
came. We walked home (a long step, perhaps seven miles) in a very hot
sun. Went to tea to Mr Alfred Fox, who has a house in a beautiful
position looking to the outside of Falmouth Harbour.

* * * * *

PENZANCE,
_1845, June 14, Saturday_.

Yesterday morning we breakfasted early at Falmouth, and before 9
started towards Gwennap. I had ascertained on Thursday that John
Williams (the senior of a very wealthy and influential family in this
country) was probably returned from London. So we drove first to his
house Burntcoose or Barncoose, and found him and his wife at
home. (They are Quakers, the rest of the family are not.) Sedgwick,
and Whewell, and I, or some of our party including me, had slept once
at their house. They received George and me most cordially, and
pressed us to come and dine with them after our visit to Tresavean
mine, of which intention I spoke in my last letter: so I named 4
o'clock as hour for dinner. After a little stay we drove to Tresavean,
where I found the Captain of the mine prepared to send an Underground
Captain and a Pit-man to descend with us. So we changed our clothes
and descended by the ladders in the pumpshaft. Pretty work to descend
with the huge pump-rods (garnished with large iron bolts) working
violently, making strokes of 12 feet, close to our elbows; and with a
nearly bottomless pit at the foot of every ladder, where we had to
turn round the foot of the ladder walking on only a narrow
board. However we got down to the bottom of the mine with great safety
and credit, seeing all the mighty machinery on the way, to a greater
depth than I ever reached before, namely 1900 feet. From the bottom of
the pump we went aside a short distance into the lowest workings where
two men nearly naked were driving a level towards the lode or vein of
ore. Here I felt a most intolerable heat: and upon moving to get out
of the place, I had a dreadful feeling of feebleness and fainting,
such as I never had in my life before. The men urged me to climb the
ladders to a level where the air was better, but they might as wel