filled the mine. An attempt has been made of late
years to again work the mine with improved machinery, but the venture
not proving profitable it has been abandoned.

The travellers also visited the curious Carclaze tin mine near the town
of Saint Austell. It is a prodigious hollow or basin, nearly thirty
fathoms in depth and a mile in circumference, and has the appearance of
a natural crater rather than a hollow made by human hands.

The sides are almost perpendicular, and a few footpaths alone lead down
amid the rocks to the bottom. In every direction are seen the hollows
made by the miners of ancient days, the white colour of the granite
veined with the darker metalliferous streaks, and the curious shape of
the rocks formed by the streams flowing down its sides, give it a
remarkably picturesque appearance.

The machinery used for crushing the rock is set in motion by these
streams. On every side the men, women, and children employed on the
works are seen moving about in all directions, like a busy colony of
ants. The ore is obtained without much difficulty.

A tunnel has been formed at the bottom of the mine through which the
waters flow after they have performed their task, which also carries
away the crushed granite, while the heavier metalliferous substances are
precipitated into the troughs. Neither engine-house nor chimneys such
as are seen in other mines are visible, while every detail of the work
is exposed to view--indeed, the huge basin has the appearance of a mine
completely turned inside out.

There are two methods of smelting tin. By the most common, the ore,
mixed with culm, is subjected to heat on the hearth of a reverberating
furnace, when ordinary coal is employed. By the other method, the ore
is fused in a blast furnace, when wood fuel or charcoal is used. The
tin when smelted runs off from the furnace into an open receiver, from
which it flows into a large vessel, where it is allowed to settle.
After the scoriae have been skimmed off, the upper and purer portion of
the mass is refined, and the lower part re-melted.

CHAPTER FIVE.

THE METALS FOUND IN MINES.

The chief object of the travellers was to inquire into the mode in which
mines in different countries are worked, the causes of accidents, and
the best method of preventing them. Their knowledge was superior to
that which most of our readers are likely to possess, and it will be
necessary, in order to understand their pro