18 ACCOUNT OF THE LIME ROCKS 



verb," all that glitters is not gold ;" and dissappointing 

 as this was, they had a still severer disappointment to 

 undergo, in finding that the mines of this metal, 

 when really discovered afforded such scanty portions 

 of it, as to be of all mines the least profitable work- 

 ing. Probably amongst all these venturous gold 

 seekers there was not one, who, if he had found a 

 rock of lime stone, would have honoured it with the 

 slightest attention. 



But now, things are altered. Almost the first 

 subject of investigation entered upon by the visitors 

 of a country or district, which they think desirable 

 for a settlement is, whether or not it contains the 

 despised substance ; and we never see an " Emi- 

 gration" advertisement to a new settlement, without 

 an especial statement of the fertility of the soil, the 

 excellence of the water, and the proximity of good 

 limestone. In truth, whether we regard it as yiel- 

 ding at once the material and cement for building ; 

 as a manure almost universally applicable ; or as, 

 itself, the substratum of a highly fertile soil; its 

 value and importance fully entitle it to this general 

 estimation : and it may be fearlessly asserted, that 

 no gold mine in the world ever contributed so much 

 to the prosperity of its vicinity as does the Plymouth 

 Limestone. To say nothing of the Breakwater 

 works, for which other stone would have answered ; 

 we see the whole length of Pomfret lake, the whole 

 breadth of Cat Down ; Turnchapel ; Mount Batten, 

 Teat's Hill, Two Coves, and round Sandy Cove, and 

 the extensive quarry on Stonehouse Hill, all pre- 

 senting a scource of perpetual activity ; and we hear 

 the ring of the jumper and the explosion of the 

 charge in every direction and at every hour of the 

 day. Of the extent of architectural employments, 

 the rapid increase of our town within the last twenty 

 years gives ready evidence. The quantity burnt into 

 lime, in the quarries themselves, is probably not less 

 than 300,000 bushels annually, of which the greater 

 part is carted into the country for manure ; the far- 



