OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. 19 



mers' carts which bring our provision to market, fre- 

 quently returning with their load of lime. 



A large quantity is shipped to the ports of Devon 

 and Cornwall, affording constant occupation to a 

 considerable number of barges from forty to eighty 

 tons measurement. 



The lime fetches at the kiln, lOd. per bushel ; and 

 the stone exported, Is. per ton at the quarry; thus 

 bringing in a very considerable revenue. The num- 

 ber of men employed may be averaged at 350 ; the 

 gunpowder consumed in blasting the rock at 89,600 

 Ibs. annually. 



This, however, is but a part of the revenue derived 

 from this valuable deposit. At Mount Edgecumbe 

 there is another quarry ; and others again may be 

 seen, as we travel the new Eastern road, breaking 

 into the limestone hills at intervals, for several miles. 

 All these employ their workmen, consume powder, 

 and sell both lime and stone ; arid all are worked at 

 a profit ; which is probably more than can be said 

 of any mining district of equal extent. 



It may naturally enough be apprehended, that 

 with such a rapid consumption, the time is not re- 

 mote when this source of revenue will be exhausted. 

 For such a case however, the writer believes no ap- 

 prehension need be entertained. The breadth of the 

 body of limestone, may perhaps be averaged at half 

 a mile ; which will take a good deal of blasting to 

 get through. Its length has been traced by the 

 writer from Mount Edgecumbe West, to beyond 

 Yealnipton Eastward ; and how much farther it 

 goes he does not know. And its depth is yet un- 

 known ; so that when three centuries shall have 

 levelled the surface, five or six more may be occu- 

 pied in excavating downward. Perhaps, about 

 A. D. 2700, it may become necessary to economise 

 in this article ; as it now is, in almost every other. 



A peculiarity may be observed, in this limestone, 

 that its run is in a hill of uniform altitude ; and it 

 may be traced, from a distance, amongst the slate 



