314 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



rude washing of the surface alluvium known as " tin-stream- 

 ing." This was the method adopted by the ancient miners 

 for obtaining the metal which they sold to the Phoenician 

 merchants. At all events, close to Bunny Cliffs, a little south 

 of the present mine, there are some "old men's workings," 

 as the remains of what are taken to be ancient surface stream- 

 ing of the prehistoric races are called. As early as 1721 

 Botallack was wrought as a tin-mine, on the method which, 

 with modifications suggested by modern discoveries, has been 

 followed ever since. By 1811 it was famous as a very rich 

 copper - mine, a reputation which it may be hoped it will 

 some day recover, though until recently it was notable for 

 both of these metals, or for whichever exploration brought to 

 light in greater abundance. Since 1862 the more picturesque 

 aspects have suffered by its being wrought more economically, 

 and with greater sanitary efficiency, by the Boscawen shaft, 

 which runs from near the water's edge in an oblique direction 

 under the sea. This diagonal shaft is 400 fathoms long, and 

 cost about £4,000. A difficulty not much less than that of 

 sinking the tunnel, which is descended by wagons, was that 

 of lowering the engine to its position. The Crown engine had 

 been lowered to its exposed situation on the Crown Rocks 

 over a cliff 200ft. high. When, however, the 24 in. cylinder 

 engine was first dropped on its wild exposure, over the face of a 

 rugged precipice, it was never expected that it would undergo 

 a second migration. But in 1863 the huge boiler and beams 

 were, after being drawn to the top, again relowered to a new 

 resting-place, and a house built for then- reception. 



It is therefore not without good ground that Cornishmen 

 claim Botallack as one of the world's wonders. Apart from 

 the place it must always occupy in the history of mining 

 engineering, it will be a distinct loss to Cornwall that so ex- 

 tensive a concern is likely to be closed, either permanently or 

 until times mend. But mines are at best among the most 

 fickle of fortune's gifts, and the enormous imports of foreign 

 tin and copper are, undoubtedly, not to the profit of the more 

 expensively worked native mines. 



As an instance of the uncertainty in tin-mining, I may 

 relate a well-known cu-cumstance that took place in Botallack 

 Mine. After expending nearly £20,000 the prospect of a return 

 seemed hopeless, as the resident agent declared to the pro- 

 prietors, at their meeting in November, 1841, that " he knew 

 not where to find twopennyworth of ore in all the mine." 

 Several of them were therefore strongly inclined to abandon 

 the concern, but it was eventually determined to continue it 

 for a further period of two months, with a resolution to give 

 up the whole in case of no improvement in that period. It 

 afterwards appeared that, when they were thus discussing the 



