J. J. Griffith 367 



Gwallter Mecliaiii^ writing in 1815 states: "During conversation 

 with a Cardiganshire gentleman he observed how niggardly Nature had 

 bestowed her blessings on his native county. We endeavoured to frame 

 an apology for Natnre; and, among other instances of her hberahty, 

 mentioned the silver and lead mines. '0,' he exclaimed, 'that is a 

 curse, and not a blessing; the mines enrich a person or two in an age, 

 and entail poverty on hundreds for generations to come.' 'The waters 

 from the mines,' he added, 'spread sterihty over the adjacent fields, and 

 kill all the fish in the rivers.'" 



Again, the Rivers Pollution Commissioners in a report published in 

 1874, p. 1.5, indicate that, of all the lead mining districts in Great Britain, 

 Montgomeryshire and more especially Cardiganshire were the only two 

 areas where land and live stock suffered injury to any marked extent — 

 the valleys of the Ystwyth, Rheidol, Clarach and Dyfi being particu- 

 larly mentioned. 



Still another record of this trouble is to be found in the "Report of 

 the Royal Commission on land in Wales, 1896." On April 28th, 1894, a 

 witness made the following statement: "Adjoining the river there was 

 a meadow on wliich we kept ten cows and a bull. About 45 years ago 

 the river, which was then strongly impregnated with lead from the 

 mines, overflowed this meadow and left a mineral deposit which made 

 it not only useless, but dangerous for the horses, and we could only 

 keep three or four cows on it, and the butter of these cows would be 

 quite unsaleable." 



It is thus evident that many generations of farmers have had to 

 suffer serious losses as a consequence of the working of the lead mines. 



Sources and Agencies of Contamination. 



It is found that there are a number of ways in which mine refuse 

 may be carried on to the land, and also lead to the poisoning of farm live- 

 stock. 



1. By surface drainage water from the heaps of debris at the mines. 



In the neighbourhood of most mines of importance enormous heaps 

 of waste material accumulate. Some of these heaps consist of rock 

 material in the form of coarse stones which are considered to contain 

 too little ore to be profitably worked. The other heaps consist of the 

 so-called "sand" and "slime" representing the fine waste material left 

 after the separation of the ore at the dressing-floors and also the sediment 



• Gwallter Mechain's Tour through Soulh Wiiks, 1, p. 80. 



