THE SMELTING FURNACES. 215 
Descending from the mine to the level ground 
by a short track down the hillside, through 
scenery indescribably picturesque, I reach the 
smelting furnaces ; these, occupying about four 
acres of land, are built of brick, admirably neat, 
and well contrived. As quicksilver is found 
in several forms—namely, native quicksilver, oc- 
curring in small drops, in the pores or on the 
ledges of other rocks, argental mercury, a na- 
tive silver amalgam, and sulphide of mercury 
or cinnabar, different processes are requisite for 
its reduction. Here it is found solely in form 
of cinnabar, and to reduce it a kind of reverbe- 
ratory furnace is used, three feet by five, placed 
at the end of a series of chambers, each chamber 
seven feet long, four wide, and five high. About 
ten of these chambers are arranged in a line, 
built of brick, plastered inside, and secured by 
transverse rods of iron, fitted at the ends with 
screws and nuts, to allow for expansion. The 
top is of boiler iron, securely luted. 
The first chamber is the furnace for fire, 
the second for ore, separated from the first by 
a grated partition, allowing the flame to pass 
through and play over the cinnabar. This ore- 
chamber, when filled, contains ten thousand 
pounds of cinnabar. The remaining chambers 
