N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y. 



811 



name, about a mile from the Paris 

 mountain, that inexhaustible mine of 

 copper, a mine of Avealth to all its 

 proprietors. Amhvch seems en- 

 tirely dependent, for its prosperity, 

 on the copper mines, for most of its 

 inhabitants have some concern in 

 them, cither as miners or agents. 

 The church, dedicated to St. EI- 

 deth, a saint of the British calen- 

 dar, is a neat modern structure. 

 Of the town itself, I observed no- 

 thing remarkable, except that it 

 was, in general, a most black and 

 dismal place, froai the scoria of the 

 metal, of which ail the roads are 

 formed. On the exterior of the 

 town there seems the utmost desola- 

 tion. The sulphureous fumes from 

 the mine have entirely destroyed the 

 vegetation for a considerable space 

 around, and little else than earth 

 and rock are to be seen even within 

 a short distance of Amlwch. On 

 the Paris mountain, there is not 

 even a single moss or lichen to be 

 found. When the wind has blown 

 over the mountains, in the direction 

 where I have been walking, I have 

 more than once found the fumes ex- 

 ceedingly oppressive at the distance 

 of at least a mile from the works. 



The town of Amhvch is, as I 

 have said, about a mile from the sum- 

 mit of the Paris mountain; and on 

 the morning after my arrival, 1 

 walked up to this celebrated place. 

 Having ascended to the top, 1 found 

 myself standing on a verge of a 

 vastand tremendous chasm. Istepped 

 on one of the stages suspended over 

 the edge of the steep, aiul the pros- 

 pect was dreadful. The number of 



caverns at different heights along the 

 sides; the broken and irregular 

 masses of rock which every where 

 presented themselves; the multi- 

 tudes of men at work in different 

 parts, and apparently in the most 

 perilous situations, and the raisin;; 

 and lowering the buckets, to draw 

 out the ore and the rubbish; the 

 noise of picking the ore from the 

 rock, and of hammering the wad- 

 ding, when it was about to be blast- 

 ed, with, at intervals, the roar of 

 the blasts in distant parts of the 

 lulne, altogether excited the most 

 sublime ideas, intermixed, however, 

 with sensations of terror. I left 

 this situation, and followed the 

 road that leads into the mine; and 

 the moment I entered, my astonish- 

 ment was again excited. The shag- 

 ged arches, and overhanging rocks, 

 which seemed to threaten annihila- 

 tion to any one daring enough to 

 approach them, fixed me almost 

 motionless to the spot. The roofs 

 of the work, having in many placi'S 

 fallen in, have left some of the 

 rudest scenes that imagination cau 

 paint: tiicse, with the sulphureous 

 fumes, from the kilns in which the 

 ore is roasted, rendered it to mea per- 

 fect counterpart of Virgil's enter- 

 ance into Tartarus.* 



Ilac iter Elysium nobis; at lava ma- 



iorum, 

 Excriet po-nas, ct ad impia Tartarus 



iiiitiic. 



'Tis here iu dider'ent paths the way di- 

 vides, 



The ri<;ht to Pluto's golden palace 

 guides ; 



* I am informed that the appearance of this part of the mine has lately 

 been much changed, froui sotne of the insulated focks, iv'c. having been cleared 

 ;uvay. 



^ . The 



