NATURAL H I STO H Y 



815 



owing entirely to accident. From 

 the copper mines at Arklow, in the 

 county of W'icklow, in Ireland, a 

 great quantity of water constantly 

 issues, which is strongly saturated 

 with the vitriol of copper. One of 

 the workmen by chance left his iron 

 shovel in this water, and when he 

 found it, which was not till some 

 ■weeks afterwards, it was so en- 

 crusted, that he fancied it had been 

 changed into copper. The pro- 

 prietors of the mines toolc the hint. 

 They immediately had proper pits 

 and receptacles formed for contain- 

 ing the copper water, and have ob- 

 tained, by means of bars of iron 

 immersed in them, such quantities 

 of copper mud, that these streams 

 are now become of as much im- 

 portance as the mines themselves. 



Several of the shafts which have 

 been formed for taking oif the wa- 

 ter, are driven very deep. One 

 that I saw was upwards of a hundred 

 and sixty feet in depth, below the 

 open bottom of the mine. One of 

 the miners, whilst I was looking at 

 it, brought a lighted candle, and 

 fixed it on the rim of one of the 

 buckets in which they draw up the 

 watir. It was curious enough to 

 watch it in its dark and confined 

 descent, till it became a mere speck 

 of light, when, suddenly immersing 

 in the water, it was lost. 



The men etn ployed about these 

 mines seemed much more healthful 

 than, from being constantly in the 

 midst of the noxious exhalations 

 from the kilns, it would be natural 

 (o expert. Their complexions are 

 in general somewhat sallow, Jjut 

 much less so than I expected to have 

 found them. Their average wages 

 arc about eightcen-pence a day. 

 Some of tlieuj get the ore for a cer- 

 tain sum per ton. These arc called 



bargain-takers, and if the work is 

 easily wrought, and the ore of good 

 quality, they will frequently earn 

 four or five shillings, whilst the rest 

 earn only their «ghteen-pence. 

 The mine companies seem to take 

 great care in providing for all per- 

 sons that have any concern what- 

 ever in the works. Besides sup- 

 porting the poor by their own vo- 

 luntary donations, which now a- 

 mount to betwixt seven and eight 

 hundred pounds a year, they pre- 

 vent a great number of infants, of 

 the aged and infirm, from applying 

 for relief, by giving them light and 

 easy employment. This alone is aa 

 average expence of more than three 

 hundred pounds a year ; and their 

 surgeons and apothecaries bills are 

 generally more than double this sum. 

 The mines have increased the value of 

 lands in the parish of Amlwch, fiona 

 about fourteen hundred to five thou- 

 sand pounds per annum, and up- 

 wards ; the number of houses from 

 two hundred to upwards of a thou- 

 sand ; and the population from 

 nine hundred to about five thou- 

 sand. 



Anecdotes of the Greyhound. From 

 the Sportsman'' s Cabinet. 



The greyhound is of a beantiful 

 and delicate formation for speed and 

 majestic attraction ; if a metajdiori- 

 cal allusion may be made between 

 the human and the brute creation, 

 the allegory would not be too far 

 extended in considering the grey- 

 hound, from his appearance, «;qua- 

 niuiity, mildness, and allabilityj one 

 of the superior classes of his o\\\i 

 society : he possesses all the dig- 

 nity, without the degradation of any 

 part of hbi species, and is never 



secH 



