34)4 Jn Account of the Inundation of 



military, necessary to keep order, was already on the way ; one 

 messenger after another was dispatched by the zealous M- 

 Pague, the mayor of Ans ; all the inhabitants were at their 

 doors with torches in their hands. On my arrival, I learnt that 

 the boring-rod, after passing obliquely through fourteen yards, 

 had met an old holing, which, though indirectly, opened a com- 

 munication with the unfortunate sufferers, sinking with fatigue 

 and hunger, and deprived of light during four successive days. 

 But at what point the boring-rod had entered the old holing, or 

 what was the exact length of the hole, it was then impossible to 

 determine. Had the seam or bed declined vertically, the 

 boring-rod would have hit the top, and been useless. How 

 sliould we afford the men any support ? Our desire to introduce 

 liquids to them, through tubes of block-tin, was impracticable ; 

 yet, ere another day should elapse, many of them might cease to 

 live. Happily we Avere sure to pierce the barrier in a few hours. 

 The work seemed to proceed with vexatious slowness ; we ima- 

 gined we could hear the expiring groans of the men, and wished 

 to liave hold of the pick to hasten their deliverance. 



At length they themselves pointed out a better direction for 

 the rod, which reached them in a direct line at two o'clock, when 

 our workmen called to them, and they desired that the hole 

 might be stopped, as they were not able to bear the pressure of 

 the air, which rushed in impetuously. All precautions were 

 now taken against fire, and the necessary dispositions made for 

 re-animating men, exhausted through want of light, air and 

 food, during five nights and days. The light in our drift was 

 kept at a distance from the workmen, and the fire-keeper had 

 orders to step backwards, when the flame of the candle indicated 

 the presence of inflammable gas. Broth, wine and clothes were 

 taken down the pit, and the women and the children removed 

 from the surrounding buildings. Wretched creatures ! ye are 

 yet ignorant that many of you have to weep for a husband, a fa- 

 ther, or a son. Sensibility certainly does not enervate ; for du- 

 ring these five days our hearts have been wounded with a sight 

 the more afflicting, because the families of colliers being nume- 

 rous, are all reduced to the most frightful misery when they lose 

 their head. 



