l6o A general View of thg 



myriagramme. At prefent it is no more than one cent for 

 the fame quantity delivered at the mine, but delivered at 

 Villefrauehe they coft from 12 to 15 cents. 



Thefe coal mines can furnifh a long time for an immenfe 

 confvimption, efpecially if more care were taken in working 

 ihem. The proprietors of the fuperficial foil attack them on 

 all fides, and with the greater eafe, as the flrata and collec- 

 tions of the coal are uncovered, or are generally met with at 

 a fmall depth ; fo that the whole of this country prefents a 

 multitude of pits begun at the furface, and abandoned when 

 the water or fhaking of the ground excites a fear of fome ac- 

 cident. 



Befides the wafle which refults from this bad method 

 of working, and the obHacles it creates for the future, the 

 carelefsneis and negligence of the workmen have given rife in 

 this country to a deftruftive fcourge which daily uicreafes its 

 ravages. 



Strata of coal have been fct on fire at Fontaignes, Moitot, 

 and in feveral other places'. The conflagration fpreads, and 

 is fed even in the bofom ot the earth. The calcined fur- 

 face of the ground for a confiderable extent exhibits nothing 

 but the arid and diftreffing pisSlure of the abfence of all ve- 

 getation and of the exiftence of all life. 



The places already mentioned in the neighbourhood of 

 Lot. and in the canton of Crani'ac, are not the only ones in 

 this depru'tmcnt where coal mines are found ; fome are known 

 alfo in the neighbourhood of Milhaud, on the borders of the 

 Dourbie; at JVIcgamel and Lavergne in the county of Seve- 

 rac; at Bertholcne, and at Senfac in the environs of Rhodez. 

 A new mine has been opened in the laft-mentioned place 

 this year by the care of the prefect. 



The annual produft of the coals worked in thefe different 

 places amounts to 220,000 myriagrammes, and might be 

 rendered much more confiderable. 



C. Saint-Tliorent, prefeft of Aveyron, has been convinced 

 of the importance of turning to advantage the diflfertnt kinds 

 of mineral riches with which this country abounds, and he has 

 confequcntly refolved to carry thither that knowledge and ac- 

 tivity, by the help cf which this department may become one 

 of themoft interefiing in regard to the produ£ls of national in- 

 duftry. This magiftrate had rcquefied that an engineer might 

 be fent thither; and C. Blavier, the perfon employed for that 

 purpofe, foon dii'covered, not only the exillence of fevera! 

 mineral fubftances never before found in thefe countries, but 

 the fpeedy means of working them, and of giving rife to very 



produ6live 



