324 Reports to the Bristol and Taunton Canal Company f 



in going clown southward in the deep ; for at the 50 fa- 

 thoms Engine Pit, which is ihe deepest point this vein has 

 ever been sunk to, and but very little co;i!s have been worked 

 at that depth, the fall or dip of the strata is only from seven 

 to eight inches in the progressive yard, or as near as niay 

 be, a dip of one in fivej and I have no doubt but that the 

 strata and veins of coal dip less and less as they run south- 

 ward, as down {hb.)^ and soon afterwards rise gradually 

 southward, as up (cc). I am confirmed in this opinion 

 from two corroborating circumstances. 



1st. Oa examining the ground from Nailsea Colliery, 

 along the surface line {dd.) southward to Chelvy, Young- 

 wood, &:c. I observed in the Quarries, and other places where 

 the rock was bare, that the strata rose southward; and if the 

 common strala do so, the veins of coal must do so too, for 

 they are parallel beds. 



2d. It has been observed in the neighbourhood of (e e.), 

 that the water in some of the Wells has been drained off at 

 times, when the water in the 50-fathom Engine Pit was 

 quite out ; and that when an accident happened to the en- 

 gine, so as to occasion the water of the colliery to rise a 

 considerable height in the pit, the wells were also filled 

 again. This proves a subterrai«?ous communication, and 

 which is effected through the means of a very hard rock 

 (intersected with chinks and chasms) which lies in a great 

 thickness, immediately above the main vein of coal, through 

 which the water is perpetually flowing in great abundance, 

 to the larije engine in the 30-fathorns pit. This thick hard 

 rock, at the same time that it forms a most substantial 

 strong roof to the main vein of coal, certainly lets loose an 

 immoderate quantity of water lo the fire-engine, the pumps 

 of which are 18 inches; but I do not wonder at this large 

 flow of water, at the depth of about 50 fathoms ; for I am 

 well aware, that the surface water in coal countries, in ge- 

 neral, is let in from gravel hanks, or from some loose mat- 

 ter connected with the surface, which often overpowers the 

 means opposed to it, and which cannot be conquered hut 

 by additional machinery. This once done to a considera- 

 ble extent,, as to depth, greater depths may with facility be 

 sunk to and worked, without much risk of pricking water, 

 "ilie principal colliery at Whitehaven, the properlv of Lord 

 Lonsdale, dipping directly to and under the sea, is drained 

 close to the sea, at the depth of 80 fathoms; and the same 

 vein is pursued to, and wxjrked under the sea, to the depth 

 of 150 fathoms, where so much water is not met with, as 

 would suffice for the wetting of the underground tram-roads, 



which 



