Notice of Strel Mine and I?-on Works 



313 



reasonable to suppose, that it was the Blende, or Sulphuret of Zinc, 

 which he attempted to reduce. He is said to have produced from 

 time to time, small quantities of silver, to keep alive, no doubt, the 

 hopes of his employers. Thus the enterprise went forward for many 

 years. The depth of their excavation is not certainly known at pres- 

 ent ; but from existing reports, and the fact that they found it ne- 



cessary to .ink a lateral shaft for venlihtion, it is imagined they must 

 have penetrated to a depth, at least, as great as one hundred and 

 fifty feet. At last, the owners, finding the prospect of adequate re- 

 turns from the mine constantly diminishing, became discouraged ; and 

 the works were a second time abandoned. 



The result of this experiment, it would seem, might have put the 

 working of this mine, for silver, forever at res, ; but a circumstance 



