1 LINES 273 



leases, besides royalties of 6d. a ton on all ore shipped. The miners' wages are by 

 no means high ; at Red Bog the English company gives 14s. and the Antrim Iron 

 Oro Company, 15s. per week. In 1873 these iron mines produced 13.8,765 tons of iron 

 ores. 



MINES OF THE PYRENEES. 



The Pyrenees and the mountains of Biscay, of the Asturias, and the north of 

 Galicia, which are their prolongation, are not very rich in deposits of ores. The 

 most important mines that occur there are of iron, which are widely spread through- 

 out the whole chain, except in its western extremity. We may mention particularly 

 in Biscay the mine of Sommorostro, opened on a bed of red oxide of iron ; and in the 

 province of Guipuscoa, the mines of Mondragon, Oyarzun, and Berha, situated on 

 deposits of sparry iron. There are several analogous mines in Aragon and Catalonia. 

 In the French part of the Pyrenees veins of sparry iron are worked, which traverse 

 the red sandstone of the mountain Ustelleguy, near Baygorry, department of the 

 Basses-Pyrenees. The same department affords in the valley of Asson the mine of 

 Haugaron, which consists of a bed of hydrate of iron, subordinate to transition lime- 

 stone. The deposit of hydrate of iron, worked for an immemorial time at Rancie, 

 in the valley at Vicdessos, department of the Arriege, and averaging 60 feet in thick- 

 ness, occurs in a limestone now regarded as of the age of the lias. The ancient 

 workings have been very irregular and very extensive ; but the deposit is still far 

 from being exhausted. There are also considerable mines of sparry iron at Lapinouse, 

 at the tower of Batera, at Escaron, and at Fillols, at the foot of the Canigou, in the 

 department of the Oriental Pyrenees. The iron mines of the Pyrenees keep in activity 

 200 Catalonian forges. Although there exists in these mountains, especially in the 

 part formed of transition rocks, a very great number of veins of lead, copper, cobalt, 

 antimony, &c., one can hardly mention any workings of these metals ; and among 

 the abandoned mines, the only ones which merit notice are, the mine of argentiferous 

 copper of "Baygor-ry, in the department of the Low Pyrenees, the lead and copper 

 mines of Aulus, in the valley of the Erce, department of the Arriege, and the mine of 

 cobalt, of the valley of Gistain, situated in Aragon, on the southern slope of the Pyre- 

 nees. The mines of plumbago opened at Sahun in Aragon should not bo forgotten. 

 Analogous deposits are known to exist in the department of the Arriege, but they are 

 not mined. 



Previous to the discovery of America, considerable workings were carried on in 

 auriferous sands at various points in this department. A gold mine has also been 

 wrought, but without success, near Cabo de Creua, on the Spanish side. 



MIXES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 



The granite, gneiss, and slaty formations of the Iberian Peninsula, noted in early 

 times for their mineral wealth, have during the last 40 years again become the scene 

 of important mining operations. The region of the Sierra-Morena, comprising parts 

 of the provinces of Andalusia, Estremadura, and La Mancha, forms one of those 

 primary districts which offer close analogies with some of the mining localities already 

 described ; and exhibits numerous mines now in activity, and the traces of former 

 extensive operations. 



The noted quicksilver mines of Almaden, producing about 2,000 tons_ per annum, 

 are worked on three parallel veins of from 6 to 12 meters in width, lying conform- 

 ably with highly-inclined Silurian strata. 



The silver mines of Guadalcanal and Cazalla, north of Seville, in mica slate, were 

 very rich in the time of the Counts Fugger, but are now inconsiderable ; this territory 

 presented formerly important mines at Villa-Guttier, not far from Seville. At the 

 beginning of the 17th century they are said to have been worked with such activity 

 that they furnished daily 170 marcs of silver. 



In the limestones near Santander were very important mines of calamine, but 

 these have not been worked recently (1874). 



More to the east there exists in the mountains of La Mancha a mine of antimony 

 at Santa-Crux-de-Mudela. On the southern slope of the Sierra-Morena very impor- 

 tant lead mines occur, particularly at Linares, 12 leagues N. of Jaen. The veins are 

 very rich near the surface, whence the ground is riddled, as it were, with shafts. 

 More than 5,000 old and new pits may be counted ; the greater part of which is 

 ascribed to the Moors. 



Systematic workings have been for some years carried on by English companies at 

 some of these mines, with excellent results ; and, with the aid of steam-engines, a 

 depth of 80 or 90 fathoms lias now been attained. 



The lodes, which have a medium width of 3 or 4 feet, course generally NN.E. 



VOL. III. T 



