he 3^aturatt and Moratt 



& the proprietary of the S&ccabon , the fift part 

 of all the mettall they draw forth . There are nine alrea 

 dy made, and others are begunne. They were twenty 

 ' v ^ and nine y ceres in making_of oncSofcato^ as they call 

 it /of the venome tharfloweTh'om the rich vcine. It 

 was begunne in the yeere 1550. the eleventh yeere of 

 the..difcoverie,and was ended in the yeere 1585. the ele 

 venth of Auguft. This Soccabon croffedthe rkhveine 

 thirtiefive ftadesfrotn theroote orfpring, and from 

 thence where it met to the mouth of the mine , were a 

 hundred thirty fiveftadcs. So as they muft defcend all 

 this depth to labour in the mine. This Soccakon con- 

 v- taines from his mouth vnto the veine otCrufcroi& they 



***** callit, 250. yardes, in which worke were fpent twentie 

 nineyeeres, whereby wee may fee what great paines 

 men take to draw filver cut of the bovvells of the earth. 

 They labour in thefe mines in ^ontjnualldaiiccnes and 

 obfcurltle, without knowledge of day or nigEFT And 

 forafmuch as thofe places are never- vifited with the 

 Sunne- there is notonclycontinualldarkenes^butalib 

 an extreame colde, with fogroge anjii re con traryjp 

 thedifpofidon of man rfoas, fuch as newly enter^are 

 ficlce^as they at fea. The which happened to me in one 

 of the(e mines , where I felt a paineatjtheheart , and 

 beatingof the ftomacke.Thofe that labour therein,vfe 

 candles to light them , dividing their worke in fiich 

 fbrt,as they that worke in the day , reft by the night, 

 an d ft> they change.The mettall is commonly hard^and 

 therefore they breakelt with hammers , fpnttrng and 

 hewing it by force , as if they were fiintes. After they 

 carry vp this mettall vpon their fhoulders , by ladders 

 ofdiree branches, made of neateslether twiftcdlike 

 peeces of wood , which are crofled with ftavcs of 



wood- 



