UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 213 



pillars left occasionally to support the roof of the 

 mine, quite disappointed my imagination ; for 

 they are of a dirty brown colour, instead of the 

 brilliant white I had expected. In a few places, 

 indeed, they sparkled a little in the gleams of the 

 candles which we carried. 



After walking about in various directions, and 

 feeling as if in the crypt of some large church, 

 we came to where the men were working. They 

 were just going to light the train to blast off a 

 rock of salt ; and I assure you it was very near 

 the place where we stood ; but we were secured 

 behind a projecting point. The roof, there, was 

 not above twenty feet high, and the sound was 

 very grand, continuing to reverberate at intervals 

 for a minute and a half. 



The salt lies in strata, from between which 

 water is always trickling ; and the white salt used 

 for eating is made from this water, which is 

 pumped up above ground, either by steam or 

 horse power. It is then put into what are called 

 preparing pans, where it is brought to the degree 

 of heat requisite for separating the earthy 

 impurities. These subside to the bottom, and 

 leave the brine clear, and ready to be after- 

 wards evaporated in the salting pans, which are 

 shallow, and I am sure twenty or thirty feet 

 long. 



Some years ago the excise duty was twenty- 

 five times the actual value of the salt ; but 



