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PICTORIAL MISCELLANY. 



most valuable mines are in the Ural Mountains, which separate 

 Europe and Asia. There are above a hundred founderies here, more 

 than half of which are for iron, and the remainder for copper. The 

 peasants, as is common in Russia, belong to the estate, whether pri- 

 vate persons own the land, or the sovereign. Almost a hundred 

 thousand of them work in these mines. They raise nearly one hun- 

 dred thousand tons' weight of iron annually. 



Sweden also has numerous iron districts. The most important 

 of her iron-mines is at Dannemora. These were discovered in 1488. 

 The opening of the mine is of great extent, and in it are twelve pits, 

 in which mining operations are carried on. The descent into them 

 is by means of baskets, or buckets, each attached to a rope which 

 passes over a pulley. A traveller, speaking of this descent, says : 





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" The inspector of the mines accompanied me ; I was accommodated 

 with a chair, but he seated himself on the edge of the bucket, extend- 

 ing his legs, in order to maintain the balance. He had a stick in his 

 hand, with which he occasionally pushed off from the edges of the 

 rock when we were in danger of striking against them. We were 

 above five minutes in making this perilous journey. The distance 

 descended was five hundred feet. I did not dare to look down, so 



