94 BOOK IV. 



ever, on the third, or at latest the fourth day, they pay their contributions 

 to the manager of the mine or tunnel, and pay the money which is due from 

 them to the Share Clerk, he removes their shares from the proscribed 

 list. They are not thereupon restored to their former position unless the 

 other owners consent ; in which respect the custom now in use differs from 

 the old practice, for to-day if the owners of shares constituting anything 

 over half the mine consent to the restoration of those who have been 

 proscribed, the others are obliged to consent whether they wish to or not. 

 Formerly, unless such restoration had been sanctioned by the approval of 

 the owners of one hundred shares, those who had been proscribed were not 

 restored to their former position. 



The procedure in suits relating to shares was formerly as follows : he 

 who instituted a suit and took legal proceedings against another in respect 

 of the shares, used to make a formal charge against the accused possessor 

 before the Bergmeister. This was done either at his house or in some pubUc 

 place or at the mines, once each day for three days if the shares belonged to 

 an old mine, and three times in eight days if they belonged to a head- 

 meer. But if he could not find the possessor of the shares in these places, it 

 was vahd and effectual to make the accusation against him at the house of 

 the Bergmeister. When, however, he made the charge for the third time, he 

 used to bring with him a notary, whom the Bergmeister would interrogate : 

 " Have I earned the fee ? " and who would respond : " You have earned 

 it " ; thereupon the Bergmeister would give the right over the shares to him 

 who made the accusation, and the accuser in turn would pay down the 

 customary fee to the Bergmeister. After these proceedings, if the man whom 

 the Bergmeister had deprived of his shares dwelt in the city, one of the 

 proprietors of the mine or of the head-mine was sent to him to acquaint him 

 with the facts, but if he dwelt elsewhere proclamation was made in some 

 public place, or at the mine, openly and in a loud voice in the hearing of 

 numbers of miners. Nowadays a date is defined for the one who is answer- 

 able for the debt of shares or money, and information is given the accused 

 by an official if he is near at hand, or if he is absent, a letter is sent him ; 

 nor is the right over his shares taken from anyone for the space of one and 

 a half months. So much for these matters. 



Now, before I deal with the methods which must be employed in 

 working, I will speak of the duties of the Mining Prefect, the Bergmeister, 

 the Jurors, the Mining Clerk, the Share Clerk, the manager of the mine 

 or tunnel, the foreman of the mine or tunnel, and the workmen. 



To the Mining Prefect, whom the King or Prince appoints as his deputy, 

 all men of all races, ages, and rank, give obedience and submission. He 

 governs and regulates everything at his discretion, ordering those things 

 which are useful and advantageous in mining operations, and prohibiting 

 those which are to the contrary. He levies penalties and punishes offenders ; 

 he arranges disputes which the Bergmeister has been unable to settle, and if 

 even he cannot arrange them, he allows the owners who are 'at variance over 

 some point to proceed to litigation ; he even lays down the law, gives orders 



