MINES BENEATH THE OCEAN. 285 



the same amount of difliculty. Fire-damp is as 

 dangerous, and its effects are as disastrous in the one 

 case as in the other. Kindled beneath the sea, it soon 

 bursts its rocky barriers; the fire spreads, an ex- 

 plosion destroys the walls of the subterranean chan- 

 nel, entire hills are lifted or overthrown as by a 

 volcanic eruption. It is of little consequence to the 



Fig. 57. — Section of a Tin Mine in Cornwall. 



miner that this catastrophe takes place under the 

 sea ; the danger is not greater than if it happened 

 in the middle of a continent. Before being drowned, 

 he would be burnt or crushed. Let us reserve our 

 compassion for the poor sailor, who congratulates 

 himself upon having reached an hospitable coast, 

 and suddenly sees his vessel scattered to the winds 

 and waves by the violence of a submarine explosion. 



