140 PROGRESS TO THE MINES. 



is stopped close witli a moveable stone shutter, which he removes so soon 

 as he perceives, through the peep holes, tliat the iron is melted. The inside 

 of the oven is lined with soft bricks, made of Sturbridge or Windsor clay, 

 because no other will endure the intense heat of the fire. And over the 

 floor of the oven they strew sand taken from the land, and not from the 

 water side. This sand will melt the second heat here, but that which they 

 use in England will bear the fire four or five times. The potter is also 

 obliged to plaster over his ladles with the same sand moistened, to save 

 them from melting. Here are two of these air furnaces in one room, that 

 so in case one wants repair, the other may work, they being exactly of the 

 same structure. The chimneys and other outside work of this building are 

 of free-stone, raised near a mile off, on the colonel's own land. And were 

 built by his servant, whose name is Kerby, a very complete workman. This 

 man disdains to do any thing of rough work, even where neat is not required, 

 lest any one might say liereafter, Kerby did it. The potter was so com- 

 plaisant as to show me the whole process, for which I paid him and the other 

 v/orkmen my respects in the most agreeable way. There was a great deal 

 of ingenuity in the framing of the moulds, wherein they cast the several 

 utensils, but without breaking them to pieces, I found there was no being let 

 into that secret. The flakes of iron that fall at the mouth of the oven are 

 called geets, which are melted over again. The colonel told me, in my ear, 

 that Mr. Robert Cary, in England, was concerned with him, both in this and 

 his other iron works, not only to help support the charge, but also to make 

 friends to the undertaking at home. His honour has settled his cousin, Mr. 

 Greame, here as postmaster, with a salary of sixty pounds a year, to reward 

 him for having ruined his estate while he was absent. Just by the air fur- 

 nace stands a very substantial wharf, close to which any vessel may ride in 

 safety. After satisfying our eyes with all these sights, we satisfied our 

 stomachs with a sirloin of beef, and then the parson and I took leave of the 

 colonel, and left our blessing upon all his works. We took our way from 

 thence to major Woodford's, seven miles off, who lives upon a high hill that 

 affords an extended prospect. On which account it is dignified with the 

 name of Windsor. There we found Rachel Cocke, who stayed with her sister 

 some time, that she might not lose the use of her tongue in this lonely place. 

 We were received graciously, and the evening was spent in talking and 

 toping, and then the parson and I were conducted to the same apartment, 

 the house being not yet finished. 



5th. The parson slept very peaceably, and gave me no disturbance, so I 

 rose fresh in the morning, and did credit to the air by eating a hearty break- 

 fast. Then major Woodford carried me to the house where he cuts tobacco. 

 He manufactures about sixty hogsheads yearly, for which he gets after the 

 rate of eleven pence a pound, and pays himself liberally for his trouble. The 

 tobacco he cuts is long green, which, according to its name, bears a very 

 long leaf, and consequently each plant is heavier than common sweet-scented 

 or Townsend tobacco. The worst of it is the veins of the leaf are very large, 

 so that it loses its weight a good deal by stemming. This kind of tobacco 

 is much the fashion in these parts, and Jonathan Forward (who has great 

 interest here) gives a good price for it. This sort the major cuts up, and 

 has a man that performs it very handily. The tobacco is stemmed clean in 

 the first place, and then laid straight in a box, and pressed down hard by a 

 press that goes with a nut. This box is shoved forward towards the knife 

 by a screw, receiving its motion from a treadle, that the engineer sets a-going 

 with his foot. Each motion pushes the box the exact length which the to- 

 bacco ought to be of, according to the saffron or oblong cut, which it seems 

 yields one penny in a pound more at London than the square cut, though 



