A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



be seen later on, these have been worked 

 largely and profitably during the last thirty 

 years. 



District 3. The veins or haematite most 

 largely worked in the Eskdale valley, near 

 Boot, occur in the granite, and for some time 

 attracted considerable attention. Veins of 

 ore also occur, as has been already said, in the 

 syenite and other igneous rocks throughout 

 the more mountainous parts of the county, 

 but these have rarely been found of sufficient 

 size to be profitably worked. 



District if. The brown haematite of Al- 

 ston Moor is found in the limestone at Kilhope 

 Fell. It is associated with the important and 

 rich lead veins of the district, but owing to its 

 uncertain quantity and variable quality, the 

 ore has not been worked on a large scale. 



The first of the following two analyses is 

 an average of a number of samples of first 

 class haematite from Salter and Eskett parish 

 in the Whitehaven district, and the second is 

 from a sample of similar ore from Cleator 

 parish in the same district. The average 

 yield of metallic iron from ores of the White- 

 haven district has however been materially 

 reduced of late years, and reasons are after- 

 wards given explanatory of this fact. 



ANALYSES OF HEMATITE FROM THE 

 WHITEHAVEN DISTRICT 



The yield of metallic iron from some of the 

 richest samples of this district ranged from 60 

 to 65 per cent. Analyses of hzmatite from 

 Millom (Hodbarrow) and Eskdale will be 

 given later, when further dealing with these 

 districts. 



The total output of Cumberland haematite 

 from the year 1855 to 1860 inclusive is shown 

 in the following table : 



From 1858 the production of haematite in- 

 creased at a very rapid rate, and mining 

 operations which had hitherto been confined 

 to the outcrop and shallower deposits were 

 largely extended. 



Boring (which was the principal method 

 used for ascertaining the depth and position of 

 the ore) was also vigorously carried on. A 

 very prevalent idea was held by many of the 

 older miners about this time that it was use- 

 less to bore or prove the ground below the 

 first bed of limestone, and many instances of 

 disappointment have occurred where, by the 

 stoppage of boring operations too soon, large 

 and valuable deposits of haematite remained 

 undiscovered. These were found after the 

 royalty had been given up by the first lessees 

 and retaken by others possessing greater enter- 

 prise, and stimulated by discoveries at lower 



depths in other parts of the district. Owing 

 to the erratic deposition of haematite, a large 

 amount of capital had necessarily to be spent 

 in this way in prospecting the various royalties 

 in the district, and even after mines had be- 

 come productive in many royalties, boring 

 was extensively carried on, as being the best 

 means of maintaining and increasing the out- 

 put. In one instance over 250 boreholes 

 were put down in a royalty having an area of 

 about 65 acres. In this case however the 

 greater number of these were only to shallow 

 depths, having been bored between the years 

 1865 and 1872. Many of the later borings 

 in this royalty were put down over 100 

 fathoms to the slate rock. Percussion boring 

 by means of the ' spring-pole,' worked by 

 hand, was the method first adopted in the 

 Whitehaven district. Afterwards the boring 



388 



