(/HAP. XIII. MINING TROUBLES. 247 



At last, his party of miners arrived from England, 

 but they gave him even more trouble than the peons 

 had done. They were rough, drunken, and sometimes 

 altogether ungovernable. He set them to work at 

 the Santa Anna mine without delay, and at the same 

 time took up his abode amongst them, " to keep them," 

 he said, " if possible, from indulging in the detestable 

 vice of drunkenness, which, if not put a stop to, will 

 eventually destroy themselves, and involve the mining 

 association in ruin." To add to his troubles, the captain 

 of the miners displayed a very hostile and insubordinate 

 spirit, quarrelled and fought with the men, and was 

 insolent to the engineer himself. The captain and his 

 gang, being Cornish men, told Robert to his face that 

 because he was a North-country man, and not born in 

 Cornwall, it was impossible he should know anything of 

 mining. Disease also fell upon him, first fever, and 

 then visceral derangement, followed by a return of 

 his " old complaint, a feeling of oppression in the 

 breast." No wonder that in the midst of these troubles 

 he should longingly speak of returning to his native 

 land. But he stuck to his post and his duty, kept up 

 his courage, and by a mixture of mildness and firmness, 

 and the display of great coolness of judgment, he con- 

 trived to keep the men to their work, and gradually to 

 carry forward the enterprise which he had undertaken. 

 By the beginning of July, 1826, we find that quietness 

 and order had been restored, and the works were pro- 

 ceeding more satisfactorily, though the yield of silver 

 was not as yet very promising. Mr. Stephenson cal- 

 culated that at least three years' diligent and costly 

 operations would be needed to render the mines 

 productive. 



In the mean time he removed to the dwelling which 

 had been erected for his accommodation at Santa Anna. 

 It was a structure speedily raised after the fashion of 



