TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 575 
The whole area is almost unpopulated and has few industries, though the old 
mine shafts and adits made for prospecting purposes point to much greater 
activity in former days. Almost the only industries which now exist are con- 
nected with the granite, a small amount of the fine-grained moorland granite 
being quarried, though it cannot hold its own against the cheaper sea-borne 
Norwegian stone. There are also china-clay works, as at Towednack. It is 
possible that the modern demand for tin, wolfram, and other rare minerals may 
result in some of the old mines being reworked, but as yet very little has been 
done on the plateau. 
To the north and west of the plateau is a narrow coast plain, of less than a 
mile in width, which was probably covered by the sea in Pliocene times to the 
height of 340 feet. This is employed for agricultural and pastoral pursuits, but 
the soil is poor and unproductive. The valleys which seam the plateau on these 
sides are not well marked, and the streams are small. The coast is, as a rule, lofty, 
with striking granite and greenstone cliffs, and is almost harbourless, few coves 
being accessible for even small fishing-boats. The only important centre of 
population is in the neighbourhood of St. Just, where the Levant mine and that 
newly reopened at Botallack employ a considerable number of miners. On the 
south of the higher plateau the streams are longer and the valleys deeper, many of 
them being thickly wooded. The soil is much richer, especially near Penzance, 
where the greenstone predominates, and where industries such as the cultivation 
of cauliflowers are of considerable importance, land being let at from 127. to 141. 
per acre. The climate is far warmer and milder, the region being largely sheltered 
from winds. 
The whole peninsula is separated from the rest of Cornwall by a neck of low 
land. Though small, it has sufficient characteristic features to mark it off from 
the rest of the county, and is specially interesting as a type of a somewhat isolated 
area of old rock, in that respect resembling the inland region of Charnwood 
Forest. 
2. The Hinterland of the Port of Manchester. By J. McFar.ane. 
The imports of Manchester by way of the Ship Canal are much greater than the 
exports. Among the former are cotton, grain, timber, paper-making materials, 
fruit, oil, &c. The area over which American cotton is distributed from Manchester 
does not correspond with the area over which rates are less than from Liverpool. 
The latter town has acquired a momentum as a cotton market, which at present 
more than counterbalances the geographical advantages of Manchester. A large 
proportion of Egyptian cotton comes, however, to Manchester and is distributed to 
the towns in the neighbourhood. 
When the commodity is imported by one firm or company, or when the market 
conditions are simple, Manchester is able to avail itself of its geographical advan- 
tages to a greater extent. Grain, oil, and fruit are distributed over a considerable 
area, varying in each case, but generally covering the east of Lancashire, the 
west part of the West Riding, and some of the Midland towns within 100 miles 
of Manchester. 
The exports are insignificant as compared with the imports, but coal from the 
Lancashire field is shipped in considerable quantities. There are several reasons 
for the small export trade. The total shipping is not yet very great, and facilities 
for export are frequently wanting. Shipping rings also seriously affect the de- 
velopment of the port in this respect, 
3. The Geographical Evolution of Communications. 
Ly Professor VipAL DE LA BLACHE. 
Man had originally no other means of travel and transport than himself, 
. But, whether for the purpose of adjusting or hauling loads, of surmounting 
obstacles, or of venturing on the water, he has had recourse to devices the 
