5'26 Reports and Proceedings. 



adventurers" in tin and copper mines in the county, dated before 

 1730, prayed for redress of the grievance of the excessive cost of 

 coal, caused by the heavy duty on seaborne coal, inasmuch as it 

 amounted to full fifty per cent, upon the amount paid to the coal 

 owner. Who could have imagined that more than a centur}'- after 

 this injurious tax was remitted by Parliament the mines would, in 

 common with the whole population, be subjected to a still harsher and 

 more cruel tax, which, with no scarcity of the article to warrant it, 

 was adding, not fifty, but a hundred per cent, to the ordinarj'^ price ; 

 and thereby threatening with absolute destruction a large pro- 

 portion of the mines in which steam power was indispensable? 

 The dearth of good discoveries of tin and copper having with few 

 exceptions been the rule for the past twenty j^ears, had doubtless 

 tended much to check the spirit of adventure and exploration, with- 

 out which mining must gradually languish. But what a blow to 

 absurd, because ignorant, despondency, they read in the words of 

 the memorial 140 years ago — in the statement that the county had 

 been •' so entirely tried that there was not the least reason to expect 

 any new discoverj'." And yet since then Cornwall for more than a 

 century had been at the head of the tin and copper production of 

 the world ; individual mines had been successfully worked, and 

 entire new regions of lodes profitably opened. As for exhaustion 

 of lode area, a glance at lode majDS would show the vast number 

 of mineral veins just known, but only slightly explored, besides 

 which they might fairly premise that numbers more were at present 

 unknown. 



As to depth, no doubt increased depth of working was at- 

 tended with increased expense, but they could point to lodes like 

 those of Dolcoath and Tincroft as continuing downward with un- 

 diminished strength in the nethermost levels. And after all, the 

 depth reached, whilst nothing to the eye of the speculative geologist, 

 was far exceeded by that of several of the European mines. He 

 had inspected several successive workings between 410 and 470 

 fathoms deep at the productive silver-lead mines of Prizibram, in 

 Central Bohemia, now continuing to deepen after 121 years of 

 persistent profits. Unfortunatelj^, however, for the Western mining 

 district of England, not only had natural difficulties to be encountered, 

 but the coal question had to be met, and formidable rivals from 

 various quarters introduced their easily won stream-tin to the 

 markets where tUornish tin used to reign supreme. No sooner were 

 they somewhat released from the pressure of the East Indies than 

 New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Peru united in joint 

 commercial attack, and now, as they read in last week's Mining 

 Journal, Van Dieman's Land boasted the discovery of tin ore in 

 large quantities. Mr. Smyth quoted various reports on the Queens- 

 land discoveries, and proceeded to remark that all this was of course 

 very disquieting. But although such reports rendered it quite certain 

 that a very large proportion of tin or its ore would make its way to 

 this country, they had to remember that many of tlie desci'iptions 

 were indited by persons not practically conversant with tin-stream- 



