362 Mr. Buddle's Narrative of the Explosion 



ings, and eleven more dead bodies were found during the night, making 

 sixty seven in all. 



To the westward of the shaft, and along the two rolley-way headways 

 leading to the north, marked O and N on the plan, there were marks of a 

 heavy fire, and powerful explosion. The repairing and re-instating of the 

 air stoppings was, in the meantime, carried on unremittingly. 



Sunday, June 21. — In the course of the day nine more dead bodies were 

 got out of the C Pit, but it was necessary to suspend operations (under- 

 ground) until the water, which had been thrown down by the water-fall, was 

 drawn out of the pit. The operations in the G Pit were also suspended for a 

 few hours, to allow the people an opportunity of attending the funerals of 

 their deceased friends and relatives, of which thirty seven took place this 

 afternoon. 



Monday, June 22. — During the course of last night access was gained 

 down the G. Pit East Mothergait to the extent of about three hundred 

 yards, where the body of Joseph Lawson, the deputy-overman, and seven- 

 teen others, young men and boys, were found at a on the plan* ; those 

 made the number of dead bodies got up to this evening, eighty-four. 

 They were not burned, but had died of suffocation ; the poor boys had stuff- 

 ed their linen caps into their mouths to protect them as much as possible 

 from breathing the after-damp. Joseph Lawson did not seem to have been 

 much alarmed, as he had two or three Davy lamps in his hand, which he 

 had collected to bring to the " Davy Cabin" as usual, and had also collect- 

 ed and taken all the little trapper-boys under his care. It was also dis- 

 covered afterwards, that he had put all matters right in the E. division 

 of the workings, of which he was in charge, as usual, before he left, which 

 shewed that he had only found the shock of the explosion in a slight degree. 

 This was the division in which we had hitherto believed the explosion to 

 have happened, but we were now satisfied that no fire had been in this 

 part, and were more at a loss than ever to conjecture where it could have 

 happened. The greatest strength of the fire seemed to have been in the 



* Some of the young men had reached within one hundred and eighty yards of the 

 bottom of the shaft, but the most of the little trappers were lying immediately before 

 Lawson, as he had been directing them out before him. 



