Mr. William Phillips on the Veins of Cornwall, 119 



A vein Is termed a caply load when consisting of a hard, com- 

 pact and unpromising substance, which seems principally to be- 

 quartz Intermixt with minute portions of chlorite, giving a green- 

 ish, or brownish green tinge to the mass. Tin is often found in 

 it, copper rarely. But If a branch of copper ore, or a gossan be 

 found to take Its course down the veln^ It commonly makes a 

 durable copper mine. 



A vein Is said to be a pryany load^ when the tin or copper ore 

 does not occur in a compact state, but when the stones containing 

 either of them are found mixed loosely with other substances, such 

 as gossan or flucan. Fry In the Cornish language signifies clay. 



A vein that abounds In blende is called a hlack jack load^ which 

 is generally unpromising for tin, but is considered a good omen for 

 copper. It Is rarely found that blende continues to any consider- 

 able depth. It is also called mock-lead by miners. 



Grouan * is the common technical term for granite, so that when 

 a vein abounds In that substance, either In masses or blocks, or In 

 a decomposed state, it Is called a grouany load^ which Is rarely 

 found except In a granite country. Grouan is more promising for 

 tin than for copper ; though veins containing the latter have often 

 of late been found In the granitic districts of Cornwall, of which 

 the western part of West Huel Virgin, Carharack, and Huel Damsel, 

 all rich copper mines, are Instances. 



It must be remarked that veins generally take their names from 

 the substances which abound but a little way below the surface. 

 But, the circumstances of veins change so often, and their contents 

 frequently participate so largely of the nature of the country they 

 traverse, that the same appellation will not often hold for them in 



* Grouan signifies Gravel, in the Cornish language, Borlase^ — It seems therefore 

 probable that Grouan, correctly speaking, is decomposed Granite. 



