120 Mr. William Phillips on the Veins of Cornwall. 



depth. A satisfactory trial of their nature and value can rarely be 

 made, without sinking 30, 40, or even 60 fathoms below the sur- 

 face, and driving, at various depths, east and west on the " course 

 of the load." 



Symptoms in Veins, 



In the whole range of the employments of man, there Is not 

 perhaps another in which experience and ingenuity are more 

 often and completely baffled than in mining. Not unfrequently 

 the appearances in a vein considered to be of the most promising 

 kind, lead on the most experienced miners during the lapse of 

 many years only to ultimate and immense loss ; while on the other 

 hand, from the product of veins, which, by men of not less experi- 

 ence have been declared to promise no advantage, large profits have 

 been reaped. The great copper mine called North Downs, in the 

 working of which no less a sum than £90,000 was lost, may be 

 considered as an instance of the first, and Huel Alfred, from which 

 a greater sum has been gained, is an instance of the second. There 

 is scarcely one symptom on which the miner most relies that has 

 not occasionally deceived him. It may be curious however to add 

 some of the symptoms in favour of which the miner is greatly pre- 

 judiced. There is no one more favorable in his estimation than 

 a gossany load. I remember that of North Towan Mine was of 

 this description, and of so great promise, that several of the most 

 experienced practical miners did not hesitate to declare it superior, 

 in that respect, to any other they had seen ; and that, if compelled 

 to venture all they possessed, in the working of any one vein, it 

 should be that of North Towan ; but, after much time and expense 

 had been bestowed in trying it, it was found to be very poor, and 

 was therefore abandoned. 



