of the Mines of Cornwall and Devon. 311 



other in these respects, and of course some may be said to be more 

 perfect than others. 



The result however of the whole has been the execution of 

 works of extraordinary magnitude, with unparalleled dispatch ; 

 the pursuit of the difficult task of discovery with the greatest effect, 

 and a vast increase in the produce of the metals, more particularly 

 of copper, in the last fifty years. 



The mines of Cornwall have furnished such supplies that the 

 British manufacturers are no longer dependent on other countries 

 for an article of raw material of the. first importance to their trade, 

 while in the space of less than a century, an increase, amounting to 

 the annual value of near a million sterling, has made England one of 

 the sources whence the world is now supplied with copper, instead 

 of relying for this article upon the mines of Germany or Sweden* 



1 . The Nature of the Agreements between the Owner of the Soil 

 and the Mine Adventurers. 



The grant for w^orking a mine is called a set, and is usually taken 

 by one or more persons from the proprietor of the land in which a 

 load may be found, except in such cases of tin-mines as are anciently 

 embounded according to the provisions of the stannary laws, whereby 

 a right of working for this metal is obtained. No custom or an- 

 cient law however prevails as to copper or lead in the stannaries, and 

 therefore all agreements for searching for, or working these metals, 

 are made upon such terms as are decided on by the contracting 

 parties. The owner of the land, in the technical language of the 

 district, is called the lord, and the parties who engage to work the 

 mine are called adventurers., 



