CORNWALL. 



239 



'. tive of this county. I am informed., that the Rev. 

 * Mr Herneth of St Austle is in possession of a crystal- 

 lized variety, with erect hexagonal plates." The mi- 

 ners remarked, that from the period of the discovery of 

 this substance, the lode ceased to be productive. The 

 Denyhall slate quarries, near Camelford, produce a 

 species of slate of a peculiar texture ; if it is struck, the 

 sound it emits is almost as clear as that of metal : its 

 colour is greyish blue : it splits into lamina?, sometimes 

 sufficiently large for grave-stones : it is equal to any 

 slate in the kingdom for roofs. The Cornish diamonds 

 must not be passed unnoticed. They consist of beau- 

 tifully transparent quartz, in six-sided pyramids, with 

 a hexagonal prism. Their specific gravity is from 2.64- to 

 2.6'7. They are composed of the purest siliceous earth : 

 some of them are colourless; others stained with me- 

 tallic oxides. The most remarkable and rare kind have 

 hexagonal sheaths, described one within the other, — a 

 structure which has puzzled geologists. In a copper 

 mine near Redruth, a curious substance, called the 

 swimming-stone, is found. It consists of right-lined 

 laminae, as thin as paper, which intersect one another 

 in all directions, leaving, however, unequal cavities be- 

 tween them. In consequence of this cellular structure, 

 the stone is so light that it swims in Avater. 



Of rare plants, the following may be noticed as grow- 

 ing in Cornwall : near Fowey, on a slaty soil, to which 

 it is extremely partial, Sibthorpia Europcea, which was 

 discovered by Ray between 1670 and l6'77. Near 

 the village of Mullion, Erica vagans, the mo6t rare 

 and beautiful of the English heaths, grows in great 

 abundance and luxuriance : it is also found near Hel- 

 ston. About the Lizard, Asparagus officinalis, and Her- 

 niaria glabra are found, but in no great abundance. 

 Tamarix galliea, a shrub, for a long time not arranged 

 among the British plants, grows wild in this part of 

 Cornwall; some suppose that it is not indigenous to 

 England, but was brought by the monks from Nor- 

 mandy to St Michael's Mount, and that it has spread 

 thence over the west of Cornwall : it thrives rapidly in 

 situations most exposed to the sea, and forms there an 

 admirable shelter. On the borders of Mounts Bay, 

 Snntolina maritima, Eryngium campestre, Panicum dac- 

 fylon, Euphorbia Peplis, Euphorbia Paralias are found. 

 On the skirts of a wood, about a mile north from Bod- 

 min, one of the rarest British plants has its habitat, viz. 

 Ligusticum Cornubiense. Laver or lichen marinus is com- 

 mon on the shores of Cornwall; they also afford several 

 uncommon species of shells ; near Falmouth Dr Ma- 

 ton discovered Tellina prnficua, and Cardium exiguum; 

 and also a non descript species of Venus, which he 

 named Venus Cardioides, from its resemblance to the 

 Cardia. Treryn Cove, which is almost close to Castle 

 I reryn, affords also several of the rarer species of shells : 

 / (Uella pellucida is very abundant ; and Patella jlssura, 

 Mytilus modiolus, Trochus Comutus, and Turbo Cimex, 

 are not uncommon on the rocks about the shore ; near 

 St Ives, Helix maculosa, one of the most elegant and 

 larest species of British, shells, is found. In form and 

 colour it approaches so nearly to the common snail of 

 our downs, that it is very likely to be confounded 

 with it, but the size will be found to be considerably 

 larger. J 



1 The native cattle and sheep of Cornwall have been 

 already noticed and described. There is also a species of 

 trow, wLich, though not peculiar and confined to Corn- 

 wall, is so common on its coasts, that it is called the 

 i^mwL. chough or daw: it frequents ruined towers by 

 the sea side, and sequestered craggy rocks, especially 



on the part of the coast near St Michael. It is easily Cornwall 

 distinguished from the common crow by the redness of *"■ — 

 its legs and bill ; and by its colour, which is a sort of 

 violet black; it is remarkable for its propensity to steal 

 and carry away whatever it finds, and it has been acci- 

 dentally the cause of setting fire to houses by convey- 

 ing lighted brands to the roofs ; yet the natives are so 

 much attached to it, that it is not uncommon to see 

 tame ones in their gardens. 



A great variety of fish are found on the coasts of this Fislv 

 county, but none are so considerable an object of com- 

 merce, or afford employment and subsistence to so many 

 people, as the pilchard. The pilchard fishery is car- 

 ried on at St Ives, on the northern coast; in Mounts- 

 ba}', on the southern; and thence eastward at -St Ma wes, 

 Megavessey, and quite to the Devonshire coast. The 

 pilchards make their appearance about the middle of 

 July, and depart for the arctic regions about the end of 

 September. The fishermen say, that fifty years ago, they 

 did not leave the coasts of Cornwall till Christmas. 

 The dog-fish haunts the coasts, and devouring the pil- 

 chard eagerly, is a great enemy to the fishery. Two 

 kinds of nets are employed, a stop seine, which is ge- 

 nerally 22 fathoms long, 16 fathoms deep in the middle, 

 and 14 at each end: some of these seines will contain 

 upwards of 200 hogsheads, each hogshead holding near- 

 ly 3000 fishes: the other kind of seine, is called a tuck 

 seine, which is made similar to the stop seine but smaller, 

 being generally only 108 fathoms long and 10 deep: 

 three boats are necessary for each seine : the number 

 of men employed varies from 17 to 24: they are paid 

 partly in money, and partly by a share of the fish and 

 oil. Sometimes a seine will take from 1000 to 1500 

 hogsheads in a season: the whole quantity may be 

 averaged at about 50,000 hogsheads, of 40 gallons each, 

 and 3000 fish in each cask. Some of the fishermen are 

 stationed on the rocks to watch the course of the fish ; 

 these are called hucrs, from setting up a hue, when 

 they observe a drove of pilchards. As soon as the fish 

 come within the depth of the seine, the boat containing 

 it is rowed round them, and at the same time, the net 

 is thrown over; by this means they are completely 

 surrounded ; the fish are suffered to lie in the stop seine 

 till low water, when they are taken out with the tuck- 

 seine, and carried to the store-houses : if the quantity 

 be very large, it sometimes requires several weeks to 

 take them all out, as they must be salted immediately 

 on their removal. The floor of the store-houses on 

 which they are laid, is on a gentle declivity, that they 

 may be kept diy and in good condition : in the store- 

 houses, as well as in every cask, a quantity of salt is 

 spread between every layer offish; and in the packing, 

 they are pressed very hard, with great weights, by the 

 power of a strong lever. The oil is thus extracted : 

 the pressing continues about 1 4 days, when the fish are 

 fit for the merchant. Forty eight hogsheads of pilchards 

 usually yield a ton of oil : 420 lbs. of salt is necessary 

 to cure a hogshead; and the usual quantity provided for 

 each seine, is 3000 bushels. Men, women, and chil- 

 dren, but principally women, are employed in the va- 

 rious processes of washing, salting, pressing, and ma- 

 king nets, ropes, &c; the number is at least 5000. The 

 capital engaged in the trade is supposed to be £300,000. 

 The principal market before the war was Italy. At- 

 tempts have been made, since it was shut up, or con- 

 tracted, to open a market in the metropolis, but they 

 have not succeeded. 



There are very few manufactures in Cornwall. Mamifaci 

 Carew mentions, that in his time, the women and chil- Hues. 



