ON THE CHINA-STONE AND CHINA-CLAYS OP CORNWALL. 209 



pass out by a trap-hatch to the pans below it ; or should there be none 

 at this level, recourse is had to the pumps, by means of which, and 

 attached launders, the clay is passed to the drying pans in any portion 

 of the work. Of these there should be from ten to twelve caj>able of 

 holding from forty to fifty tons, to each large collecting pit ; they have 

 been made, till lately, on any part of the adjacent ground, frequently on 

 that covering the clay bed, where the surface after being levelled and 

 covered with fine loose gravel, is edged in by walls of granite, the joints 

 of which, as well as those of the pits, are rendered impervious by inter- 

 posed moss ; they are generally from 20 to 40 feet square, and 2 deep ; 

 the pans, when two-thirds filled with the clay, are thus exposed to the 

 heat of the sun, or the dry winds of March, to the aid of which, alone, 

 the proprietors of the majority of these works have hitherto had re- 

 course. 



The kaolin is by this means only partially deprived of moisture, in 

 order to effect the complete removal of which it is taken from the pans, 

 where it has been allowed to remain for from three to four months, to 

 the drying grounds, on the adjoining hills, in summer, in cubic blocks 

 about one foot square. In order to effect its removal from the pans, a 

 number of parallel incisions are made the whole length of the pan, in 

 one direction, by means of a perpendicular knife attached at right angles 

 to a long handle ; these long blocks are then divided transversely by 

 men, who, with spades, throw them on a board, on which they are 

 carried by women and boys to the sandy drying yard, where they soon 

 become perfectly dry and white ; but as this can only be done in 

 summer, and not even then if a wet season, it has become necessary that 

 recourse should be had to other means ; those hitherto employed have 

 all required the use of a fuel obtainable only from Newport or some 

 distant coal tract, and hence requiring considerable outlay, so much so 

 in fact, that but few persons are able or willing to make use of it : the 

 heat in these cases is applied by means of a large kiln, or by passing the 

 clay over a heated drum, neither of which methods could be made avail- 

 able in the return of several thousand tons of clay annually. 



The junks of clay, after being again collected, are now piled away in 

 sheds, under a number of thatched gates or reeders ; or are placed in 

 some sheltered spot, so that they may, nevertheless, have a constant 

 current of cold dry air surrounding them, and be at the same time kept 

 from rain. When required for exportation, these square blocks are 

 scraped by a number of the clay women, who, armed with their " Dutch 

 hoe"-like instruments, as they surround their scraping tables, present a 

 rather formidable appearance ; after this the clay is piled in waggons to 

 be sent from one of the nearest ports, or is packed in a number of small 

 casks, each capable of holding about half-a-ton, in which it is sent off. 



The prices of these clays vary much with the quality of the article, 

 though those of a superior stamp seldom alter, as they have held their 

 price for the last ten or fifteen years,, and always command an excellent 



VOL. IV. „ R 



