ITINERARIES. 



189 



found another plant on a boggy ground, which had small 

 grassy leaves, but very few ; it was almost all stalk ; it 

 grew not above an hand high, had a yellow flower, but 

 not open in any when we were there, it being a close 

 day ; the seed-vessel was somewhat large, pro ratione, 

 round, biggest in the middle, smaller at both ends, like 

 some rolls wherewith they roll corn. At the Land's End 

 we saw nothing remarkable. Here they give names to 

 some of the rocks ; for instance, one they call the Long- 

 ship,* another the Armed Knight, which they told us fell 



* When Mr. Ray was the second time at the Land's-end, he made the 

 following observations : — "August the 17th, 1667. On the rock called the 

 Long Sliip they often, in calm weather, find the phocfs, which they call 

 soiles, sleeping, which sometimes they kill by striking cross the snout with 

 a pole, and at others they shoot them. Some of them (they say) grow to 

 the size of a bullock of two years old, and they are of divers colours. We 

 could not certainly learn whether they have four or only two legs, and them 

 before. One that said he had often killed them, affirmed them to have only 

 two legs, and them before. We had also the story how they defended 

 themselves, by casting stones backward upon those who came near them. 

 Being shot dead, the male (they sa;^^) falls or sinks presently to the bottom, 

 the female floats or swims. They distinguish here between sides and soiles. 

 The siele they affirm to be a much lesser fish, and not to be taken on our 

 coasts. They distinguish also between dolphins and porpusses; and by 

 their discourse I gather that a dolphin is a much lesser and scaly fish, and 

 consequently what they call a dolphin is not the Delphinus antiqmrum. 

 Porpusses are here likewise taken in calm weather. We visited Dickan 

 Gwyn (who lives in St. Just's parish,) and had from him some Cornish 

 words. He is esteemed the most skilful man of any now living in tlie 

 Cornish language; but being no good grammarian, we found Mm very 

 deficient. Another there is, Pendarvis by name, who is said to be a scholar, 

 who doubtless must needs have better skill in the tongue. Pour towns 

 there are in Cornwall where they coin tin, or mark it with the king's mark, 

 viz., Lestwithiel, Helston, Truro, and Pensance. Before it is thus coined it 

 cannot be transported into foreign parts. Upon every hundred pound 

 weight of tin the king hath four shillings. In the parish of St. Just are 

 more tin mines wrought than in any other parish in Cornwall. One 

 hundred of good fat ore yields almost so much black tin, and an hundred of 

 black tin (when blown) about forty pound of white tin. A thousand weight 

 of tin is sometimes worth forty-five pounds sterling, but since the war with 

 the Dutch it is not worth above thirty or forty pounds the thousand at most. 

 The tinners complain they lose by it. Before the king's return every man 

 had liberty to sell his tin as well as he could to liis best advantage, but 

 since there has been a price set on it. There is made and uttered yearly in 

 Cornwall four millions of tin, more or less. This information we had from 

 Mr. Borlase, a young gentleman living in St. Just's parish, near the sea. 



" August the 29th, at Pensance we saw a large tunny \Thynnm vulgaris^] 

 which was taken in the pilchard nets. They call them Spanish mackrel. It 



