BEVAN EBBW YALE COAL-FIELD. 



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together, a shaft sunk to the bottom will, of course, traverse them 

 all. Steam-engines of great power are for the most part used, both for 

 bringing up the coal and iron, as well as for pumping. When, 

 however, the pit is situated so as to command a large quantity of water- 

 power, this is used instead of steam, and thus : a large moveable 

 cistern, having an iron plate across it so as to hold an empty tram, is 

 filled with water at the top of one shaft, a corresponding empty 

 cistern is at the bottom of the other shaft, with a loaded tram upon it, 

 which is brought up to the surface as the full cistern descends. This 

 is termed a balance pit, and, of course, saves a large outlay in buildings, 

 engines, and machinery. Besides pit working, there is, in South Wales, 

 a very common way of getting at the coal, which can only be practiced 

 in a hilly country, and this is by working a level. When a vein of 

 coal is known to occupy a certain position in a hill, it is easier, 

 instead of sinking a pit down upon it, to pierce through the hill until the 

 vein is reached, just as one may see a long culvert under a railway 

 embankment. This, of course, is a comparatively inexpensive way of 

 working, because the only material requisite for the level are supports 

 for the roof, and a tramway underneath, and it has the advantage of 

 allowing men and horses to walk in and out to their work. The 

 number of miles laid down underground is surprising, and the 

 excavations ramify so extensively that the ground is perfectly honey- 

 combed, and it often requires care, even for a collier, to avoid losing 

 his way in these labyrinths. The third way of working is 

 the simplest of all, and is called patch- working. It is nothing more 

 nor less than digging down from the surface upon the seam of coal or 

 iron, which of course is not practicable when the vein crops out. It is, 

 in fact, a quarry — but such a quarry — where you stand upon a floor of 

 coal, and can see by Heaven's light the manner in which the veins lie 

 upon each other. I have endeavoured to delineate a fine example of 

 patch-working at a place called the EUed Patch, which is situated on 

 the shoulder of the hill between ITantyglo and Eeaufort. Prom the 

 turnpike-road it presents the appearance of a large escarpment, ever 

 altering in appearance and proportions. The topmost thin layer is one 

 of surface soil and stones, beneath which is a considerable thickness of 

 hard sandstone. The shaded part next below consists of dark ironstone, 

 but not of very good quality ; while the rest of the thickness, down 

 to where the trams are seen, is ferruginous hard shale, that is a per- 



