1610 Mr. Hitchins's Account of the Discovery 
terminate, to all appearance, at a short distance, completely and 
irrecoverably. 
This mine was worked about twenty years ago, when it was 
sunk to the depth of one hundred fathoms from the surface. It 
was again set to work about eight years since ; has now four 
fire-engines and two steam-whims on it ; and is sunk to a depth 
of one hundred and fifty -five fathoms below the surface, or, as 
the miners call it, from grass. 
It is in this latter period of its history, that a discovery has 
been made of a considerable quantity of silver ore, in a parti- 
cular part of the mine, the singularity of which discovery, in 
this country, has much excited the curiosity of the public. 
For, although the numerous veins of lead in Cornwall are 
richly impregnated with silver, and occasionally yield small 
quantities of silver ores, and even specimens of native silver, 
yet, hitherto, no instance had been known of their yielding 
this precious metal in such abundance ; nor had any circum- 
stances, in the natural history of the mineral veins of this coun- 
try, borne any analogy to those which accompanied the present 
discovery. 
These circumstances therefore, having been examined with 
more attention than usual, shall be stated with as much preci- 
sion as it is possible to obtain, from the report of those practical 
miners only who have hitherto inspected them. 
The facts which deserve to be first noticed are, the confined and 
insulated position of the mass of silver ore ; its great depth from 
the surface of the mine ; and its contiguity to a copper lode. 
The lode in which it occurs is one of those cross courses, as 
they are here called, which intersect and derange the copper 
lodes, and consequently are of a more recent formation. 
