VIEWS OF LOUISIANA. 
1 %) 
name, gives rise to great industry and satisfaction in the miners. 
The constant stretch of expectation in which the mind is kept, 
gives a zest to their labors. 
4. The careless mode of smelting in use proves the great a- 
bundance of the ore. There is but one regular furnace, the rest 
are of a temporary and simple construction. The most common 
are built on the declivity of some hill, with stones, open at the 
top, and with an arch below. Three large logs about four feet 
wide, so as to fit the furnace, are rolled in, smaller pieces of wood 
placed round, and the ore then heaped up in large lumps: fire 
is set to it in the evening, and by the next morning there will 
be a sufficient quantity of the melted lead in the little reservoir 
or hole, scratched in the earth before the ^ch,to commence the 
operation of pouring it into moulds to form pigs. There are 
usually several of these furnaces joined together. About six thou¬ 
sand lbs. of ore are put into each, and the first smelting produces 
50 per cent, besides leaving a quantity of scori or scorched ore. 
The ashes, which contain particles of ore and scori, are wash¬ 
ed, and smelted in a furnace of a different construction, and often 
yield twenty-five or thirty per cent more. The ore smelted in 
this rude way, may be safely considered as yielding seventy-five 
per cent. There remains a dark green substance called slag, 
which on late examination, is thought still to retain a proportion 
of lead worth pursuing. There is no process of pounding or 
washing, except at the air furnace. The three modes of smelt¬ 
ing, to wit, the oficn furnace, the ash furnace, and the air furnace, 
(belonging to Mr. Austin,) have all been introduced since the 
Americans took possession of the country. The creoles never 
smelted any other way than by throwing the lead on log heaps. 
Each of the diggings has its smelting furnace, and the ore is 
smelted on the spot. The business of smelting is considered 
unhealthy, but that of mining remarkably the reverse. This un¬ 
healthiness arises from the fumes of the furnace, in which there 
are quantities of arsenic and sulphur. Animals raised about the 
furnace are frequently poisoned, by licking the ore, or even the 
stones. Dogs and cats, and even poultry, are seen to fall down 
suddenly and die. 
