214 
CORN 
cornu, a horn, and pealh ; becaufe in that part England 
is extended like a horn.] The molt wefterly county of 
England, and aknoft an illand, being furrounded on all 
Tides by the fea, except towards the eaft, where it is 
bounded by the county of Devon for the length of forty- 
three miles from north to fouth. From this boundary to 
the weftward, the land continually decreafes in breadth, 
forming itfelf into a figure refembiing a cornucopia ; 
whence the derivation of its name, from cor ms, a horn. 
It has the Briltoi channel on the north, and the Englifli 
channel on the fouth, both leas meeting in a point, at 
the promontory called the Land's End, on the well. In 
lorne places it is almofi: eighteen miles acrofs; in others 
about thirteen ; and in fome not more than five. The 
whole length is about feventy-eight miles. It contains 
nine hundreds, two hundred and one parilhes, 758,484 
acres, and twenty-one market-towns. The land flretch- 
ing itfelf out in the form of a narrow peninfula, is high 
and mountainous in the center, and declines towards the 
fea on each fide. On the fea-fhores and the vallies, near 
the banks of the great rivers, are the chief and almofi: 
only feats of cultivation. The higher grounds exhibit, 
in many parts, the appearance of a dreary wade. In the 
vallies, on the fea-coafts and great rivers, and in almoll 
all.the low and flat grounds in more inland fituations, are 
to be found ftrata of marl, rich loams, and clays, which, 
being alternately intermixed, and with poorer foils, af¬ 
ford an extenfive field to the indtiftry of the inhabitants. 
Tire mine's of Cornwall conlift chiefly of tin, copper, and 
fome lead. The lirata in which thefe metals are found, 
extend from the Land’s End, in a direction from welt 
to eaft, a very confiderable dillance into the county of 
Devon, to the fartheft part of the Dartmoor-hills. This 
extenfive range forms the high ground in the middle of 
Cornwall, from which the wind, rain, and dorms, have 
walked much of the vegetable" earth to enrich the val¬ 
lies, and in which they, have been aided by the opera¬ 
tions of the miners. Formerly, immenfe quantities of 
tin were found in the county of Devon, and in the eallern 
part of Cornwall; but at prefent the chief feat of mining 
lies to the weftward of Saint Auftel. From hence to the 
Land’s End, the principal mines are to be found in va¬ 
rious ftrata, extending along the northern coaft, keeping 
a breadth of about feven miles. The annual produce of tin 
forfeven years, from 1786 to 1792, both inclufive, has been 
about twenty-two thoufand blocks, amounting nearly to 
ten pounds ten Ihillings per block, exclufive of duties, in 
the whole affording a produce of three hundred and thirty 
thoufand pounds. From the dream-ore is produced gene¬ 
rally what is called gram tin, amounting to five or fix hun¬ 
dred blocks per quarter, and fometimes more. The fupe- 
rior price of this tin above the common tin, at different 
times, has been from four to twelve per hundred weight. 
Native gold is found in fome dream works, and alfo, but 
more minutely, blended in fome mines of tin. The pro¬ 
duce of the whole of the copper mines amounts to about 
forty thoufand tons of ore, yielding, on an average, about 
eleven three-fourths in the hundred; and confequently 
producing about four thoufand feven hundred tons of 
copper. The greated part of the copper ores are fent 
out of the county to be fmelted, and the price is very 
variable ; but taking the ore at eight pounds per ton, 
the produce of the copper mines will amount annually 
to about three hundred and twenty thoufand pounds. 
There are alfo fome lead mines in different parts of the 
county, but they are not much worked at prefent. Of 
iron ore there is abundance in many parts of the county; 
but there are no mines of this ore which have been 
much worked. Many tons have indeed been lately fent 
to Wales, which the proprietors lay is I’o rich, that they 
have not been able to find out a proper flux for it. The 
particles of gold are chiefly found near Lelhvithiel, the 
purity of which is nearly the fame as that of Wicklow ; 
affording about twenty-one parts out of twenty-four. The 
4 
W A L L. 
large ft; piece ever found in Cornwall was that which be¬ 
longed to Mr. Lemon, grandfather of fir William Lemon; 
it weighed fifteen pennyweights and fixteen grains. Mix 
Maton, in his Obfervations on Cornwall in 1796, is of 
opinion that the ancient miners mull have opened the 
ground to obtain tin in the fame manner as we do Hone- 
quarries. Whether the Phenicians, or Greeks, who 
traded to Cornwall, interefted themfelves in the digging 
of mines, it is not eafy to determine ; but there can be 
no doubt that the Romans did, and that the Britons were 
much inftrudted in the mining art by that people. The 
Cornilh mines, in the time of king John, yielded but 
a trifling emolument, the right of working 'being then 
wholly in the fovereign as earl of Cornwall, and Jews 
farmed them for an hundred marks. When Richard, 
king of the Romans, had the earldom, the tin-mines be¬ 
came extremely rich, and the Spanilh ones being Hopped 
by the Moors, and none difcovered in Germany, the Ma¬ 
labar coaft, or the Spanilh Weft Indies, Cornwall fup- 
plied all Europe. The Jews being banilhed from tiie 
kingdom in the reign of Edward I. they were again 
negledted, until a charter was obtained from Edmund 
earl of Cornwall, foil of Richard king of the Romans. 
This charter feems to have been the firlt that traced out 
a fort of regular conftitution for the ftannaries, and by it 
very confiderable privileges and immunities became tiie 
inheritance ot the Cornilh tinners, who were now ftimu- 
lated by a fpirit of fpeculation to commence numerous 
adventures. The mines henceforward became more and 
more produftive; though in the feventeenth century, it 
appears by Carew’s Survey, forty thoufand pounds were 
the utmoll annual produce. The prince of Wales, as 
duke of Cornwall, receives about ten thoufand pounds 
yearly as his duty ; and the bounders or proprietors of 
the foil are fuppofed to gain about one-fixth at a medium 
clear, or about thirty thoufand pounds. 
The only filver mine in this county is FIuel-Mexico, 
fituated to the left of the road leading from St. Agnes to 
St. Michael, and not far from the fea, the find of which 
covers all the adjacent country. The rocks on the coaft, 
quite from St. Ives, feem to confilt chiefly of killas, 
which, with nodules of quartz, is the prevailing fub- 
ftance in tiie mine. Luna cornea, or horn filver ore, has 
been found here, though in very fmall quantities, and 
confequently fpecimens of it yield a high price. It is of 
a yellowifti-green colour, and is.found in fmall fpecks 
confiding of minute cubic cryftals. A good deal of filver, 
however, has been procured from ITuel-Mexico; fome 
maffes of the ore, we are informed, have produced as 
much as half their weight of it. The matrix is an 
ochraceous iron ore, and the yellow oxyde covers the 
whole of the mine. Mr. Maton conceived at firft that 
the filver might be afforded by a decompofed galena, 
but could not find any appearance of lead upon exami¬ 
nation of the lode. The courfe of the latter is almofi 
perpendicular to the horizon, in a direction from north 
to fouth. It is about fixteen years fince the mine was 
firft worked, and the depth is now about twenty-four 
fathoms. It is dangerous for a ftranger to defeend, on 
account of the ladders continuing quite ftrait to the bot¬ 
tom, and there being no refting-place except a niche cut 
on one fide in the earth. Should one unfortunately mifs 
one’s hold of the ladder in this fhaft, there is nothing to 
prevent a fall to the very floor of the mine. But in ge¬ 
neral the ladder-fhafts have what are called landing-places ; 
that is, the ladders do not extend more than five or fix 
fathoms in depth, before we may ftand^ or perhaps walk 
fome way fafe on our legs, and then proceed to another 
courfe. Some date the number of men employed in the 
mines at twenty-two thoufand ; others, at not above nine 
thoufand; but, including the dreamers, who are a diftinfl 
body from the miners, the number of men, women, and 
children, employed in raifing the ore, walking, damping, 
and carrying it, will probably amount to fixteen thoufand* 
