30 
fered to remain mounted on the walls, and the fortresses are en¬ 
closed with palisades. Truly! many persons find the business of 
keeping the carriages in good order very profitable, and the pali- 
„ sades also serve instead of hedges! 
The Dalcoath mines are about fourteen miles from Falmouth. 
The stockholders of these mines, held a meeting on the 13th of 
June, to settle their accounts. I rode thither with Mr. Lake, 
Captain Ryk, and some officers of the Pallas. But having already 
visited many mines, and learnt from experience that nothing is 
generally seen but small and low passages, that much inconveni¬ 
ence is experienced from dampness and filth, and my object being 
to visit America, I thought it by no means necessary to enter 
these subterraneous regions. Coals are not found in the province 
of Cornwall. The ore is therefore sold in heaps, at about seven 
pounds and a half sterling per ton, and conveyed by water to 
Wales, where, as is well known, stone-coal is found in abundance; 
it is there smelted. The Dalcoath mines occupy a large extent 
of ground, and have seven shafts, one of which is three hundred 
and forty fathoms deep. The pumps are worked by means of 
steam-engines, the cylinder of one of which is seventy-six inches 
in diameter. We were told of an engine in the neighbourhood, 
whose cylinder was one hundred inches in diameter. Nearly 
eight hundred people work daily in the Dalcoath mines, whose 
wages are proportioned to the product of their labour. The ridge 
consists of granite and schist. The metals are copper and tin. 
The veins of these metals lie close together, frequently cross each 
other, and are so rich, that in general it yields a third of its 
weight in pure metal. The stone is broken and washed, and the 
copper separated from the tin, after which the ore is collected into 
heaps for sale. The breaking of the stone into small pieces is 
performed by women, some of whom were very handsome. I re¬ 
marked also, that the stone was drawn up the shaft in iron, and 
not in wooden buckets, as is customary in other countries. The 
company to which these mines belong is said to realize great 
sums; however a deficit occasionally occurs. This was the case 
at the present settlement of accounts, and for this reason the gen¬ 
tlemen, about twenty in number, with a permanent director, Mr. 
Rennel at their head, were not in the best humour. At the din¬ 
ner, which naturally closed the transaction, many local concerns, 
which did not particularly interest us, were discussed. Many 
toasts, which all referred to localities, were drank. At last, it 
occurred to the gentlemen to drink the health of the king of the 
Netherlands, which I returned by drinking the health of the royal 
family of England. The dinner consisted, according to the Eng¬ 
lish fashion, of very solid food—roast-beef, plumb-pudding, &c. 
Our course led us through Penryn, a small place, about two 
