
1799] 
the place. Not the prefent owner, nor 
many generations atter him, will fee the 
value of eftates leffen in this neighbour- 
hood, fince the iurrounding hills are com- 
pofed oi little elfe lut coal and ore; and, 
before any fuch depreciation can take 
place, mutt literally be removed. 
he whole diftritt, where thefe minerals 
abound, extends about eight miles in 
length, and four in breadth. “Two ranges 
of hilis bound this {pace, having a valley 
betwixt them ; in which ftands the town 
of Myrther. a 
The firft perfon who difeovered mines 
in thefe parts, and determined to work 
them, was a Mr. Bacon. Ai leate of the 
furrounding country, fo far as the mines 
extended, was granted to him for the term 
of gg yeats, at the yearly rent of two 
hundred pounds. Having the command 
of an extenfive capital, he immediately 
built forges, and began the manufacture 
of iron. But it happened in this, as it 
has in many great undertakings, that the 
firft promoter reaped very little benefit 
from his new fpeculations. Mr. Bacon, 
whether from mifmanagement, or fome 
other unavoidable caufe, iticceeded fo ill, 
that the works were for fome time entirely 
ftopped. It is likely the want of water-car- 
riage from Myrther to the diftant fea ports, 
enhanced fo much the price of the goods, 
that they could not be brought cheap 
enough to market to enfure any great de- 
mand. The advantage, however, of pur- 
fuing the undertaking appeared fo mani- 
felt, that it was not long before thé heirs 
of Mr. BacoNn, who foon after his failure 
died, let one part of the diftrigt toa Mr. 
CrawsHAy, of London, for the yearly 
rent of five thoufand pounds. This gentle- 
man had a commanding capital of feventy 
thoufand pounds to begin with; but faw 
clearly, that the moft could not be made 
of the natural advantages of the place 
without the benefit of water conveyance 
for his goods. To form, however, a 
canal in a mountainous country was no 
eafy talk ; yet, this dificulty was over- 
come by the perfevering genius of Mi. 
CrawsHAy. In one initance, fortune 
feemed to favour the fcheme, by a difcon- 
tinuity at the top-of a lofty hill; without 
which advantage the canal would never 
have been undertaken. 
Another part of the diftriét is let to 
Mr. HomFray, for two thoufand a year ; 
a third part was taken by Meffrs, Lewis 
and TATE ; and the fourth, and laft, by 
Mr. Hin. Each of thefe gentlemen em- 
ploys ieveral forges, which, in their ftruc- 
ture, look like the gloomy caftles of for- 
Account of yrther-tedvel. eM 
mer days, and give a very romantic ap- 
pearance to the valley. 
Hardly any thing can be conceived 
more awfully grand than the defcent, on 
a dark night, into the vale of Myrther, 
from any of the furrounding hills. On 
a fudden the traveller beholds numberlefs 
volcanos breathing out their undulating 
pillars of flame and finoke, while the fur- 
naces below emit through every aperture 
a vivid light; the whole country feems in 
a blaze—nor do the immenfe hammers, 
the wheels, the rolling-mills, and the 
water-works, uniting together their vari- 
ous founds, add a little to the novelty 
and magnificence of the fcene. When 
firft I beheld it, IT-almoft fancied myfelf 
approaching the Liparaa Taberna of 
Vulcan ; defcribed by Virgil fo beauti- 
fully in the eighth book of his Aéneid. 
Infula Sicanium juxta latus A®oliamque 
Erigitur Lipara fumantibus ardua faxis : 
Quam fubter fpecus et Cyclopum exefa caminis 
Antra Atnzea tonant, validique incudibus 
ictus 
Auditi referunt gemitum, ftriduntque caver- 
nls 
Stri€ture calybum et fornacibus ignis anhelat; 
Vulcani domus et Vulcania nomine tellus. 
To Mr. Crawsuay are the public in- 
debted for thus reviying, in a degree, the 
commercial confequence of this country, 
by a fuccefsful developement of its hidden 
treafures. The workmen belonging to 
him alone amount to between two and 
three thoufand men. An equal number 
is fuppofed to be employed by the other 
iron-mafters. “The whole population of 
‘the town is eftimated at 10,000 perfons. 
Nuimberlefs are the benefits accruing to 
the furrounding parts from the re-eftab- 
lifhment of this manufacture: the old 
roads are improved and new ones formed 5 
extenfive markets are opened for every 
kind of produce; and cultivation is ex 
tended to the tops of the higheft hills. 
It is now in agitation to make a dram- 
road from Myrther to Cardiff; a diftance 
of about twenty miles. . This kind of 
road is an improvement on rail,roads, 
which are pretty generally known. Its 
xcellence chiefly confifts in having a wide 
groove for the wheels to run in, by which 
means the lateral friction 1s confiderably 
diminifhed, and the weight drawn eafier 
along. Its coft is eftimated at thirty 
thoutand pounds. A canal for the fame 
diftance has already coft one hundred 
thoufand ; and this the new projefted road’ 
is meant to fupercede. If upon trial it 
fhould be found to anfwer, might not fuch 
roads be citablithed all over the kingdom? 
and 
357 
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