HAworts. | Historical. 9 
B.c. The lead mines in the province of Irkutsk were dis- 
covered in 1691. In the Caucasus silver-lead mining also 
dates from remote antiquity. In Poland large amounts of 
lead were produced during the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries. 
‘‘In Sweden the great lead deposits of Sala are reported to 
have been worked as early as the sixth century and were cer- 
tainly worked by 1280. 
‘“‘Great Biitain.—There is no positive evidence of lead 
mining in Great Britain by the ancient Britons, but there are 
reasons for believing that deposits of Cardiganshire and of 
some other counties were worked by them. 
‘From the beginning of the Roman occupation (55 B. C.), 
however, there is indubitable evidence of great activity, in 
the shape of old waste and slag heaps, old furnace remains, 
coins, tools, pigs of lead with Roman brands, etc. Such are 
found in north Wales, in Northumberland, Durham, Cumber- 
land, Yorkshire, Flintshire and Somersetshire. In the Isle of 
Man are also traces of very early work. 
“After the Roman period mining languished, but was con- 
tinued, though on a reduced scale, by the Saxons and Danes. 
Before the Norman conquest several Derbyshire mines were 
worked, and these were about the only ones that continued 
in operation up to 1289. 
‘‘In Shropshire, the old Roman Gravel mine was worked 
during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In Devonshire 
large silver mines of Beer Alston were in operation in the thir- 
teenth and in the fifteenth centuries. 
‘‘The first records of operations in Cardiganshire are in 
1845 ; the mines here were also extensively operated during the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth. The north of England lead mines 
were not worked after the departure of the Romans until 
1468, since which time they have been in operation at frequent 
intervals. 
‘‘Generally speaking, the sixteenth, seventeenth and eight- 
eenth centuries constituted a period of great activity in lead 
mining in England; large amounts were produced and large 
quantities were exported. 
