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daylight but siiovv also,—a large mass of which
was lying directly under it, upon which the light
shining dimh' produced a very singular appearance
from a distance, amidst the utter darkness
that prevailed around it.
Tlie Storvartz mine is said to have been worked
for a period of more than one hundred and twenty
vears, and the two others, between Roraas and
Ejda, about seventy years; b a t the oldest mine
in Norway is, I believe, the celebrated silver-
mine, which has been worked upwards of two
hundred years. The number of workmen permanently
employed in the whole establishment
at Storvartz, Roraas, and Ejda, was stated to be
between four and five hundred, but during the
summer months they give employment also to two
or three hundred boys in addition. The following
abstract of the monthly pay, showing the rate of
wages of the workmen, was given to me by the
i'oreman of the mine, under whose charge the accounts
are placed. It proves how high the value
of money is, and how low must be the price of provisions
and the necessaries of life.
A miner, regularly employed in blasting the ore, earns in a month
from 5 to 6 dollars, or about 1/. sterling.
A labourer, variously employed, earns from 3 to 4^ dollars per
month.
A labourer employed in clearing the ore from the matrix, fiom 4
to 5 dollars per month.
A hoj', above a certain a g e , employed in washing the ore, 2 dollars
per mouth.
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A boy under the specified age 8 orts 8 .skillings per month.
T h e average monthly expense of the different articles used in working
the mine (chiefly powder) is stated to he 300 dollars, or 60/.
For some time past this mining concern scarcely
repaid the expenses of working ; but I understand
it is now doing very well for the shareholders, the
profits arising from it being very considerable. It
is evident that the town of Roraas is entirely supported
by the working of the copper-mines in the
neighbourhood.
There is reason to believe that copper exists in
abundance in various parts of these Swedish Alps,
as they are sometimes called, far to the northward
of the Roraas mine. One, indeed, has for some
years been successfully worked by a company of
Englishmen, who call themselves “ The Alten
Mining Association.” It is situated in or on the
borders of Finmark,in Norway, close upon the 70th
parallel of latitude, at the bottom of the Alten fiord.
The produce of these mines is shipped close to the
shore where they are worked, and carried to Swansea,
to be there smelted, being first crushed and
dressed on the spot. Every convenience is made
for this purpose—wharfs, warehouses, rail-roads,
and water-courses. The climate is, of course, cold,
hut healthy, and the native workmen are tractable,
iiuhistrious, and laborious. At first the unfavourable
climate and the remote situation occasioned
some difficulty in procuring miners; but in a feiv
years, when the concern was known to he flourish