SECT. XU.
Method of
felling copper
in Cmht
wall.
, | N A T U R A L ' H I S T l o ‘R Y
f e j dsi flimy, and muft Be drunked, huddled^ and as tnc
f f im y lifV n *•:; y *■
This is the prefent method of dreffing copper,' which employs many
hands ; and yet in works’ which throw up a ■ quantity/of ore, it is
all broken,- raffed,. fized, waffied, picked, damped; and Ported into
particular heaps for one. tenth partrof the whole produce/v^ntfddl
and fdmètimös for iefs. •£ 2
A quantity being’ibrfed/ cleaned, and divided into, heaps,, accord-
inato the quality of the ores1, - the agents for the copper-cbmpanies
.of Wales and Briftol (who refide atTruro arid Reddruth),upon notice
criven, attend to f ample the: ore, andeach fampler having taken from
each pile as much as is fufficient for affayingand afcertainmg the value
of that pile, a day is appointed by joint, confent of the fellerrand ,buyer,
atfuchdiftance as may give the.fampler time to repeat and verify his
affays, for the fale of the copper: on the fixed day each of the famplers
attends, and produces a ticket, or writteffipaper, fealed up, in .which
is expreffed the price which each fampler will gke for the ore : he,
who in his ticket bids moft, has-the ore1. I This way offfelling has
obtained about thirty years, and muft be a very fair way of dealing
provided the agents, do not in concert confult one. another’s conve-
niency in buying (which perhaps is no more than every buyeethinks
hb has a right to d h ) iiaA en 'ihm .th e -ju ft% a ia^ fc th é^ ^ ;|a^ ^ -
alfo,. that they do not:divide the:parcels occafionally, fo as that no
buyer.may have reafori to_ complain,: and remonftrate; that they do not
aroundleftly fuggeft an exorbitant fall o f the pricerof Goppsr which
the owner cannot contradidr;;providedatf^ttestHödsa^ènt&dö not
combiheoto- diftrefe land reduce Mie coppëf fcvrdö^aift^néjilQb
inquifitive: miner. Such complaints are fcnuttered^ but. witbBwhpt
grounds I pretend not to decide. If, befides this, the agents for the
companies fhould combine, and refufe to admit the. tickets of any
perfon «whatever, who- had a mind to offer .for any parcel of copper,
it would juftly inereafe. and. give .weight to thefe fufpicionsneither
can thefe companies blame the prefent generation, if they be fome-
what uneafy; people who have wares to fell, of which they, know
not the value, (which is the; cafe of the owners for the moft part)
have been fufpicious. in all ages- /of their being impofed upon at the
time of fale : this is no where more .evident than in the cafe before
us. My bufinefs is hiftory, not traffic, and I ffiall meddle with the
* See before, pages 178,179* |
1 It .muft here be obferved, that if the affayer
offers only according to the product of his affay?
he offers much (hort of the real price? “ it being
well known from the laws of atfcraSHqn, that a
large portion of ore will yield morp iniproportion
than a {mailer quantity.” See Smith’s, ftate of the
county , ferry..
latter
w j s 'M o r L v i i n ■ | | j i
, latter n o .» fiirther than is .neceflary to: ilhiftrate the. former. The
ricKnefs.; o f diieovery^fthup. indeed
thq.;app|icatioq. oLjjjbe, Corning .to ryqrk (them effectually, is npt lb
.old ,as the prelSn^gen^raticyi, ; the ’ Beafonl nrfb c^’|iod| is, that thofe
wlm.beft .k-nev4i,®he .^}il}e;o£i t-^fq .mines^ir^^è : off' their
.tradejtci,Goncd^&fls5fMr: Carewn ( zfabethl) hints’
at fhejlittle pro^sjïmafte in.Gofpvraall :ftbmffibpper,. an{i(affigh& theffi
to the fearcher’s^ bçing|kept in.ignorance by tÿe>njpr©|iant. ’ïü‘j.Cbppêr
is "found, ff4ys be, (pgÇj qditibn;); in ffundff effpkee^y^but to
what gaittitp th^fearehers, I Jiâve naip,^e^^:iôus3 to ‘çpqu.ir4 nor
Ithey. baüyvtOtSQ^eal.:'. for^of ’.pps min^,<^which’ Ittopk vfev^l the
ore was ffiipped, in Wmp,. either t « à p K ^
fewel,, ©j^to qo^peal thefpr$fiçf ’ _jyTr.r;^Èd^^ feeips
■ to have had -fqft .ihfpruicpiore fb&tftjiprCpfhiim^
rich, and therbfwe ip his ^tteae to..Kir^i^.»es hffftfce a faithful
fervant,\ (ffuryey^ as (hq |\yasr|tO/4he)thçifTrince p6,^aks()-: intijtpV#-
the expediency, p£sa better infpebtion into. the fta*e;oi* t^ofe^mes,,
and furniifes the arvts by.wffich the value.bf:tb^rp, wa.s îcqWçppff
« So rich are 'the works, (fays he£ibid*)jid(§>écialiy foxMlatpll^ptnd^
as 1^ih e iopmipn tlxe fkilf.pl imu, tffe /miàery. tlje’cK k^ ^ e i^ ti
been-elfewhere,found, .though the.woyth hkth beenfjf®rEae^ly exte-
nuated by private* p,ryera into, the, fççtètyîand covèrdyffollowëcfffo^
their own gain.” NQtwitftflpnding thëiçihintsj llidbfnbt. fiiid any.
thing material gpipg^on ,h,ere in Gornwall,.! asb teethe improy^vf^t'
of the copper-ipipes,. ttill,, about fi-xty.years^ûnQg, Tomeigeiplemen
of Briftol made iffheir bufffiefs to.infpe<ft our mines motenaç^qudy, and
bought ^pcopper raif3 f e twb pounds ten jfhillings pek W , ‘ and fcarep
ever more than for* four pounds ptr ton. It muft berobferved^,. that
the; yellow qre, which, now,fells fpr a. priçe 'between.ften and twempr
pounds per ton^ *was^ât this time called poder^t,(tbat^,?auftj ,and
thrown away as mundic. ' Tbc gains,werej^p^verablUito their^fega-,
,,eity and diligence, „and fo great, that they could nbt^lofig'bej kept
fecret ; this encouraged other geptlemejoref Briftol, ahouj^forty
years fince, not only to ^buy, copper at a^dvfe.iate^'-bqtlo^OT^ge
as adventurers in fome old mines, „ and s.t this,time M!r. John CoIlar,.
a gentleman well fkilled in ipetals, judicious, and partiicukrly .knowing
in-.mechanics and hydraulics, undertook, by means of a watet-
engirieÿu(fither of his owndnvention, on.at leaft in^yîvemçùtjîfo
drain fome5 confiderable minps with fuçcefs: he taught the people
of Cornwall alfo jta better wa^Soî affaymg and-'dieffingthe ytb.
I;,. k See Norden’s' Survey S .Comwall, page
104. v
At N’uun-viàn in Pirai>utbno, and at Mr.
XJftick’s works.in St. Ju ft.. ' :
" m Mr. Beauchamp of Gwenap.;at this time cori
G
\5ensnted &tfeJl* all lth‘e çc^ijer vs?hich ifoufdfri?e
out of- a éiïnê-well flocked, \for,'twenty years,; at
five poùndè ptr tón,,,'a n i ïhe (jç^ at Çelifti^ir in
Gwinear was covenanted .for at .tvço .ptjun^s jten.
g
Here