2I+ H A T U R A L H I S T O R Y
facBj feys; « the tinners of! Cornwall do now frequently find "Mttle
q u a n t it ie s ’ of ^ d and filver- -ataong the tin-ore, and Queen Ann
(1702) granted a patent to Miv Robert Lydall of -Truro, for. iepa-
iaring gold and fxlver from tin by precipitation in a reverberatory
furnace by feme peculiar fluxes.”
Thefe difqovgtiesfrave been lately advancedia;x yjs^foi^e perfqns ',
■ of the parifh of St. Stephen’s Branel, {beaming for.tin in theqxarilfrof
Creed, near the borough of Granpont, and perceiving fome grains of a
yellow colour, veiy final], .but yetTq heavy to refift the ,water,
culled out fome o f the largeft grains, and carried the tin to ^j^eltj
ing-houfe near Truro. The gold was in fuch plenty in this tin, that
the melter, Mr. Walter Rofyvarne, taking the gold, at firft fqnmun-
dic or copper, « blamed.them for bringing it for faje, without having
firft burnt i t ; but, upon allaying the ore, fpuqd it to make a very
great produce, and exceedingly fine metal: the miners th ^ tpo^
out o f their pockets feveral pieces of pure gold, and qqe ftone as
large as a walnut, with a pure vein of golden the mi4dlecof- the
ftone, about the bignefs of a goofe qu.ill; .ifie iplear bits of gold*
and that in the ftone, were then allayed,cand.produced juft;^uqogb
of pure gold a.” The tinners became afterwards more attentivë to
what was mixed with their ftream-tin, and at feveral times are fup-
pofed to have fold fomewhat confiderable. This piece of good
fortune—not remaining any long time a fecret, the. tinners in .the
adjacent parifhes of St. Stephen s Branel, St. Eute'% and St. Meuan
followed their example, and have rather had better fuccefs this way.
A t Luny, in the parifh óf St. Eue,r James Gaved,. a ftreamer there,
found native gold immerfcd in the body bf a blue fandy ftateSoff lie
has alfo feen gold (as he fays) famed about .^ar^^maMsy ifixed
and concreted on the quartz ‘ ; but it is very-rare to:fihdvif thus
incorporated. Mr. Rofwame above-mentioned fufpeéts, as : He Hn-
forms me, that there is gold, more or lefs, in all .ftream-tin .in the
county, having feen it in tin brought from St. Eue, Creed,, -Sti
Stephen’s, St. Meuan, Probus, Kenwyn, and many other parifhes.
He has now by him one piece of pure gold, brought him by the
forementioned perfons, which weighs to the value oftwenty-foven fhil-?
lings, another that weighs in Value feventeen {hillings : he has feen two
or three bits from Probus which weighed about fifteen fhillings,
intermixed with white fpar or quartz: I have one which weighs
half a guinea; but the largeft piece found iii Cornwall, which
has reached my notice, is that in the pofïèflion of William Lemon,
Efq; of Carclew, which weighs in gold-coin three pounds three
SECT. XL
Of late far1
ther difco-
vered.
4 Charles and Samuel Trethewy. 'A t Luny.
4 Letter from Mr. Rofwame, February llth, 1 At Trelowa. '
« In Cornwall called Spar.
fhillings,
. O. JT ■ C O R N W A L L. 215
Shillings, on, fifteen pennyy$figfrts and iixteen grains, brought him
-inith^latter end o f ^ p tq ^ lp . 1^56. ■<’ The, dimpnfions of this
piece of-gold may uheaifeep! Plate' xxt.. where* Fig» xxV fhews the
■ .thieknefs, and Mg., $xv>i the fide-vjew or width o|,this piece of
fame gol'd ;-anql from J^e^^re^sdLJhape, Eig^.x-xv, it appe^'.to
,§iave come frocn.;a.jveih' halfoa%,iifofr,-widq,at a medium . "On each
fide, itjfra? a lighjvfrfown, fatt^earth, ‘ whiph i f thereby j a u n t y it
is mixed- witht IM was found, in tho - pariflvfof"Greed, -'near the
Ibomugh-of Granpont.-
id That gold dibs.fotnetiihes' fo intermixed with tin w&e. not unknown ,
•to {he,ancients jbjPliny* flib'ixxxv. chap, xvt«} giye3svu£ a plaiq^ac-
iepunt ofi there metals frelpgy found1, together in fthe fame manner as
.we find.them nowanuGbJriwallp th©.tin mfafcul^ t(that(is, %optfrPf
pebbly ore), of the-fame gravity^- the ore ofr'goMi*, andifeparated ,
•by '\ lih^epaxdptur as in 1
fome editions )i-that! is,1 by bafketsS of theTame nature-and, [lilfp'as.’our
foarces, iBefides this;detached-goldpjgold/i§{ tedfo
fays fo,fin tin; bheftih^yftal&s 'gigi^xx,,;xxij ajnd x x n ., Plate xx.
have notrionly flammulcepibfparks', ;bufh alfo')ftreaks^©f.-gold1; .gold
-hasftheif^mq apptearancoifom^timqs'.in foreign* parts. “ At Wun-
fiedelV in the margr,aviate of Baireuth for Germany, tip-grains-, o f
vario.us.-jcolqurs, holding particles (flammulce) of natiye gold, 'are*
not uncomhaon‘i” ;o
, rt This late difeoveiy .of gold in Cornwall is tnefrefore neither with- s e c t . at.
opt former precedents,. nor at prelent of any great importance ;)'‘it?Difeoyenes
is in its infancy, though known one -thoufand ,feyen hundred< years
fince ; and, i f puriued, will at leaft gain my countrymen'the "credit: ti“ 1-
o f induffry., if it, fhouM not produce the profit .which induftiy-H^V"
fotyes. \ Spme circumftances in this difGovery, however, may well
claim our farther attentipn. Firft, This gold,.found in theqxarifhes
above-mentioned, is always intermixed with.grains o f tin-ore^ which,
by their roundnefs and,fmoothnefs;' mew that they have been wafhed
4pwn from the neighbouring hills. Is if not likely then that- the
fame hills contain gold as well as tin, each in their mineral frate,?'.
for.native gold fixed in the ftone, and,.veining it, as well a^tin^pa-
rate grains, isijiow. J andxnatiye metal isj but the
accidental defecatiqUi of, the- <fre .by 11&'
America gold is found in veins-1 as other metals are found here,with
us,, and it is moft likely that thej(goldrduft found in Africa and Afia,
in the fands of brooks ajnd rivers, all comes froip die veins in the
frills adjacentj though not worked by the' ignorant Moors apd In-
* .Tin purified is the figliteft ofi, metals, but, in,. v2\6,, 1755* !■; . - •
, the ore the heaVief. ^ ‘ * ' ' ” ‘ ^ r Alonzo Barba- of Oruro ffiine%: page 75.
h Letter from Mr. E. Daeoftaj. F. R.: S., jjluge
dians.