ï 88 NÂT'U RAX HXSTORYlofiJrQ.E/r.tf£
in the progrefs of the working» y d t they âre raBried On with the
ufual diligence, in hopes of their proving better..
It has been found that the£lver-oÿe is riot, as Was lit firft imagined,
limited to this fingle .mountain, which lies between the
river Jordal. and Kongft>eig5>Xut extends itsWeitts for.fome miles
thrôughout the adjacent fliftri&s, which is proved by'the new
mines which - are from time to time undertaken ' in feveral places,
and moft of them, by the bleffiftg of Providence carried on, very
profperoufly. _ Old God’s bfcffing; ohe of - the moft. ancient arid
rich among all the mines, which,- fcmèdmes, within a week, has
yielded iome hundreds of pounds of rich ore, never fails to-ifiike
the beholder with its aftmuffiiHg deptfe,- being neflefs than-one
The deepen hundred and eighty perpendjcülar^fatljoms, ana tHb ciroütSer-
' cnce at the bottom forriis a clfea'f of lome Tmriorqd* fâmdmsi! 'The
fight of lb many piles of wood burning an iafifidfes, thirty or forty
in number, in this gloomy cavern* and cwtànùally fed in" older
to mollify the ftoné, in the profecuttonr of the mine," feërns, ' ;ac-
cordirig to the Commom idea, àn ofiÜèllÿ. andr ?tMTwànns
x>f miners buftling about .in habits aeeoidjng to their .lèverai 6c-
. cupations, may well pals-for fo many devils,- ej|3ecia!ly?wleff as
a fignal that a mine is going to he Iprung in this of-thatcoutfe,
they roar out, Berg-Hvèt I BergXvetT Take carie of'-yBür lives !
I lhall here briefly repeat the words bf a g;entlfman well fkillèd
-in mining, Mr. Eman. -Suedenbotg, in the preface of his book4
called Regnum Subterraneum, where he fays ctH thefe Kongfberg
fiiver-mines, which are vifited by the travelling' German-miners,
as a fycæum in their lcience, to which Europe -has not an equal;
“ Quid Norvegke in fbdinis Rongfbergenfibus, ubi jam peffecu-
lum vix nifi argentum nativum et femel iterumque etiam aurum,
tanquam auræ melioris progenies, in lucem et diem gelidiflimum
pleniflimo fepe cornu prodiea&fe cujus annuum proventum ab
anno iyri , ad 1724. fiftere tfolupe eft, u t inde miranda naturæ
phænomena in regno fobterraneo exiftentia hiCulentius contem-
plari liceat. Ex iliis fodinis duéte flint argenti multam partem
nativi.
t Anno
K A T Ü R Â X H I S T O R Y of N Ö R iV A Y ,
T h a t Impef;
Aniio 1711, Libra 15483 12 fem. jnpretiq 172144 56
s. ’".171.2, --------- , 1X90. ,|o fem. . 3 g o 174 15 7'-
1713, 14 fem.’ 3. gr, ------ ; f y i k f o S f > g?
b 17147—« = 2 t' ’ii68'9‘ 15T&11. 1 pfjH— - i4.8p(P\$*
l 1 7^ —1----- -9034.!io-feiil. 2->gr. —J— *08154 73
fc. 171*6*.------ -* »744111 fern,,3 gj. &— 694
21793 2 fel?- 3* 8r", ..276428 65
— —- 19885T-frftdX -------- <257149
1 7 1 9 , . 1 4 8 2 4 ; M“ *.: H 6$ - ..
1720» . —* 12760 1 j fem3 .3 gr. ------ 768992 42*
,1721, -------- 13671 1-o‘fem. 3 3781,81 3,^
1722, '>— ----- 16884 2 fem- ~4"' w 4 22^% 32t
. 1723, 16 f i t 8 fem. 3 gt. •*=----116^ 3’' '7A
1724, ~ 14184’ rfe fetn. 4- gr. -i-=i 286796- '14
A coinpdrifofi of thele feveral fums Ihews the annual produce
of thefe works to amount tp a tun pf gold and a haflj andfome^
times three quarters.*; aftd the Almighty has ip a figaal manner
been pleafedi1" f6f%mfe years paft, to proper thefe fllven-works,
finte ihey came" under the prudeqt management of Mr. Stucken-
bruch, who By his penetrating genius, has greatly improved them
by -feveral mechanical inventions, which, likewife to the honour
ancr advantage of the country, have invited, great numbers' of-curi-
ouscfl)reigners, who with admiration here behold wonders, both
in nature and art," fitch fas probably no other country can pa-
ral|!rr~~ .
.The number of the officers of all tanks, the daily miners, labourers,
and penfioner§, pxclufive of their children and fam ily
Who have' their' daily flipportnere, according to the eftabliihment,
amount tt> near' five thoufahd perfons.
In the mine of Konglberg, the following are actually in com
ftant work:
Men.
In the firft Revier ~ - 650
In the fécond - . 6op
In the third "'"" ' - . N J
* From the Vienna article in the news of June x8, *751, it appears, that, all the
Giver and gold mine-works, in the Imperial hereditary States, are not equal to the
Angle mine-works of Kongfberg, the words are thefe; “ ?|hg '&Mtnenoe-
ment. of the reign of the emprefs queen, or from the year 1741 to 17:51, 1,398364.
guilders have been coined at her Imperial majefty’s mints' of gold and iilyei^ pro*
duced by the mines in the AtTffirian hereditary dominions.
In