in ours) and also in the abyfs which was under the upper cruft of the earth; and that this tide would rife and increafe, all the time of the approach of the comet towards the earth. By the force of which tide, as alfo by the attraction of the comet, he judges, that the abyfs muft put on an cliptick figure, whofe furface being confiderably larger than the former fpherical one, the outward cruft of the earth, incumbent on the abyss, muft accommodate itself to that figure, which it could not do while it held folid and conjoined together. He concludes, therefore, that it must of neceffity be extended, and at last be broke, cleft, and fiffured, by the violence of the faid tides and attraction; out of which clefts or fiffures, the included waters ifluing were a great means of the deluge; this anfwering to what Moses speaks, of "the fountains of the great deep being broke up. To remove this vaft orb of waters again, he fuppofes a mighty wind to have arofe ("God made a wind to pass over "the earth, and the waters affwaged. The fountains alfo of "the deep, and the windows of heaven were ftopped, and the "waters returned from off the earth continually") which dried up fome, and forced the rest into the abyss again, through the clefts or fiffures by which it came up; only a large quantity remained in the alveus of the great ocean, &c. He has fince proved, that there was actually a comet near the earth at that time, viz. the fame great comet which appeared again in 1668. Mr. Whiston, therefore, no longer looked upon what he had advanced as an hypothefis; but has republished it in a particular tract, entitled "The Caufe of the Deluge demonftrated."

,,

To whatever active caufe we may attribute the completion of fo great a phenomenon, we are nevertheless certain from the word of God, and natural obfervations, diftin&t from philofophical enquiries, that the waters of the great deep were broken up, the hills in the ocean were elevated, the mountains of the land were funk, and the earth was variously rent and torn afunder. When those schifms were made, it is probable, the earth was wrung with contortions to the right and to the left, and reeled to and fro like a drunken man, whereby the continuity of veins in the earth were divided and separated to fome distance afunder, and eventually caused thofe chafms and fiffures called Cross-Courses; which partly by the return of the waters into the great abyfs from whence they came up, were filled with the loofe contiguous Earth and Stone within the vortex of the minifter of God's vengeance; and partly by the petrifying agglutinating properties that are inherent in waters circulating

through

through the bowels of the earth. Indeed it is probable, that the greatest part of the contents of thofe contra fiffures, which are only obvious and proximate to our fhallow researches, are produced by the petrifactive quality of water; for they confift of a large proportion of debafed Crystal, a branch or pith of clay, and a yellow or red ochreous earth, which gives it the name of a Goffan. The firft is a petrifaction; the second is the finer parts of the ftrata fqueezed out by the compression and reconfolidation of the earth, if I may be allowed the expreffion; and the laft, is that fpume or ochre, which continually oozes through the pores of mineralized ftrata, as we fee on the fides of every drift and adit under-ground.

When two metallick Lodes near each other, do not run parallel in their courfe or line of direction, but make an oblique angle, they muft neceffarily meet together; and if they are both rich and inclinable to produce Ore, they commonly yield a body of it at the angle of incidence, or, as the Miners fay, where the Lodes elbow each other: but if the one Lode is poor, and the other rich, then they are both either enriched or impoverished by their conjunction; and it is uncertain which will happen. After fome time they will ftrike off again, and each continue its former direction, diftinct though near to the other : but there are some very few exceptions to this, both continuing fometimes united.

When the Miners are working along on the course of a Lode, ever fo good, and they find it feparate and diverge into branches or ftrings, it is a great fign of its poverty, in that place where it is fo difordered; but, on the contrary, if they are driving on branches of Ore, and they find them embodying or coming together, as they work on the course of the Lode, it is promifing.

There are also branches from another quarter, which inftead of being within, are without-fide the walls of the Lode, in the contiguous ftrata or country. These branches often come into the Lode either tranfverfely or obliquely, to its line of direction. Now, if these branches or ftrings are alive, or impregnated with Ore, and also if they underlie fafter than the Lode, then they are faid to overtake or come into the Lode, and to feed where they come into it; but if the branches do not underlie faster than the Lode, then they are faid to go off from it, and thereby starve and impoverish it: yet it is difficult to conceive a right

notion of these kind of branches, without occular demonftrastration; neither are these nor any other indications of the fruitfulness or fterility of a Mine, entirely to be depended on; for many Mines which have no good fymptoms at firft, do nevertheless prove rich; others again, which feem exceeding hopeful, alter for the worfe; fo that there is no certainty how a Mine will anfwer till it is tried in depth: however, as it is not prudent to neglect an adventure of a promifing afpect; fo alfo it is very imprudent to expend much money on a Lode, which wants encouraging marks of making a profitable Mine.

If a man is working downwards in depth in a Mine, then every branch he meets with is faid, by the Miners, to be coming into the Lode; on the contrary, if he works upwards towards the furface, then every branch he meets with is faid to be going off from the Lode: now, this is like taking the fame thing in two different lights; for at this rate the fame individual branch may be faid to go into or proceed from the Lode, according to the pofition the Miner works in. I think it will be moft intelligible to the reader, to fay, that those branches, which come in on the hanging wall of the Lode, are going off from it; and thofe which come in through the underlying or lower wall, are properly thofe branches coming into the Lode, enlarging or enriching it with fuch Ores as the branches contain; and it is very notorious, that Lodes are oftentimes enriched by branches. coming into them, of the fize of an inch in thickness, or under.

Lodes are frequently fo fqueezed and comprefied in hard compact ftrata, that they are not an inch wide; yet if they be alive, that is, if they have a folid ftring or leader of Ore, they often prove well in further purfuit; for by following the rib or leader, they may chance to come into a more tender ground, or lefs compact ftrata. So if branches or leaders of Ore widen in driving on them, or if they widen in depth, either of these is encouraging; but if the branches lie flat or horizontal, and not inclining downwards, they bear no good afpect. A Mine, however, is not immediately to be given over for a fmall difcouragement, because, on spending ground, or working on the Lode, may alter again, and reward the patience of the adventurers.

it

Small Lodes of Tin but three inches wide, are worth the working, when they are rich, clean, folid, and in good feasible ground. Alfo Copper Ore Lodes of fix inches breadth, when

they

they are folid, and are clean from wafte, in fair ground will pay very well for the working. Some of our greatest Mines have had exceeding large veins; and fometimes feveral very small veins near together, but rich in kind, clean, and in good working ground or ftrata, confequently very profitable.

Befides this natural inofculation of veins, and their ramifications, we have thofe which frequently pafs through all others except Crofs-Goffans, and are called by the name of Contras. Such Lodes direct eaft and weft, more nearly than any others and, therefore, in their course run through many other Lodes, interfecting them at very oblique angles. If a Contra-Goffan impregnated with Copper, meets with its like, they generally make a Gulph of Ore at the place of interfection; but if it takes its courfe through a Scovan Lode, it moftly damages, impoverishes, and diforders the Scovan.

All veins croffing cach other, may be termed Contras in respect of each other, as their courses are in oppofition; but from the best information I can procure, all those Goffans which are direct east and weft, run through every other Lode like Cross-Goffans, but do not disorder them in the fame manner : therefore, I chufe to fix the name of Contra, vulgarly called Caunter, to these direct east and weft Lodes, of whofe direction and fertility the great Huel Virgin is one notable instance. It is very obfervable, that almost all Goffans take their course through Tin or Scovan Lodes, and from that circumftance have the names of Master Lodes: hence we have abundant reason to conclude, that all the fiffures of Scovan or Tin Lodes were coeval with the creation; and that the fiffures of Goffan Lodes, of every fort and kind, have been formed fince the creation; and it is apparently fo from the circumftances before mentioned, for, the Lode which separates and goes through another, must have been formed fubfequent to that which it divides and paffes between.

In the next place, I fhall take notice of Lodes that meet in their underlie; as two Lodes are sometimes known, in running a parallel course eaft and weft, to take a direction downwards or underlie towards each other, the one north, the other fouth, and fo make confiderable alterations for the better, or the worse: for if two neighbouring Lodes do underlie against each other, they must then meet in depth; and if both are prone to Ore,

E e

there

there are great hopes of a quantity thereof when they meet; but if one be rich, and the other poor, it is uncertain how they will prove at their junction: yet this cafe feems rather more promifing, than when two Lodes meet fhallow, for this reafon, because the Ore generally happens at fome depth; but if they are differently impregnated, that is, if the one is a Tin Lode, and the other a Copper Courfe, a diforder always enfues, for the Goffan in that cafe occafions an Elevation, Leap, or Heave of the Tin Lode; but if two Goffans meet thus upon the underlie, they will mutually incorporate and pafs through each other, or perhaps ftrike off from each other, and both take a contrary underlie for fome depth, and may be variously rich or poor for Copper, as their nidufes may be varioufly mineralized.

Now if two Lodes are very near together, and underlie both one way, but the hinder Lode more or fafter than the other, which feems to go from it; when the cafe is thus, the hinder Lode will overtake the other in depth, and affociate with it. But if two Lodes near cach other, underlie alike, and if the hinder one doth not underlie fafter than the other, they will never meet, unless they form an angle in their course east in weft. By the hinder Lode, I mean that which, by its underlie, follows another underlying Lode; as when two eaft and weft Lodes do underlie north; of consequence the most southern of the two is the hinder one, because it follows the northern on the underlie.

The most confiderable diforder which Lodes are liable to in Cornwall or elsewhere, is what is termed a Start, a Leap, or a Heave by a Slide or Course-Flookan. It fo happens, that in finking upon a Tin or Copper Lode, they are fuddenly at a lofs for the continuation of the Lode downwards. In one In one day's time, in the working a rich Lode of Tin, they are thus difappointed, and have no further fign of a Lode to work upon; but at the extremity of their working down the Lode in depth, they may perceive a vein of Flookan or clayey-matter, underlying in oppofition to the Lode they were finking upon. This Flookan may be half an inch, or a foot, in thickness; it may be even more or less but as it is, whenever the Miners are foiled of the Lode they were working, or have loft it in this manner, they conclude and fay they are "cut out by a Slide." Now I apprchend the heave is, cæteris paribus, in proportion to the fize of the Flookan or Slide, which may vary according to the angle of fubfidence;