This feparation or breaking the bad from the good Ore, they call Dyzhuing the leader, or making a Dyzhu; and the good Ore that is thus expofed, is called a Dyzhu, from the Cornish British Dyzhui, to discover unto. This method of proceeding is very ufeful, to prevent the more valuable part of the Lode from being mixed promifcuoufly with the barren part, which would increase the charges of dreffing the Ore, and of confequence diminish its value by the deads and wafte that would neceffarily be mixed with it if the Lode was broken altogether.

But though the utility of this method muft be very obvious to the reader, Dizhuing the Lode in whole, is popularly underftood in the following manner: when the whole Lode is rich, and perhaps not above fix or twelve inches big, it will be impoffible to break the Lode away clean and free from waste of the adjoining country without it is firft Dizhued: accordingly they obferve which of either wall or fide of the Lode is the moft fair, and cafily to be broken, and pursuant to that or any other contingent circumftance, they break down firft of all fome part of one wall and contiguous ftratum by the Lode, as hath been before defcribed, and afterwards the Lode being thus far Dizhued is taken down clean by itself. On the contrary, if one part of the Lode is very rich and fair, but fmall, and the reft of it is dry, barren, large, and hard, they commonly dig out first the pith or or richer part of the Lode, which they call Hulking the Lode; so that in such case, the poor part which is left ftanding may not improperly be named a Dyzhu of the dead unprofitable part of the vein; which, if it is very hard, they ufually destroy or break down by a charge of gunpowder.

For the more eafy comprehenfion of the reader, it is to be obferved, that Hulking of Lodes, is the term moft generally used in driving a high end, or finking a high ftope of the Lode'; and that Dyzhuing the Lode or the Leader, is most used where the barren part of the Lode, or the adjoining country, is very fair, or more fo than the rich part of the vein. The interchange of terms, arises from the converse of the foregoing contingencies; for Hulking the Lode, is only useful where the country, or barren part of the vein, is much harder than its richer parts.

In Dyzhuing or Hulking the Lode, a super abundant quantity of deads must consequently incommode the workmen, and fill up the Mine, if not speedily drawn up to grafs or disposed of in some vacant place. The drawing fuch portions up to the

furface,

furface, must be very tedious, and as coftly as drawing up equal quantities of the richeft Ores. Now in order cheaply and speedily to difpofe of their refuse or deads, if the Mine has been worked any tolerable depth, they lay over their heads, across the fiffure or evacuated workings, great beams of timber mortifed into the folid rock; and acrofs upon those beams, firm planks of deal, which make a stage or gallery, denominated a Stull, from the British word Aftel a board or plank. Several of thefe Stulls are made in different depths of Mines, that are of any standing; and we find they are many ways useful to the Mine and workmen; for by fuch coverings over head, the workmen are oftentimes preferved from great danger by the falling of Scals, or the tumbling down of rocks and ftones from various places of the workings over them. These Stulls are doubly useful to the Mine; for all the deads or refuse part of the workings before mentioned, are conveniently thrown to Stulls, as they fay, to the faving of much labour and great expence; and at the fame time, when thus filled with Attal or deads, they help to prop or keep open the Mine from being crushed together by the incumbent ftrata or country. One only inconvenience, that I know of, results from the making of Stulls in a Mine; that is, they often ferve for concealing Ore under-ground, which the combined knavery of the workmen, with the connivance of the captains, may place there till it fuits their opportunity to remove it for their own advantage to mix with Ore upon tribute, where they are largely concerned. All publick undertakings are more expofed than private ones, to the peculations of difhoneft fervants.

In fome Mines, where Ore is broken more fpeedily than it can be drawn up to grafs, (and I have known fome Lodes fo fair and rich that one pick-man would keep a whym constantly going) it is neceffary for them to have a place under-ground, diftinct from the Shafts and Stopes of the Lodes, for lodging their Ore, till they are at liberty to bring it to grafs; particularly where they are driving a drift either upon Ore or deads. This place, if it is dug out of the folid rock or country, they call a Plot, or cutting a Plot. The Plot (commonly called the Plat) is feldom under twelve feet fquare and fix feet high; but it may be much larger according as circumftances require. At the entrance or beginning of almost every Drift, a Plot, or chamber, is convenient to lodge the broken ftuff on, almost as foon as it is broke, that it may not incommode the working of the drift end; and it is alfo more necessary at the top of the Little

Little-Winds or under-ground Shaft, that communicates with the fide or bottom of the upper or grafs Shaft. It may appear ftrange to fome of my readers, how Shafts under-ground, like thofe above, can be neceffary or even practicable; but it is very true, that few Mines are without many of them; and that, in the workings of former times, they were more numerous than grafs Shafts.

The under-ground Shaft or Winds, is worked by hand, with a windlafs only; and its area is not fo large as the grafs or working Shaft; whence it is corruptly abbreviated the LittleWinds. Now that we may understand how necessary the LittleWinds is to the working of a Mine, the reader will be pleased to remember, what I have before hinted, that Lodes in their underlic, go away from the Shafts, in which the work or Ore is brought up the Shafts are thereby rendered ufclefs in courfe of time, and therefore it is commonly requifite to fink down new Shafts, and cut the Lode at a deeper underlie, that they may draw up the work perpendicularly with greater facility. But thofe Shafts in deep Mines, are often coftly, and troublesome to be funk, from the furface of the earth; either by means of the water that falls into them, the intense hardness of the ftratum they muft cut through in finking, or by means of loofe foft ground, that requires much timber and boards to line the Shaft from top to bottom. When they find any of these difficulties very great, they fink a Little-Winds in this manner: they go down in the grafs Shaft, from whence the Lode is gone fo far as the Shaft is perpendicular, or as far as they think proper; from thence they work in a drift or horizontal line, till they come as far over the underlie of the Lode, as they like: there they cut a Plot; and in the middle of this Plot they fix a windlafs or winding tackle, and fink down their Little-Winds or Shaft until they cut the Lode in it, or to the depth they intended. If the Plot is not fufficiently large after the Winds is funk, they make it wider, for holding the work they wind up from the deeper workings; whence the men rell it away in wheel-barrows to the grafs Shaft, where is another Plot, Saller, or ftage of boards, to place it on, from whence they draw it up to the furface at their leifure. Hence it appears, that both the grafs Shaft, and Little-Winds, are put down in ftrait lines; and they would be parallel to each other, had the Winds been continued up to the grafs or furface; but the line, or drift of communication common to both, is horizontal and at right

angles

angles to each other; and goes from the foot or fide of the grafs Shaft, to the top of the Winds.

We may conclude, that the number and neceffity of these under-ground Shafts in a Mine, greatly depends upon the horizontal tendency of the Lode: for if a vein goes down nearly perpendicular, the grafs or working Shaft will anfwer its purpofe very well; but if it inclines faft, or underlies a fathom in a fathom, that is, if for one fathom in perpendicular depth which the Lode is funk upon, it is gone likewise a fathom to the north or fouth, the ufe of the Winds foon becomes neceffary. And though there is a great expence in finking these under-ground Shafts, and cutting of Plots, yet their usefulness counterballances it, where a great wafte of ropes and expence of draft are occafioned by dragging upon the long and flat underlie of a deep Mine. In deep Mines, fome whym ropes coft fifty or fixty pounds; and perhaps cannot be ufed with fafety beyond two months if daily employed, on account of the great wear by dragging fifty or fixty fathoms fixty fathoms upon the inclination of the Lode; befides the expence of putting four horses to draw half the work, which two, but for the depth and impediment, might perform; it being well known, the Kibbal in fuch cafes feldom comes up half full to grafs. Nevertheless, these with many other difficulties are to be borne with in deep Mines inclofed by denfe ftrata; and it muft of confequence follow, that the Winds is more eligible in a fair and feasible country.

When a Mine is wrought very deep, it requires too much time to let many men down through the working Shaft, which is appropriated to the bringing the work or Ore to grafs; and therefore their underlying Shafts, which are become useless, and out of courfe of working, are converted into a foot way. To make a good foot way, they build a Saller or landing plot of boards, on which they reft the foot of a long ladder, the other end whereof reaches up to the top of the Shaft at the furface; then, from the foot of the ladder, they have an horizontal paffage to another deeper Shaft on the underlie of the Lode, where they have another Saller or landing place, and fix another ladder to defcend deeper; and thus they proceed, till they have ladders enough to go down to the bottom of the Mine. Yet it is very common in great Mines to have foot ways by ladders in their engine Shafts, which not only serve the purpofe of going down into the Mine, but also of inspecting every

U u

crevice

crevice of the pumps that have loft water, that they may rectify them when any misfortune happens. Those ladders in the engine Shafts are of various lengths; but at the foot of each ladder there is placed a Saller for it to reft upon, above which, the top of the next ladder presents itself.

Either in driving an Adit, or finking a Shaft in loose mouldering ftratum or country, they are often obliged to bind and secure them with timber, to prevent the country from running into the workings, and thereby choaking them. If the ground is very loose on all fides, they make a Durns, as they call it, which for a Shaft is fquare like the frame of a window, and for an Adit is the fame as a door cafe. Between the Durns and the country they thruft in deal boards, whofe extremities length ways are juft placed behind each Durns; by which means the loofe ground is kept fecure from filling the workings and deftroying the men. This, in an Adit, or any other drift, is called Binding or timbering of it; but in a Shaft, it is Collaring the Shaft; and indeed every Shaft, before it is funk into the hard rock, or while it is in the rubble of the country, must be thus Collared; and the top is thence ufually denominated The Collar of the Shaft.

All deep Mines likewife require to be well propped and fupported with ftemples or maffy pieces of wood, which being boarded over make Stulls, as I have already observed. Thefe ftemples or pillars of wood, which fome call Lock-pieces, are generally placed perpendicularly, one end being fixed under the upper or hanging wall of the Lode, the other end refting on its underlying wall; so that these pillars sustain and keep up, not only the roof or hanging wall of the Lode, but alfo the prodigious weight of the impending ftrata or country. I have seen

thofe maffive pillars crushed almost together in some Mines, by their incumbent roof, and have been filled with horror at their appearance; and in other Mines, where the Lode has been wide and but little inclined, they have appeared like the pillars which form the aile of a venerable piece of Gothick architecture. But to fave the charge of the timber, and cost of breaking the fruitlefs part of the vein, they often leave pillars of the Lode unbroken and standing, efpecially if they are poor in nature, and of a hard ftony confiftence; and by driving holes through those pillars, which are called Arches of the Lode, they preserve a communication with the reft of the workings.