having two handles fastened at the fides, by which they foftly fhogge the fame to and fro in the water between their legges, as they fet over it, untill whatfoever of the earthie fubftance "that was left, be flited away. Some of later time, with a fleighter invention, and lighter labour, doe caufe certayne boyes to ftir it up and down with their feete, which worketh "the fame effect: the refidue, after this often cleanfing, they "calle Black Tynne. But fithence I gathered sticks to the buildinge of this poor neft, Sir Francis Godolphin enter"tained a Dutch Mynerall-man, and taking light from his "experience, but building thereon far more profitable conclu"fions of his owne inventions, hath practifed a more faving way in these matters, and befides, made Tynne with good profit of that refufe which Tynners rejected as nothing "worthe."

Thus far Mr. Carew.

The mid

Seeing that a dreffer's judgment is required in the choice of a grate, I begin with a defcription of that first and necessary part of a ftamping mill, which is a thin plate of Iron one-tenth of an inch thick, and twelve inches long by ten wide. dle of this, from eight inches and an half by feven inches, is punched full of holes from the diameter of a small pin, to that of a large reed; for the larger the Tin cryftals inclofing the Metal are, fo much the more capacious must be the holes, and vice verfâ. This holed plate, commonly named the Grate (I prefume from the custom formerly of discharging their stamped Tin through grates or iron bars) is nailed on the infide of the frame, at Y, plate V, near the bottom where the stamp heads pound the Orc. The Tin-ftuff being depofited on the floor, at C, called the Garden of the Pafs, from thence it flides by its own weight, the motion of the ftamps tackle, and the affiftance of a small rill of water, D, into the box at Y; there by the lifters a, b, c, falling on it, after being raised by the axle-tree, d, which is turned round by the water wheel, B, it is pounded or ftamped fmall. The lifters are three to each ftamps, made of afh timber, fix by feven inches fquare, and about nine or ten feet long. They are armed at the bottom with large maffes of Iron called Stamp-Heads, of one hundred and forty pounds weight in each, or more: thefe are lifted up, and let fall, between two upright parallel planks of oak timber, by wooden knobs or teeth, called Caps, fixed in the barrel of the axletree at proper distances, and in number proportioned to the circumference of the axis, which goes round by the power of the water wheel. Thofe caps in their round, take up pieces

of

of wood called Tongues, about fix inches projecting from each lifter, which are fixed one in every lifter at a proper place, fo that each cap from the barrel of the axle comes under the tongues, and lifts them up, one after another, in a uniform rotation. Each lifter with its iron head falling upon the Tinftuff, bruises it down fo fmall, that it is all discharged through the little holes of the grate. The hinder head lifts firft; that falling, forces the Tin-ftuff under the second; the second falling, forces it to the third; that falling, forces it on to the fmall holes in the grate, from whence it is conveyed by the fame rill of water before mentioned (which likewise serves to keep the Ore wet, and the ftamp heads cool) through a small gutter, e, into the pit, F, where it makes its first pure fettlement; for the rough metallick part lies at the head, while the loomy part or flime is carried back by the water, to the hinder part, G. Adjoining to this pit is another large refervoir, H, where the flime leavings coming from the first pit, are finally depofited; the remainder which flows over into the river, being reckoned good for nothing.

When the first pit, F, is full, they throw it up, carefully feparating the good from the bad; or in two parts, the head and the tail, according to the difcretion of the dreffer. Then they carry it to the buddle, I, a pit seven feet long, two and a half wide, and two feet deep. The dreffer, or a ftout boy, ftanding in the buddle at I, fpreads the pulverized Ore upon an inclined plane at K, called the head or Jagging board of the buddle, by a shovel full at a time, in fmall ridges parallel to the run of the water, which enters the buddle at L, and falling equally over the cross bar M, washes the lighter parts from the ridges, which are moved to the right and left with a shovel till the water permeating every part separates the better from the worfe; the dreffer in the mean time lightly fcraping his naked foot across the Tin in the body of the buddle, which raises the light wafte, in order to its being carried back by the water whilft the Tin remains clean in the head or fore part of the buddle. When the buddle is filled in this manner, if the Tin is of a moderate value it is forted into three divifions; that next the jagging board, K, at g, is the pureft, and called the head or crop, which is faved by itself; the middle, at h, is next in degree, being named the middle head, but more commonly the Creafe; and that, at i, being moft impure, is by fome called the Hind-Creafe, which is thrown behind the buddle for leavings, and thence called by fome the Tails. If need be, the

head of the buddle is buddled over again, and fo is the crease, till it is brought to equal purity with the fore part or head. Thefe buddlings are repeated, till the quantity defired, to a certain ftandard of purity, is brought about, as they term it, or freed from its wafte, which is thrown afide with the tails, and hind-creafes, for leavings.

It is then carried to a large vat called a Keeve, about onethird filled with water, where the dreffer ftirs round the water with a fhovel, while another puts in the Tin by a fhovel full at a time, letting it fall down into the water by little and little at the fide of the keeve, wherein it is continually tozed (toffed) or ftirred by the dreffer with his fhovel, till the keeve is almost filled. By this method the fmall waste that remains among the Tin fwims about in the water. When the toffing is at an end, a boy or two with mallets employ themselves for a quarter of an hour beating the fides of the keeve, near the top (which they call packing) till the whole is fettled hard, according to the different gravities of its component parts; when the water is poured off from the furface of the Tin, and the light waste upon it is fkimmed off and laid by itself, to be buddled over again by the name of the Skimpings. The Tin is then fifted through a copper bottom fieve, into another keeve of water, by which the gravelly wafte, whofe ponderofity funk it equally with the Tin Ore in packing, is feparated from the clean Tin; the Tin that runs through the copper or brass bottom fieve, if it does not require to be buddled again, may be made clean by repeatedly toffing and packing it as before. If it is neceffary to buddle the Tin over again, after it is fifted (which is the best method for cleanfing moft forts of Tin, for there may lie a rough waste, that will not come off by toffing and packing) then buddle it over again, and fave it in three parts, viz. the crop, the crease, and the tail. The crop is to be cleansed by toffing, &c. and the creafe must be buddled again, out of which muft be faved as much as will cleanfe by toffing and packing.

A

The remainder must be cleanfed by an operation called Dilleuing, from Dilleugh, to let go, let fly, fend away. dilleugher is a large fine hair fieve, which the dreffer holds in a keeve one-third full of water, while an affiftant throws a fhovel full or two at a time into the dilleugher, which the dreffer hakes to and fro, and, by his dexterity, turns round the water in the dilleugher, till all the Tin that is in it is in motion. then dips one fide of the dilleugher under water and raises it

He

again,

again, letting the water run over the other fide, either flow or faft according to his judgment of the nature of the Tin and waste the latter will run or fly over, and is called dilleughing finalls or pit-works, which must be laid afide, to mix with the fkimpings, to make the famples of a low value, called the rough (or row) Tin. But there is another operation upon this rough Tin to gain as much out of it as poffible, to mix with the crop, which manœuvre they term "drawing the row Tin in the

buddle," viz. by putting the quantity of a small tub full in the bottom of the buddle, on one fide forth against its breaft; then with a pretty strong rill of water, moftly turned the other fide of the buddle, they draw it with a fhovel by little and little from one fide to the other, where the water runs. By the force of the rill, the roughest and pooreft of the row is carried back, while the best ftands forth. This must be repeated, till it is cleanfed from the rough gravelly parts, which may be known by vanning of it on a fhovel: which done, they dilleugh it again, till it is fit to mix with the crop Tin.

The rough that is carried back with the ftream, by drawing it over again, may be rendered merchantable at a lower rate than the crop; and the rough of this rough, is thrown afide to make leavings. The pit-works and skimpings must be separately buddled, toffed, and packed again, till they are quite clean, and the refidue put by for leavings. Thus every part is kept separate to make it clean; furft the head, next the creafe, then the fkimpings and pit-works, when all are mixed together for the fmelting-houfe, there to be bartered for white Tin, excepting a small proportion of row for an inferior fample, which it mixed with the crop would fpoil the whole.

A person that is ignorant of cleansing Tin Ore, may safely undertake to pronounce, whether a batch or parcel of black Tin is well purified or not, by plunging his wet hand into it; for if there is any wafte in the Tin it will ftick to his hand otherwise his hand may be drawn without any thing adhering to it, except fome few evident Tin grains in the lines of his palm: confequently, if a waste is thus vifible in fo few points of contact, then certainly must the wafte be very great and prejudicial in the whole batch.

From the defcription of dreffing clean work, we must proceed, in course, to give an account of dreffing Tin-stuff, that is corrupted with Copper, Lead, Mundick, Black-fack, and

other

other Semi-Metals; for fometimes we meet with all these forts of Minerals intimately blended in one and the fame stone of Tin Ore; which being fpecifically heavier than the Tin, whatever Tin-ftuff is incorporated with these must be burnt to evaporate the fulphur, arfenick, &c. after it is firft ftamped, dressed, and cleansed from its earthy fordes, in the manner before defcribed, in order to make it fit for calcination in the furnace, called a burning-house.

A burning-house much resembles a smelting-furnace, but not in every particular. The furnace is built without doors, at one end of the houfe, where the chimney is raised to carry off the fmoke and fublimate of the calcined Minerals. The house ferves no other purpose than that of a covering for the man who rakes the calcining Ores, and the prefervation of some few tools that would be unsafe out of doors.

The foundation of the furnace is built of hewn moorstone about four feet and a half high, on which the bed or bottom of the furnace is laid. Under the bottom, a little towards the house where the man ftands to rake the Tin, is left a hollow place for holding the Tin after it is burnt, which they call the Oven, that will contain about fixteen or twenty Winchester bufhels, with an opening on that fide next the ftamps plot, in fhape and fize much like a small chamber chimney, in order to come at and take out the calcined Tin, which is let down through an orifice in the bottom of the furnace adjoining to the house. Except at this orifice, the oven is arched over to lay part of the furnace bottom upon. The top, bottom, and hewns (fides) of the calciner were formerly made of moorstone wrought very fine; but brick is now moftly used, it being more durable for fire work than ftone. The length of the calciner is generally about nine feet, and the width five in the belly or middle, gradually decreafing towards the chimney or houfe to fixteen inches, and towards the grate or fire place to three feet, which is at the further end directly oppofite to the house and chimney. The hewns, or fides, are about ten inches high; which is turned a flat arch or covering, which includes the fire place alfo. This grate or fire place is about ten inches wide, and three feet long; at the fide of which, between it and the furnace, is a brick thick partition or bridge three inches high, to prevent the Tin from mixing with the coal. Over this bridge the fire conftantly reverberates upon the matter in calcination, while the smoke and fulphur afcend the chimney at the house

upon

end