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. These buddlings are repeated, till the quantity desired, 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-creases, 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 shovel, while another puts in the Tin by a shovel 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 shovel, till the keeve is almost filled. By this method the fmall wafte 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 surface of the Tin, and the light waste upon it is skimmed 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 brafs 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 wafte, that will not come off by toffing and packing) then buddle it over again, and fave it in three parts, viz. the crop, the creafe, and the tail. The crop is to be cleansed by toffing, &c. and the crease must be buddled again, out of which must be faved as much as will cleanfe by toffing and packing. The remainder must be cleanfed by an operation called Dilleuing, from Dilleugh, to let go, let fly, fend away. A dilleugher is a large fine hair fieve, which the dreffer holds in a keeve one-third full of water, while an assistant throws a fhovel full or two at a time into the dilleugher, which the dreffer fhakes 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. He then dips one fide of the dilleugher under water and raises it 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 wafte the latter will run or fly over, and is called dilleughing fmalls or pit-works, which must be laid afide, to mix with the skimpings, 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 shovel by little and little from one fide to the other, where the water runs. By the force of the rill, the rougheft 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 fkimpings must be feparately 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; firft the head, next the crease, then the fkimpings and pit-works, when all are mixed together for the fmelting-houfe, there to be bartered for white Tin, excepting a fmall proportion of row for an inferior fample, which if mixed with the crop would spoil the whole. ; A perfon that is ignorant of cleanfing 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; otherwife 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 muft the wafte be very great and prejudicial in the whole batch. From the description of dreffing clean work, we must proceed, in courfe, to give an account of dreffing Tin-ftuff, that is corrupted with Copper, Lead, Mundick, Black-Jack, and other other Semi-Metals; for fometimes we meet with all thefe forts of Minerals intimately blended in one and the same stone of Tin Ore; which being specifically heavier than the Tin, whatever Tin-ftuff is incorporated with these must be burnt to evaporate the fulphur, arsenick, &c. after it is firft ftamped, dreffed, and cleansed from its earthy fordes, in the manner before described, in order to make it fit for calcination in the furnace, called a burning-house. A burning-house much resembles a fmelting-furnace, but not in every particular. The furnace is built without doors, at one end of the house, 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 preservation of fome few tools that would be unfafe 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 bushels, with an opening on that fide next the stamps plot, in shape 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 mostly used, it being more durable for fire work than stone. 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 house 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; upon 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 end end oppofite the fire place. Upon the top of the arch or back of the calciner, is made a square hollow place called a Vate or Dry, fufficient to contain a serving or hand barrow full of Tin, which acquires heat enough to dry it ready for calcination in the furnace below, where it is conveyed through a small hole in the bottom of the vate. A calciner of thefe dimenfions, will confume three Winchester bufhels of coal to every serving, if the Tin is greatly corrupted with a stubborn brood, but most commonly half the quantity, or less, will do; also some sorts of Tin, that are very fulphureous, will yield a flame for several hours, and greatly help their own ignition to the faving of fuel in the operation. As for the time of making a complete calcination of a ferving or laying of Tin, it cannot be limited till a trial is made; for if it is not very foul, it may be burnt in fix hours, and fo on the contrary from that to twenty-four hours, according as it is more or less corrupted; especially if there be Copper in it, when it will require a longer time to weaken and deaden the Copper as they pretend, otherwise it will not cleanse fo well in the future dreffing; that is to say, the ignition must be strong, uniform, and conftant, to render the Copper a light wafte to wash off from the Tin, which by the strongest calcination used here, lofes very little of its firft ponderofity. When the fire is up, and the first serving of Tin in the vate is dry, the dreffer lets it down into the furnace through the hole at bottom, where he levels it with his rake through an opening twelve inches fquare, made under the chimney in the house. After it is all down, he ftops the hole in the vate with clay, and carries another serving into it in readiness for the next layer. The Tin in the calciner muft reft for fome time before it is turned, that it may be quite hot; otherwise if it be ftirred before ignition it will effervefce and fly up the chimney; but when it is ignited, and ready for turning, the dreffer rakes it backwards and forwards alternately, moving that which is furthest from the fire near to it, and that which is close by the grate further off. This must be repeated over again, at due intervals of perhaps every hour, or more frequently if the nature of the Tin requires it. But in either cafe, a strong heat fhould be kept up, and the fire not let to flacken, till the Tin is fully calcined; which may be known by the dead weight of the Tin against the rake, by its having exchanged its fiery red hot appearance for a black one, and its yielding little or no arsenical smoke upon ftirring. The Tin after it has been fufficiently burnt is let down into the oven before mentioned, and from thence is drawn out and fifted in a keeve, through the brafs or copper bottom fieve; whence it is removed to the buddle, and undergoes all the several lotions of buddling, tofling, packing, &c. till it is quite clean for fmelting. Lea Let us now advert to the dreffing of leavings of Tin. vings confift of flime and tails; that is, of Tin mud and Tin gravel, which a Lappier, or dreffer upon tribute, will commonly undertake to bring about for the mafter Tinner, for one-third part of the produce to pay his charges; or, in other words, the former will account to the latter, for two-thirds of the produce in white Tin, free and clear of all trouble and expence. The tails I have shewn before are in abfolute bulk, produced from the hinder or tail part of the buddles; from whence they derive their name of tails. The flime being compounded of the small and lighter parts of the Ore intimately mixed with a greater quantity of earth and ftones, bruised to duft by the mill, is floated on to the flime pit H, which is emptied, as occafion requires, on one fide, into another flime pit called a Hutch, till it accumulates to a great heap, where the water leaks away and leaves it dry, exposed to the fun and air, which do not a little contribute to its better working when it comes to be dreffed; for this we find every day by experience, that the longer the flime is left before it is dreffed, the more profit it yields, and the purer the Tin: from whence fome have concluded, that Tin in the ftate of fludge or flime, by length of time, must grow and increase. It muft, however, be confeffed, that the fun and air act as menftrua upon the flime, by confuming or rather diffolving the Poder, that is, the Mundick, particles of Copper, and other trash, not so denfe and compact as the Tin, which comes out the cleaner and with greater eafe by fuch infolation and expofure. Therefore, when the water is fufficiently foaked out of the flime hutch, it is removed further off to a large plot of ground near the vessels destined for its future lavations, where it is spread and exposed to the weather that it may moulder and decay the fafter. Then it is digged and broken to pieces with a bidax, or hedging tool, when it is trunked and framed, thus: A trunk O, is a pit lined with boards ten feet long, three wide, and nine inches deep. At the higher end is a circular pit Q called the Strêk or Strep, large enough to contain four hand |