There can be no doubt that this was the oldest method of tin-getting, and the abundant traces of ancient stream-works which are to be seen from Dartmoor to the Land’s End give proof of the great accumulation which must have been formerly worked out by this method. In the course of ages most of these alluvial deposits have been exhausted, and where, thirty or forty centuries ago, large quantities of tin ore were superficially gathered with little ingenuity and labour, the miner is now obliged to descend many a fathom deep into the bowels of the earth and work his slow way through the hard rock.
Yet, after so many centuries of research and extraction, tin-streaming is still carried on in several places, as, for instance, at Carnon, north of Falmouth, where a long line of stream-works extends down the valley. The ore, mixed with rounded pieces of slate, granite, and quartz, lies buried about fifty feet from the surface, beneath the bottom of an estuary, where trees are discovered in their place of growth, together with human skulls and the remains of deer, amidst the vegetable accumulation which immediately covers the stanniferous beds. Thus ruins are here piled up above ruins.
In 1866 the number of tin mines in activity amounted to 139 in Cornwall and to 26 in Devonshire. In 1852 the most important works were Balleswidden, Great Polgarth, Pollberro, and Drake Wall; but, as nothing is more fluctuating than the fortunes of mines, others have probably taken the lead since that period.
Wheal Vor, in the parish of Breage, three miles from Helston, may be cited as a conspicuous example of the changes of fortune so frequent in the annals of Cornish mining. Twenty-five years ago it was considered the richest tin mine in Cornwall. More than 200,000l. profit had been divided among the shareholders. In 1843 there were fifteen engines at work on this extensive sett, which had the appearance of a town, and the machinery was valued at 100,000l. Here was put up the first steam-engine ever erected in Cornwall, between the years 1710 and 1714. The lode from which the chief part of the ore was raised was still productive in 1843, when the mine employed 1,200 persons, and the monthly cost of working had been, some years before 1843, about 12,000l. per month. The mine, however, became less profitable, and, wearing out by degrees, finally stopped.
There was formerly a blacksmith’s forge at the bottom of this mine, in full operation at 1,470 feet below the surface of the earth. All the miners’ tools were steeled, sharpened, and repaired, and bucket-rods cut and welded in this subterranean smithy, which was clear and free from dust, smoke, and sulphur, and did not in the least annoy the miners. Within the last few years the mine has been resuscitated with a capital of 200,000l.; but, as the shares have fallen from 40l. to 8l., the attempt seems to have been far from profitable.
The history of the rise and fall of Huel Wherry,[[54]] a tin mine which was opened, more than a century ago, in the midst of the sea, near the town of Penzance, is too interesting to be passed over in silence. In this place a gravelly bottom was left bare at low water. Here a multitude of small veins of tin ore crossed each other in every direction through elvan rocks, and were worked whenever the sea, the tide, and the season would permit, until the depth became unmanageable. About the year 1778 Thomas Curtis, a poor miner, was bold enough to renew the attempt. The distance of the shoal from the neighbouring beach at high water is about 120 fathoms, and this distance, in consequence of the shallowness of the beach, is not materially lessened at low water. It is calculated that the surface of the rock is covered about ten months in the year, and that the depth of the water upon it at spring tide is nineteen feet. A very great surf is caused, even in the summer, by the prevailing winds, while in winter the sea bursts over the rock in such a manner as to render useless all attempts to carry on mining operations. Yet all these difficulties had to be overcome by a poor uneducated man. As the work could be prosecuted only during the short time the rock appeared above water—a time still further abridged by the necessity of previously emptying the excavation already made—three summers were spent in sinking the pump-shaft, which was a work of mere bodily labour. A frame of boards, made watertight by pitch and oakum, and carried up to a sufficient height above the spring tide, was then applied to the mouth of the shaft. To support this boarded turret—which was twenty feet high above the rock, and two feet one inch square—against the violence of the surge, eight stout bars were applied, in an inclined direction, to its sides, four of them below, and four, of an extraordinary length and thickness, above. A platform of boards was then lashed round the top of the turret, supported by four poles, which were firmly connected with these rods. Lastly, upon this platform was fixed a windlass for four men.
By such an erection it was expected that the miners would be enabled to pursue their operations at all times, even during the winter months, whenever the weather was not particularly unfavourable. But as soon as the excavation was carried, to some extent, in a lateral direction, the hope was disappointed, for the sea water penetrated through the fissures of the rock, and, in proportion as the workings became enlarged, the labour of raising the ore to the mouth of the shaft increased. To add to all this, it was found impossible to prevent the water from forcing its way through the shaft during the winter months, or, on account of the swell and surf, to remove the tin-stone from the rock to the beach opposite. Hence the whole winter was a period of inaction, and the regular working of the mine could not be resumed before April. Nevertheless, the short interval which was still allowed for labour below ground was sufficient to reward the bold and persevering projector.
The close of this wonderful mine, from which many thousand pounds worth of tin was raised, was as romantic as its commencement. An American vessel broke from its anchorage in Gwavus Lake, and, striking against the stage, demolished the machinery, and thus put an end to an adventure which, both in ingenuity and success, was in all probability unequalled in any country.
This wonderful mine was worked again a few years since; but, although a very large sum of money was expended, and it had all the advantage of improved machinery, yet it failed to be a profitable adventure, and was eventually abandoned.
The Carclaze tin-mine, near the town of St. Austell, though unimportant with regard to its produce, deserves to be noticed for its picturesque appearance and the manner in which it is worked. It consists of a large open excavation, of a mile in circuit and from twenty to thirty fathoms in depth, looking more like a vast natural crater than[than] a hollow made by human hands; and for hours the visitor might traverse the dreary and barren hilly common in which it is situated without suspecting that a mine is close at hand. No engine-house and chimney towering aloft announces it from afar; the whole business is confined to the interior of the punch-bowl hollow. Every detail of the works is here exposed to view, and it would seem as if a complete mine had been turned inside out for the benefit of timid travellers, who would wish to see the various operations of mining without the risk of a descent below the surface.