[60] A metalliferous vein is provincially called a Lode.
[61] The tin and copper are in a state of mechanical mixture, although Dr. Boase has lately found amongst the heaps, a specimen of "Tin Pyrites," in which these metals are chemically combined.
[62] The miners always distinguish their mines by a feminine appellation.
[63] See a paper by Dr. John Davy, in the first volume of the Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, entitled "On the Granite Veins of Porth Just."
[64] This rock is a binary compound of Quartz and Schorl, without any, or scarcely any, admixture of the other constituents of Granite; and yet when we consider its various relations, it must be regarded as rather a variety of the latter than a distinct rock. The locality now mentioned and that singular group of rocks between Truro and Bodmin, known by the name of Roach Rock, are, as far as we know, the only places in Cornwall where this modification of granite is found in mass. In the form of veins its occurrence is not unusual, especially at the junction of granite and slate, where it would often seem to exist as an intermediate rock.
[65] The Cornish have ever been celebrated for their skill in the art of wrestling; hence the expression "To give one a Cornish Hug," which is a dexterous lock in that art peculiar to them. It must, however, be admitted, whether as a matter of triumph or humiliation, we will not declare, that the Cornish have greatly declined in their art, so as to be now inferior even to the Devonians, and to the inhabitants of many other districts in their prowess. This degeneracy might perhaps be attributed to the change which has taken place during the lapse of time, in the mode of working for Tin; formerly it was all procured by Streaming, an occupation as healthy and invigorating, as the present one of subterranean mining is debilitating. We apprehend, however, that a moral cause of still greater force has contributed to the change—the diffusion of Methodism; which has unquestionably proved a powerful instrument in the amelioration of the habits and disposition of the Cornish miner.
EXCURSION IV.
TO SAINT IVES, HAYLE, HUEL ALFRED, &c.