CHAPTER TWENTY.
THE MINE IN THE SEA.
True to their appointment, young Tregarthen and Oliver Trembath met atthe western end of the town of Penzance, close to the sea-beach, where amass of buildings and a chimney indicated the position of the WherryMine.
Oliver's countenance betrayed anxiety as he came forward.
"Nothing wrong, I hope?" said Tregarthen.
"Well, I can't say exactly that things are wrong; but, at the same time,I don't know that they are altogether right."
"Much the same thing," said Tregarthen, smiling; "come, Oliver, unbosomyourself, as novelists say. It will do you good, and two heads, youknow, are better than one."
"It's not easy to unbosom myself, old fellow," returned Oliver, with atroubled look; "for my poor uncle's affairs are in a perplexedcondition, and I hate explanations, especially when I don't understandthe nature of what I attempt to explain, so we'll not talk about it,please, till after our visit to the mine. Let it suffice to say thatthat notorious smuggler Jim Cuttance is concerned in it, and that wemust go to Newlyn this afternoon on a piece of business which I shallafterwards disclose. Meanwhile, where is this mine?"
"Lift up your eyes and behold," said Tregarthen, pointing to an objectwhich was surrounded by the sea, and stood above two hundred yards fromthe beach.
"What! that martello-tower-like object?" exclaimed Oliver in muchsurprise.
"Even so," replied Tregarthen, who thereupon proceeded to give hisfriend a history and description of the mine--of which the following isthe substance:--
At the western extremity of the sea-beach at Penzance there is a reef ofsunken rocks which shows its black crest above water at low tide. Itwas discovered that this reef contained tin, and the people of the townattacked it with hammers and chisels, when each receding tide left itexposed, as long as the seasons would permit, until the depth becameunmanageable. After having been excavated a few fathoms the work wasabandoned.
Fortunately for the progress of this world there exist a fewenterprising men whom nothing can discourage, who seem to be spurred onby opposition, and to gather additional vigour and resolution fromincreasing difficulties. These men are not numerous, but the world isseldom without a few of them; and one made his appearance in Penzanceabout the end of last century, in the person of a poor miner namedThomas Curtis. This man conceived the bold design of sinking a shaftthrough this water-covered rock, and thus creating a mine not only_under_, but _in_ the sea.
With the energy peculiar to his class he set to work. The distance ofthe rock from the beach was about two hundred and forty yards; the depthof water above it at spring tides about nineteen feet. Being exposed tothe open sea, a considerable surf is raised on it at times by theprevailing winds, even in summer; while in winter the sea bursts overwith such force as to render all operations on it impossible.
That Curtis was a man of no common force of character is obvious fromthe fact that, apart from the difficulties of the undertaking, he couldnot expect to derive any profit whatever from his labour for severalyears. As the work could only be carried on during the short period oftime in which the rock was above water, and part of this brief periodmust necessarily be consumed each tide in pumping out the water in theexcavation, it of course progressed slowly. Three summers were consumedin sinking the pump-shaft. After this a framework, or caisson, of stouttimber and boards, was built round the mouth of the shaft, and renderedwatertight with pitch and oakum. It rose to a height of about twelvefeet above the surface of the sea, and was strengthened and supported bystout bars, or buttresses of timber. A platform was placed on the top,and a windlass, at which four men could work, was fixed thereon. Thiserection was connected with the shore by a stage or "wherry" erected onpiles. The water was cleared out; the men went "underground," and, withthe sea rolling over their heads, and lashing wildly round the turretwhich was their only safeguard from terrible and instant destruction,they hewed daily from the submarine rock a considerable portion of tin.
These first workers, however, had committed an error in carrying ontheir operations too near the surface, so that water permeated freelythrough the rock, and the risk of the pressure above being too great,for it rendered the introduction of immense supporting timbersnecessary. The water, too, forced its way through the shaft during thewinter months, so that the regular working of the mine could not becarried on except in summer; nevertheless, this short interval wassufficient to enable the projector to raise so much ore that his minegot the reputation of being a profitable adventure, and it was wroughtsuccessfully for many years.
About the end of the century the depth of the pump-shaft was about fourfathoms, and the roof had been cut away to the thinness of three feet insome places. Twelve men were employed for two hours at the windlass inhauling the water, while six others were "teaming" from the bottom intothe pump. When sufficient water had been cleared away the men labouredat the rock for six hours--in all, eight hours at a time. The prolificnature of the mine may be gathered from the fact that in the space ofsix months ten men, working about one tenth of that time--less thanthree weeks--broke about 600 pounds worth of ore. During one summer3,000 pounds worth of tin was raised!
A steam-engine was ultimately attached to the works, and the mine wassunk to a depth of sixteen fathoms, but the expense of working it atlength became so great that it was abandoned--not, however, before oreto the amount of 70,000 pounds had been raised from under the sea!
At the time of our tale another effort had been made to work the WherryMine, and great expectations had been raised, but these expectationswere being disappointed. Our unfortunate friend Mr Donnithorne wasamong the number of those who had cause to regret having ventured toinvest in the undertaking, and it was to make inquiries in regard tocertain unfavourable rumours touching the mine that Oliver Trembath hadbeen sent to Penzance.
After inspecting Wherry Mine the two friends walked along the shoretogether, and Oliver explained the nature of the difficulties in whichhis uncle was involved.
"The fact is, Charlie," he said, "an old fish-purchaser of Newlyn namedHitchin is one of the principal shareholders in this concern. He is asrich, they say, as Croesus, and if we could only prevail on him to beamiable the thing might be carried on for some time longer with everyhope of a favourable result, for there can be no doubt whatever thatthere is plenty of tin in the mine yet, and the getting of it out isonly a question of time and capital."
"A pretty serious question--as most speculators find," said Tregarthen,laughing; "you appear to think lightly of it."
"Well, I don't pretend to know much about such matters," replied Oliver,"but whatever may be the truth of the case, old Hitchin refuses to comeforward. He says that he is low in funds just now, which nobody seemsto believe, and that he owes an immense sum of money to Jim Cuttance,the smuggler, for what, of course, he will not tell, but we can have nodifficulty in guessing. He says that Cuttance is pressing him just now,and that, therefore, he cannot afford to advance anything on the mine.This being the case it must go down, and, if it does, one of the lastfew gleams of prosperity that remain to my poor uncle will havefluttered away. This must be prevented, if possible, and it is withthat end in view that I purpose going to Newlyn this afternoon to seeHitchin and bring my persuasive powers to bear on him."
"H'm, not of much use, I fear," said Tregarthen. "Hitchin is a toughold rascal, with a hard heart and a miserly disposition. However, itmay be worth while to make the attempt, for you have a very oily tongue,Oliver."
"And you have an extremely impudent one, Charlie. But can you tell meat what time the mackerel boats may be expected this evening, for itseems the old fellow is not often to be found at home during the day,and we shall be pretty sure to find him on the beach when the boatsarrive?"
Thus appealed to, Tregarthen cast a long look at the sea and sky.
"Well, I should say, considering the state of the tide and thethreatening appearance of the sky, we may expect to see them at s
ixo'clock, or thereabouts."
"That leaves us nearly a couple of hours to spare; how shall we spendit?" said Oliver.
"Go and have a look at this fine old town," suggested Tregarthen. "Itis worth going over, I assure you. Besides the town hall, market,museum, etcetera, there are, from many points of the surroundingeminences, most superb views of the town and bay with our noble St.Michael's Mount. The view from some of the heights has been said bysome visitors to equal that of the far-famed Bay of Naples itself."
"Part of this I have already seen," said Oliver, "the rest I hope tolive to see, but in the meantime tin is uppermost in my mind; so if youhave no objection I should like to have a look at the tin-smeltingworks. What say you?"
"Agreed, by all means," cried Tregarthen; "poor indeed would be thespirit of the Cornishman who did not feel an interest in tin!"