Cornwall

Cornwall, from its soil, appearance, and climate, is one of the least inviting of the English counties. A ridge of bare and rugged hills, intermixed with bleak moors, runs through the midst of its whole length, and exhibits the appearance of a dreary waste.

The most important objects in the history of this county are its numerous mines, which for centuries have furnished employment to thousands of its inhabitants; and, the trade to winch they give birth, when considered in a national point of view, is of the greatest relative consequence.

In a narrow slip of land, where the purposes of agriculture would not employ above a few thousand inhabitants, the mines alone support a population estimated at more than 80,000 labourers, exclusive of artizans. The principal produce of the Cornish mines is tin, copper, and lead. The strata in which these metals are found extend from the Land’s End, in a direction from west to east, entirely along the country into Devonshire. Nearly all the metals are found in veins or fissures, the direction of which is generally east and west. The annual value of the copper mines has been estimated at £350,000. Logan stones deserve to be mentioned amongst the curiosities of this county. They are of great weight, and poised on the top of immense piles of rocks.