When at Helston, the traveller will derive much gratification from visiting the celebrated _Tin Mine_, called _Huel Vor_, which is situated about three miles west of that town. This mine is allowed to be one of the most valuable in the county; and its proprietors are said to have gained a clear profit of upwards of £10,000, in the short space of three months, notwithstanding the monthly charges amount to £5,000. Here are no less than five large steam engines for drawing off the water, besides several others of less magnitude for raising the ore, &c. There are also four large stamping mills worked by steam. The operations of this mine extend more than a mile and a quarter below the surface of the earth, and about 1300 persons are employed in conducting the different works. The ore is smelted and roasted on the spot; and when properly cleansed, is ladled from the furnaces into moulds of 370lbs. each. The principal lode in this mine is said to be of the enormous width of 30 feet, and extremely rich. The expenses incident to carrying on the working of this mine are very great; especially in the consumption of candles and gunpowder, which far exceeds any estimate a stranger to mining concerns could form. In this mine, no less than 3,000lbs. of candles, and about 3,500lbs. of gunpowder are consumed every month. The _Botallack Tin and Copper Mine_, in the parish of St. Just, near the Land’s End, is one of the most surprising undertakings in the county, as the operations of the miners extend for nearly 70 fathoms under the bed of the sea; and the entrance to the works is at least 200 feet below the cliffs. ——“How fearful And dizzy ’tis to cast one’s eyes so low, The crows and choughs that wing the midway air Show scarce so gross as beetles:—— ——I’ll look no more, Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight Topple down headlong.” As a late writer[51] justly observes, that on descending to the surface of the mine, “You will then behold a combination of the powers of art with the wild sublimity of nature, which is quite unparalleled; the effects of the whole being not a little heightened by the hollow roar of the raging billows which are perpetually lashing the cliff beneath. In looking up you will observe troops of mules laden with sacks of coals, for the supply of the engine, with their undaunted riders, fearlessly trotting down the winding path which you trembled at descending even on foot. As you approach the engine, the cliff becomes almost perpendicular; and the ore raised from the mine is therefore drawn up over an inclined plane, by means of a horse engine placed on the extreme verge of the overhanging rocks above, and which seems to the spectator below, as if suspended in “_Mid Air_.”