_Huel Alfred Copper Mine_, which, some years ago, was the richest and most profitable mine in Cornwall, is situated about a mile and a half south-east of Hayle. In former times the adventurers in this mine are said to have gained £130,000; but owing to some misunderstanding, the operations have been discontinued since the year 1816, until within the last six months. It is in contemplation to erect two steam engines in this mine, with cylinders of the largest dimensions; when, no doubt, from the favourable appearance of the lodes, the proprietors will be amply repaid the expenses incident to such an undertaking. To the Mineralogist this mine is highly interesting, as several very rare and curious minerals have been discovered; viz. _stalactitic swimming_, and _cubic quartz_, _carbonate_ and _phosphate of lead_, _stalactitic_, _cotryoidal_, and _investing calcedony_, _&c._ If a stranger should be desirous of descending into a mine, he cannot select a better opportunity than here presents itself, owing to the extensive scales of the lodes. On these occasions, it is always customary to put on a suitable dress; viz. a flannel jacket and trowsers, a close cap, an old broad brimmed hat, and a thick pair of shoes; thus accoutred, a lighted candle is put into his hand, and another suspended to a button of his jacket. A few years ago the Duke of R—d gratified his curiosity in this respect, and many others have followed his example; but as a satisfaction to our readers, we insert Dr. Forbes’s observations on the subject. “A person unacquainted with the details of mining, on being informed of many hundreds of men being employed in a single mine, might naturally imagine that a visit to their deep recesses, would afford a picturesque and imposing spectacle of gregarious labour and bustle; tremendous noise, and much artificial brilliancy to cheer the gloom: nothing, however, is further from the truth, as far as regards the mines of Cornwall; for, like their fellow labourers, the moles, the miners are solitary in their operations. Seldom do we find more than three or four men in one _level_ or gallery, at a time, where they are seen pursuing the common operations of digging, or boring the rock, by the feeble glimmering of a small candle, stuck close by them, with very little noise or more latitude for bodily movement; besides whom, there are generally one or two boys employed in wheeling the broken ore, &c. to the shaft. Each of these boys has also a candle affixed to his wheelbarrow by the universal subterranean candlestick, a piece of clay. A certain band of men, who, however numerous, are always called “_a pair_,” generally undertake the working of a particular _level_. These subdivide themselves into smaller bodies, which by relieving each other at the end of every six or eight hours, keep up the work, uninterruptedly, except on Sunday. By means of this subdivision of the _pairs_, there is in general not more than one third of the under-ground