The descent was not quite eight hundred feet, but it seemed to me at least eight thousand. Every little while we passed a hole, through which the light glimmered, and we could see, though only for the instant, into the various portions of the mine. In one place, a miner was standing at the end of a level, and standing, too, very carelessly on the edge, and we narrowly escaped brushing him off. Had we brushed against him, and thrown him from his perch to the bottom, he would not have been worth three cents a pound after being picked up. When we reached the bottom, the basket was in a sort of basin, with a flooring of plank just even with its edge. Miners were standing there with lanterns in their hands, or with candles stuck into their hats, and they assisted us to scramble off. [Sidenote: HOISTED BY A LEG.] We had sufficient time to get out—or seemed to have; but one of the party, who had crouched to the bottom of the basket, was a long time gathering his limbs together, and picking himself up. He did not pick up fast enough. The engineer waited what he thought was a proper time for us to get out, and then the basket began to move upward just as the dilatory man was putting a leg over its side. As the basket moved up, he was partly in and partly outside, and there was a prospect of witnessing a very pretty accident on his account. He was a distinguished stranger, and it would never do to have a person of his prominence killed there. Our conductor seized the signal-rope and gave it a violent pull, which caused the engineer to send the basket back again, and wait until everything was ready. The dilatory visitor scrambled out of the basket, and gave a sigh of relief when he stood upon the planking. [Sidenote: IN THE SHAFT OF A MINE.] The shaft of a mine is a very good place for accidents. Many of these occur from the carelessness of the miner, or the engineers, and sometimes from their incompetency. By the old system, baskets or buckets were raised or lowered by the winding or unwinding of a rope. Of late years, a cage, travelling in guides, is used, which is much safer than the old system. The miners are careless in consequence of their long acquaintance with the mines. Familiarity breeds contempt, with dangers as with everything else. The first descent into a mine generally raises the pulse, and very often seriously alarms the visitor. The miners will stand carelessly on the edge of a bucket; but the strangers generally seat themselves at the bottom, and it is sometimes necessary to turn the bucket upside down on reaching the floor of the mine before they can be induced to come out. The shaft always appears smaller than it really is on account of the darkness. It is never well lighted, and very often the glimmer of the lamps is just sufficient to make darkness visible.