In Wraxall’s tour through the north of Europe, the mine of Danmora is described as yielding the finest iron ore in Europe, its produce being exported to every country, and constituting one of the most important sources of national wealth and royal revenue. The ore is not dug, as is usual in other mines, but is torn up by the force of gunpowder, an operation which is performed every day at noon, and is one of the most awful and tremendous that can possibly be conceived. “We arrived,” observes the tourist, “at the mouth of the great mine, which is nearly half an English mile in circumference, in time to be present at it. Soon after twelve the first explosion took place, and could not be so aptly compared to anything as to subterraneous thunder, or rather volleys of artillery discharged under ground. The stones were thrown up, by the violence of the gunpowder, to a vast hight above the surface of the ground, and the concussion was so great as to shake the surrounding earth or rock on every side. “As soon as the explosion had ceased, I determined to descend into the mine, to effect which I had to seat myself in a large, deep bucket, capable of containing three persons, and fastened by chains to a rope. When I found myself thus suspended between heaven and earth by a rope, and looked down into the dark and deep abyss beneath me, to which I could see no termination, I shuddered with apprehension, and half repented my curiosity. This was, however, only a momentary sensation, and before I had descended a hundred feet, I looked round on the scene with very tolerable composure. It was nearly nine minutes before I reached the bottom; and when I set my foot on the earth, the view of the mine was awful and sublime in the highest degree. Whether, as I surveyed it, terror or pleasure formed the predominant feeling, is hard to say. The light of the day was very faintly admitted into these subterraneous caverns: in many places it was absolutely lost, and flambeaux were kindled in its stead. Beams of wood were laid across some parts, from one side of the rock to the other; and on these the miners sat, employed in boring holes for the admission of gunpowder, with the most perfect unconcern, although the least dizziness, or even a failure in preserving their equilibrium, must have made them lose their seat, and have dashed them against the rugged surface of the rock beneath. The fragments torn up by the explosion, previously to my descent, lay in vast heaps on all sides, and the whole scene was calculated to inspire a gloomy admiration.