Transactions of thr New Zealand Institute, 1899.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 32, 1899, Unnumbered Page

Transactions of thr New Zealand Institute, 1899. I.—Zoology.

Henry.—On Hereditary Knowledge Explanation of Plates III. and IV. Plate III. Fig. 1. Dolichopeza atropos, wing. Fig. 2. Pachyrhina hudsoni, a, wing; b, antenna; c, male forceps from above; d, male forceps from below. Fig. 3. Tipula fulva, wing. Fig. 4. Tipula viridis, a, wing; b, antenna. Fig. 5. Tipula obscuripennis, wing. Fig. 6. Tipula dux, wing. Fig. 7. Macromastix binotata, wing. Fig. 8. Dicranomyia monilicornis, wing. Fig. 9. Geranomyia annulipes, a, wing; b, rostrum. Fig. 10. Trochobol ampla, wing. Fig. 11. Trochobola picta, wing. Plate IV. Fig. 12. Rhamphidia levis, a, wing; b, antenna. Fig. 13. Gnophomyia rufa, wing. Fig. 14. Limnophila sinistra, wing. Fig. 15. Limnophila crassipes, wing. Fig. 16. Limnophila marshalli, wing. Fig. 17. Tinemyia margaritifera, a, wing; b, tip of rostrum. Fig. 18. Gynoplistia cuprea, wing. Fig. 19. Gynoplistia fulgens, wing. Fig. 20. Cerozodia plumosa, wing. Fig. 21. Tanyderus annuliferus, a, head and thorax; b, head, side view; c, antenna; d, anal styles of female; e, forceps of male. Fig. 22. Tanyderus forcipatus, wing.

II.—Botany.

Explanation of Plates X.-XIII. Plate X. Portion of a subalpine meadow in the western region, with Celmisia armstrongii in bloom and tussock of Danthonia raoulii, showing effect of prevailing wind. Plate XI. Raoulia eximia growing on Mount Torlesse, eastern climatic region, at 1,500 m. altitude. On sky-line is a man seated on a plant of R. eximia, giving some idea of its size. Plate XII. Raoulia eximia, as in No. 2, in bloom, and with Celmisia spectabilis growing on and round it. Same locality as No. 2. Plate XIII. Eastern plant-region. The stony nature of the ground may be seen in the piece of river-terrace, on top of which Phormium is growing. River-terrace of River Waimakariri before entering lower gorge.

Explanation of Plates XIV., XV. Plate XIV. B. robustifolia, sp. nov. 1. Capsule. 2. Perichætial leaves. 3. First leaf outside perichætial. 4. Upper leaves. 5. Middle leaf. Plate XV. B. hapuka, sp. nov. 1. Capsule. 2. Peristome. 3. Perichætial leaves. 4. First leaf outside perichætial. 5. Upper leaves. 6. Middle leaf.

Explanation of Plates XVII.-XIX. Plate XVII. A piece of Haastia pulvinaris, from above and from below. Plates XVIII. and XIX. Fig. I. A piece of Haastia pulvinaris, natural size. a, stem stripped of leaves. Fig. II. Diagram showing branch system. Fig. III. Cross-section of young stem, with leaf-base. e., epidermis; c, cortex; r.p., resin-passage. Fig. IV. Section of year-old stem. phel., phellogen; f., fissure in cork; scl., sclerenchyma; s.t., sieve-tubes; c, cambium; v., wood- vessel; w.f., fibre; m.r., medullary ray; s.v., spiral vessel. Fig. IV. A, B, C, D, stages in formation of resin-passage. Fig. V. Longitudinal section of year old stem. Fig. V. A, sclerenchyma found in phloëm; B, medullary ray, longitudinally elongated, pitted; Cf, wood -fibre; tr., tracheide; p.v., pitted vessel; s.v., spiral vessel. Fig. VI. Transverse section of older stem. Fig. VII. Transverse section of young root. a, piliferous layer; r.h., root-hair; pp., protophloëm; 2nd ph., secondary phloëm; c, cambium; 2nd x., secondary xylem; 1st x., primary xylem; x.v., vessel. Fig. VIII. Longitudinal section of same. Fig. IX. Transverse section of older root. Fig. X. Longitudinal section of same. Fig. XI. A, B, leaf; natural size. A, upper surface; B, lower surface; C, A enlarged; D, B enlarged; E, C stripped of hairs; F, D stripped of hairs; p., projections. Fig. XII. Section of base of leaf. v, upper surface; d, lower surface; p., phloëm; x., xylem; st., stoma; c.l., chlorophyll layer; b., base of hair. Fig. XIII. Longitudinal section of open leaf. a, terminal point; h, young hair; st., stoma; a.c, air-cavity; r.p., resin-passage of a bundle of network cut transversely; sp.v., spiral vessel, seen longitudinally. Fig. XIII. A1, A2, epidermis with stomata. B, hair; b., small-celled base, with nucleus in each cell, n. The other cells have pitted, pointed ends.

III.—Geology.

IV.—Chemistry.

V.—Miscellaneous.

——valiant as a lion, And bountiful as mines of India. Shakesp., King Henry IV., part i., act iii., sc. 1. For some time past I have been desirous of bringing before you a few statements and remarks on the tin-mines of Cornwall. Several circumstances combined have induced me to attempt to do so: (1.) My being a Cornishman by descent and birth, and having still a clear remembrance and recollection of what I had there seen in connection with the mines in my youthful days (seventy years ago!), some being peculiar and but little known here at this end of the globe, and some of them very likely have become inefficient and obsolete through the continued and rapid advances of science during a long lapse of seventy years. (2.) Certain public occurrences

that have lately taken place both here in New Zealand and in Australia—as the rich gold-mining at Coolgardie and other places in Australia and in the Thames district in New Zealand, and also the great number of the unemployed everywhere among us; these two diverse matters considered together with what has recently taken place in connection with the mines at Home in Cornwall, of which I intend more particularly to speak in this paper. (3.) My possessing some interesting specimens of tin-, copper-, lead-, and iron-ores from the Cornish mines, which I should like to show you (these mementoes from Home have been in my possession nearly sixty years, having been early sent to me by my uncle, the father of the late Bishop Colenso, of Natal, who for many years held the office of Mineral Agent in the Duchy of Cornwall). The County of Cornwall, as no doubt you all well know, is both the southernmost and westernmost- county of England. It is of peculiar configuration in its outlines, long, narrow, and irregular, being surrounded on all sides but one by the ocean for more than seven-eighths of its total circumference, save where it joins on its eastern end to the County of Devonshire, which is also its broadest part. The westernmost headland or extremity is the Land's End, and the southernmost point or cape is the Lizard—often the last portion of Old England seen by the voyager or emigrant on his leaving the old Mother-country for New Zealand. Geologically speaking, the country is very rocky, the principal stone being granite. Cornwall has long been famous for its tin. We find in the earliest histories that the Phœnicians traded into Cornwall for tin before the invasion of Britain by Julius Cæsar, or, in other words, long before the Christian era. But I am not, at present, going into the ancient history of Cornwall—of its distinct people and language, or of its Druidical and prehistoric remains; valuable information on these subjects may be obtained from books in our library. I shall confine my remarks to the proper subject of this paper—viz., its mines and staple industry of mining. Tin-ore is obtained by two principal processes, which are widely different from each other; the one is called “mining,” the other “streaming” (“tin-streaming”). The first, or mining, is carried on by sinking deep shafts perpendicularly in the earth, and by following in every direction the course or veins of the metal tin, often horizontally and irregularly disposed in the granite and other stones. This mode of mining includes many modern and scientific operations, and can only be carried out at an enormous outlay. The ore—that is, the metal in the stone—when brought to the surface has to be

broken up into very small fragments by powerful machinery, and the tin extracted. This class of mining gives employment to many hundreds of labourers, including women and children. The second mode, or streaming, is much more primitive and easy. This may be termed “surface work,” as it is generally carried on in moorland plains and valleys, in shallow pits of only a few feet in depth, and at but a small distance below the surface of the ground. The tin is here found deposited in blackish sand-like particles, in small, worn, brown lumps or pebbles, with occasionally a few larger pieces. I have seen such pieces (or nuggets) of almost pure tin weighing from 12 oz. to 20 oz. The variety known as “wood tin” is of a lighter colour, variegated, striped, and pretty. Tin thus procured is cleaned from sand and earth by simply washing in water, as from its great weight and purity it speedily sinks, when it is collected and laid out to dry. A large number of tin- and copper-mines are irregularly scattered all over the county, but more particularly in its western half, some being romantically situate on the top of high hills, sea-cliffs, and crags. The mines in the Parish of St. Just, near the Land's End, are among the most remarkable in Cornwall, no less from the great variety of unusual minerals which they have produced than from the fact of the direction of the veins seaward having tempted the miners to follow them to long distances under the billows of the Atlantic Ocean. From among them I would especially mention three—Botallack, Levant, and Dolcoath; these being also A1 among the principal metal mines in Britain. Very recently the sad news reached us that two of these mines were likely to be closed, after yielding untold wealth for nearly two centuries, the cost of working the deposits of tin and copper being now greater than the profits to be earned. If these mines closed they would throw out of occupation and livelihood more than four thousand people—men, women, and children—engaged therein. The celebrated Botallack Mine is situate in the Parish of St. Just, about two miles from the town of that name, about the same distance from Cape Cornwall, seven miles from the Borough of Penzance, and about the same distance from the Land's End. Levant Mine is also near to Botallack, and, like that mine, is close to the sea. This one, however, is still working well, and rich. Botallack is in itself worth seeing, even if no mine existed in its recesses. It is a bold headland composed of huge masses of hornblende, marked by walls of slate, against which the Atlantic surges are continually dashing. But the persevering efforts of man have at this point been more powerful than those of nature. Here is to be seen the most striking example of man's boldness in the search of

wealth, and his skill in securing it. Gloomy precipices of slate which unnumbered ages of sea-storms have been unable to displace are here cut in twain by the miner, whose complicated machinery clings to the cliffs at places where it would seem almost impossible for an engine to be fixed. The spectator here finds himself at once in the midst of a busy community. Powerful steam-engines, a stamping-mill, and all the heavy machinery required in modern mining are perched on what at first sight seem inaccessible situations, so that from a distance they look as if growing out of the crags. All is noise and bustle, which contrast strangely with the placidity of the seaward view in calm weather. “Kibbles”* Large buckets. descend fathoms beneath the sea through the shafts, and ascend again laden with tin- or copper-ore, which is wheeled away to larger heaps, where women, boys, and girls pick and separate the various qualities with the systematic industry of workers in a factory. Everybody and everything—rocks, platforms, and paths—are smeared with the prevailing red hue, derived from a slight mixture of iron with the ore; and the muddy stream flowing from the stamping-mill to the sea has imparted to the beach, the breakers, and the foam the same ruddy tinge. If ore is coming up plentifully and of good quality everybody is pleased, and far down in the gloomy depths of the mine, which Cornish legends people with sprites and gnomes, the news that a new “bunch” (vein or mass) of copper has been struck, or that the old lode is growing richer, fills the workers with professional joy. As the visitor creeps along the underground passages, into which the light of day has never entered, he hears comparatively little. Having become accustomed to the darkness, barely illumined by the flicker of lamps, he dimly distinguishes the stalwart miners at work. Coming down from the upper world amid the incessant din of heavy stamps, the measured gush of pumps, the clang of machinery above and the surge of the sea below, the rattle of wagons on tramways, and the crowds of men and boys climbing up and down paths which seem too steep for a goat, the modified silence of the deep underground levels strikes one as unnatural. In places, however, the guides may ask the visitor to listen to a curious sound. It is the booming of the waves overhead, and the grating of the stones on the sea-bottom. Then he is told, to give him courage, that in some of the recesses of the first level the ore has been cut away until a roof not more than 6 ft. or 8 ft. thick has been left. First worked on the face of the cliff only, the mines descended level by level until the excavations extended for more than 600

fathoms under the sea, and for long distances inland, while the greatest depth to which it had been sunk was about 2,000 ft. It was this persevering search after ore which gave Botallack its celebrity, and that brought it streams of more or less distinguished visitors. The Queen, with Prince Albert, visited this mine in 1846, to see what her Cornish subjects could accomplish, and Her Majesty also bravely descended a considerable distance into the mine by the common miner's way through the diagonal shaft, a kind of narrow subterranean gully or tunnel. And again, in 1865, the Botallack miners kept holiday in honour of a visit from their Duke and Duchess, whom we know more commonly as the Prince and Princess of Wales. The Duchy of Cornwall was created in 1337 for Edward the Black Prince, who became entitled to the revenues from the manors, and also the tin dues. I may here quote, for your information, a portion of a graphic description of a visit to one of the submarine mines in St. Just during a storm: “At the extremity of the level seaward, about 100 fathoms from the shore, little could be heard of its effects, except at intervals, when the reflux of some unusually large wave projected a large pebble or boulder outward, bounding and rolling over the rocky bottom. But when standing beneath the base of the cliff, and in that part of the mine where but 9 ft. of rock stood overhead between us and the ocean, the heavy roll of the larger boulders, the ceaseless grinding of the pebbles, the fierce thundering of the billows, with the crackling and boiling as they rebounded, placed a tempest in its most appalling form too vividly before me to be ever forgotten. More than once, doubting the protection of our rocky shield, we retreated in affiright; and it was only after repeated trials that we had confidence to pursue our investigations.” The deeper workings, having a natural temperature of 70° to 80° Fahr., in some places rising to 85° or 90°, tax the ingenuity of the mine captains to introduce a sufficient ventilation; but the arrangement of numerous shafts with abundance of communication by winzes between the levels have enabled them so far to triumph over difficulties that, in several examples, we may point to a great complication of workings satisfactorily ventilated without furnaces or mechanical appliances, and yet carried out through hundreds of fathoms of excavation. Mining is so ancient an art in Cornwall that it is often difficult to trace the beginning of any particular working in that county. It must, indeed, have often happened that openings now excavated deep in the earth, or, like Botallack and Levant, far under the sea, had their beginnings in the

rude washing of the surface alluvium known as “tin-streaming.” This was the method adopted by the ancient miners for obtaining the metal which they sold to the Phœnician merchants. At all events, close to Bunny Cliffs, a little south of the present mine, there are some “old men's workings,” as the remains of what are taken to be ancient surface streaming of the prehistoric races are called. As early as 1721 Botallack was wrought as a tin-mine, on the method which, with modifications suggested by modern discoveries, has been followed ever since. By 1841 it was famous as a very rich copper-mine, a reputation which it may be hoped it will some day recover, though until recently it was notable for both of these metals, or for whichever exploration brought to light in greater abundance. Since 1862 the more picturesque aspects have suffered by its being wrought more economically, and with greater sanitary efficiency, by the Boscawen shaft, which runs from near the water's edge in an oblique direction under the sea. This diagonal shaft is 400 fathoms long, and cost about £4,000. A difficulty not much less than that of sinking the tunnel, which is descended by wagons, was that of lowering the engine to its position. The Crown engine had been lowered to its exposed situation on the Crown Rocks over a cliff 200 ft. high. When, however, the 24 in. cylinder-engine was first dropped on its wild exposure, over the face of a rugged precipice, it was never expected that it would undergo a second, migration. But in 1863 the huge boiler and beams were, after being drawn to the top, again relowered to a new resting-place, and a house built for their reception. It is therefore not without good ground that Cornishmen claim Botallack as one of the world's wonders. Apart from the place it must always occupy in the history of mining engineering, it will be a distinct loss to Cornwall that so extensive a concern is likely to be closed, either permanently or until times mend. But mines are at best among the most fickle of fortune's gifts, and the enormous imports of foreign tin and copper are, undoubtedly, not to the profit of the more expensively worked native mines. As an instance of the uncertainty in tin-mining, I may relate a well-known circumstance that took place in Botallack Mine. After expending nearly £20,000 the prospect of a return seemed hopeless, as the resident agent declared to the proprietors, at their meeting in November, 1841, that “he knew not where to find twopennyworth of ore in all the mine.” Several of them were therefore strongly inclined to abandon the concern, but it was eventually determined to continue it for a further period of two months, with a resolution to give up the whole in case of no improvement in that period. It afterwards appeared that, when they were thus discussing the

propriety of abandoning the concern, the workmen were within 2 in. or 3 in. of a “bunch” of copper-ore, which in twelve months yielded a profit of £24,000. From published reports I gather that the profit on the working of Botallack from 1836 to 1865 was £102,150 in actual dividends, and on Levant, from 1830 to 1865, was upwards of £200,000. Botallack Mine had been for some time past worked at a heavy loss. It is composed of seventeen hundred shares, and the shareholders not long ago had been called on for £1 10s. a share. This call was met; but, notwithstanding, the mine was still being worked at a great loss, the return of tin being scanty and inferior in quality, so that the directors had no desire to make another call. Lately fifty men had been discharged, but these fortunately found employ at Levant Mine, near by; and there were still 130 men and forty-four boys employed on the mine, but all working at much lower wages. There were also upwards of five hundred children dependent on the miners of this one mine. At the last adjourned meeting of the shareholders it was decided to offer the mine, with all its extensive machinery, for sale, or, failing that, to shut it up, which means a heavy blow for West Cornwall. Having shown on a small summary scale the digging and raising of the ore from deep in the bowels of the earth to its surface, I may also briefly relate a few interesting items that follow concerning its preparation for the market, having not infrequently witnessed them all with much delight in my youth:— (1.) The ore as it comes from the mine is taken to the stamping-mill. This mill is composed of upright beams of squared timber several feet in length, and, say, 8 in. or 9 in. in diameter, each piece being strongly shod, or armed, at its lower end with a heavy iron stamp or pestle. These posts or beams are set up vertically close together in a row, and are raised continually by water-power, and when set working soon pulverise the mass of ore below. Water is continually let in, and the stones, earth, and sand, reduced to small particles, are carried off with the tin into sloping pits and courses prepared to receive them. The tin being the heaviest sinks early, and is soon detained. This is taken up and “dressed”—that is, put into proper heaps on flat earthen floors specially prepared for its reception, where it is in due time “ticketed,” or assorted, according to its purity and value. (2.) All things being ready, the tin (in grains or sands) is put up into strong, long, narrow sacks and carried off on mules to the tin-smelting house, of which there were two in the west of Cornwall, one being at Stableba, a village

about a mile and a half to the west of Penzance, between Treneipe and Newlyn, and one at Chyandour, a village a little to the east of Penzance, and almost a suburb of it. Those sacks of tin were often carried on mules from the mines through Penzance to the smelting-house at Chyandour, and to me it was always a gladdening sight to see the drove of twenty or more mules coming steadily along in pairs, keeping step in due marching order, and bearing their heavy burdens, following the man in charge, who preceded them on horse back, their red-looking sacks of tin appearing so uniform, each sack (of which there were generally three on a mule) containing about 1 cwt. (3.) Arrived at the smelting-house, the raw tin was melted down in large furnaces and run into regular-shaped moulds cut in granite, each block forming a parallelogram of about 2 ft. long by 1 ft. broad on the surface and 6 in. to 9 in. deep, and narrowed on all sides and on the base below, its upper ace shining brilliantly. (4.) The next step in the process would be to carry these blocks of pure tin metal into Penzance (as one of the “coinage towns”) to the “coinage-hall” there, in order to their being duly coined by the officers of the Duchy. This was done—(a) By weighing them separately and infixing the weight in the face of the block; (b) by stamping each block with the arms of the Ducky; (c) by clipping off a small piece (an ounce or two) from one of the corners: and now it was ready for sale, use, oportation. (5.) But there was still another tin-melting house, or premises, near the quay at Penzance, where those blocks of tin were (when required) again melted down and made into small tin bars or rods. This was a peculiar and pleasing process, which I will briefly describe: An open furnace, or big melting-pot, into which one of those blocks of tin was placed, being suspended on a large iron hook. Around the building, against the walls, was a row of thick flat-surfaced grey-marble slabs, each about 4 ft. long by 2 ft. wide, cramped around with iron. In the face of those slabs were cut across straight, narrow, semicylindrical grooves, very near each other, about ¾in. wide and deep. These were carefully filled with the liquid tin, brought from the furnace in deep short-handled bowl-ladles, and poured into the grooves, which soon became solid and cooled, and were dexterously picked out singly by the workman. It was a very interesting sight to see the skilful and experienced workman pour quickly into each groove sufficient metal to fill it from his heavy ladle held by both hands, and then to pick up rapidly the shining tiny bars, still very hot, into his left hand well armed with thick woollen rags. These bars were then stacked crosswise, and looked

very pretty. Sometimes, but rarely, there would be a short or imperfect one, which, of course, would be again consigned to the melting-pot. I understood that those small tin bars were exported in that state to the West Indies and other countries as an article of commerce. I would also remark on the peculiar appearance of the tin-smelting houses, owing to their several very high and narrow telescope-shaped brick chimneys, regularly cramped and banded with iron throughout to the top, one, of course, to each, furnace. On a dark night the bluish flame that rises in the still air from the top of each chimney has a very singular-look, somewhat weirdlike, and must often seem strange to the visitor or traveller by night not knowing the cause, particularly the smelting-house at Chyandour, from the fact of it being situate in a low valley close to the foot of a high range of thickly wooded hills, the dark foliage of the trees in the immediate background serving to enhance the romantic appearance of the tremulous and coloured flames of fire. Moreover, I believe those smelting-houses are often, if not generally, worked in by night. I have said that Penzance is one of the “coinage towns” of the Duchy of Cornwall. This I will further explain. In Cornwall at present there are five coinage towns—viz., Launceston, Lostwithiel, Truro, Helston, and Penzance. These are termed in law “stannary towns,” and have certain peculiar laws and privileges respecting mines and miners; and all tin raised in the county must be taken to one of them in order to it being stamped and the dues paid. The infancy of the stannaries, with which the history of the Courts is almost inseparably interwoven, is obscured by the “purple haze of antiquity.” Gilbert, in his “Historical Survey of the County of Cornwall,” observes that the “hand of time, united with the loss of the first charter and the destruction of many stannary records at Lostwithiel in the unnatural times of Charles I., have thrown an air of obscurity, doubt, and uncertainty on the stannary laws which it would now be a difficult, if not impossible, task to remove.” There is a consensus of opinion that the word “stannaries” is derived from the Latin stannum = tin, but it is believed by some it comes from stean, the old Cornish word for tin. It would seem that the formation of Stannary Courts followed hard upon one of the recurrent periods, of activity in the production of tin a century or two after the Norman invasion. The tin-mines of Cornwall, were not very productive in the reign of John. That king was Earl of Cornwall, and according to one or two historians he bestowed some valuable privileges on the county—relieved it from the operations of the arbitrary forest laws, and granted a charter to the tinners. A still more favourable

charter was granted to them by Edward I., under which the miners were exempt from all jurisdiction except that of the Stannary Courts, save in cases affecting land, life, and limb. The tinners agreed to pay to the grantor ½d. on every pound weight of wrought ore. Then, the labouring tinner who might discover tin in waste or uncultivated lands became entitled to a certain interest in such land upon giving proper notice in the Stannary Court to its proprietor. The laws and privileges of the Cornish mines were further enlarged in the reign of Edward III., and subsequent Acts passed during the sovereignty of Richard II. and Edward IV. confirmed them. Blackstone says, “The Stannary Courts of Devonshire and Cornwall for the administration of justice among the tinners therein are also Courts of record.” These records, which exist in great numbers among the rolls of the Exchequer, record the usage of five centuries. The Stannary Parliament in Cornwall, which enacted, laws for the government of the stannaries, consisted of twenty-four members. This Assembly elected its Speaker and proceeded regularly with its business when meetings were necessary. It was also known by the name of “Convocation.” Tonkin asserts that the charter of Henry VII. first regularly established the Cornish Convocation. Camden, in his “Britannia,” writing on the Cornish mines, says, “After the coming-in of the Normans the Earls of Cornwall had vast revenues from those mines, especially Richard, brother to Henry III. And no wonder, when Europe was not supplied with tin from any other place, for, as for the mines in Spain, the incursions of the Moors had shut them up; and the veins of tin in Germany were not then discovered, nor opened before the year of Christ 1240, at which time (as a writer of that age has it) ‘the metal called tin was found in Germany (by a certain Cornishman who was banished his country) to the great damage of Richard, Earl of Cornwall.’” Further, Camden says, “The Dukes of Cornwall, according to ancient custom, are to have forty shillings as tribute for every thousand pounds of tin; and it is provided that whatever tin is made it shall be carried to one of the four [now five] towns appointed for that purpose, where, twice every year, it is weighed and stamped and the impost paid; and before that no man may sell or convey it away without being liable to a severe fine” (l.c., vol. i., pp. 143, 145). Referring to the historical fact of the Phœnicians trading for tin with the ancient Britons, already intimated, I may also bring before you what the early historians have left on record concerning this primitive commercial transaction. The first notice is by the celebrated Greek historian Herodotus, who lived 450 years B.C., and who has been justly termed “the

Father of History.” In writing of the natural productions of Europe he says,” Of that part of Europe nearest to the west I am not able to speak with decision. Neither am I better acquainted with the islands called the Cassiterides, from which we are said to have our tin. I have endeavoured, but without success, to meet with some one who, from ocular observation, might describe to me the sea which lies in that part of Europe. It is nevertheless certain that both our tin and our amber are brought from those extreme regions (lib. iii., “Thalia,” ch. cxv.) Scanty as this information is, yet you will have noticed its charming careful simplicity, which is also the more pleasing seeing that of late years much of what Herodotus had written concerning little-known and distant countries, and which had been called in question, has since proved to be in the main correct. The second notice is by the historian Diodorus Siculus, who flourished about 50 B.C. Diodorus says, “The Britons who lived in those parts, digging tin out of a rocky sort of ground, carried it in carts at low water to certain neighbouring islands, and thence the merchants transported it into Gaul”; and, again, he pleasingly observes, “The inhabitants thereof, by conversation with merchants trading thither for tin, became remarkably courteous to strangers.” Here I may also fittingly quote a nice observation respecting our Mother-country made at a very early date by another historian, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who was famed for his caution and fidelity in his histories, and who lived about 30 B.C. Dionysius, in his “Periegesis,” says “that no other islands whatever can claim equality with those of Britain.” The third record concerning Britain and its tin is found in the work of the celebrated Roman geographer Strabo, who flourished in the age of Augustus and Tiberius, and who died in the year 25 a.d. Strabo says, “The Cassiterides (from the Greek word kassiteros = tin) are ten in number, lying near each other in the Atlantic Ocean, towards the north from the haven of the Artabri”* Lusitania and Cape Finisterre. (lib. iii.). The fourth mention of the subject is by the great Roman historian and naturalist Pliny, who lived in the first century of our Christian era, and who lost his life in that terrible eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed the towns of Hercu-laneum and Pompeii, on the 24th August, 79 A.D., while too closely and fearlessly engaged in investigating that grand phenomenon of nature, as is graphically written by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, in his letters describing it to his friend Tacitus, the historian. Pliny, the elder, writes, “Opposite to this coast is the island called Britannia, so

celebrated in the records of Greece and of our own country. It is situated in the north-west, and, with a large tract of intervening sea, lies opposite to Germany, Gaul, and Spain, by far the greater part of Europe. Its former name was Albion, but at a later period all the islands, of which we shall just now briefly make mention, were included under the name of Britanniæ…. Timaæus,* Timæus, an historian of Sicily, who flourished 262 b.c. All his works are lost. the historian, says that an island called Mictis is within six days's sail of Britanniæ, in which white-lead† White-lead = Plumbum album; the Latin word stannum denoted originally a compound of silver and lead, and was not used to denote tin until the fourth century. is found, and that the Britons sail over to it in boats of osier covered with sewed hides” (lib. iv., ch, xxx.). Further on Pliny writes, “Midacritus was the first who brought tin from the island called Cassiteris…. Danais was the first who passed over in a ship from Egypt to Greece. Before his time they used to sail on rafts. Even at the present day they are made in the British Ocean of wicker-work covered with hides” (lib. vii., ch. lvii.). There appears some confusion here in the geography, which is not to be wondered at, for the Greek and Roman geographers, borrowing their knowledge from the Phoænician merchants, seem to have a very indistinct notion of the precise locality of those islands. It is not unlikely that Cornwall itself, or a part of it, or even small islands then existing in Mount's Bay and elsewhere, is meant, particularly in the relation of Timæus, and also in that of Diodorus; even St. Michael's Mount, in Mount's Bay (now and for some time past a shipping port with a quay), has been by some modern writers supposed to be the island referred to, whence the tin was taken by the Britons in carts, that island being easily accessible for carts, &c., at low water and at half-tides. There is an old tradition there in the west of Cornwall that a large portion of the south-west coast in Mount's Bay, &c., was early submerged and lost in a grand inroad of the ocean. A portion of the bay near the west side, about a mile from the shore, where ships frequently anchor, is always called “the Lake,” and “Gwavas Lake,” and I myself have seen, on the low flat sandy beach near Marazion and the Mount, at low water (the tide receding largely there), many upright stumps of large trees imbedded in the sand and mud. Camden has some statements and observations on this particular subject, and I may again briefly quote from him. He says, “The inhabitants of the west end of Cornwall are of opinion that the promontory of the Land's End did once reach farther to the west. The neighbours will tell you,

from a certain old tradition, that the land then drowned by the incursion of the sea was called 'Lionesse.'” Here follow several reasons, or “hints,” as Camden calls them, “contributing something of probability”; and he closes with the following remark: “To these we may add a tradition that, at the time of the inundation supposed here, Trevelyan swam from thence, and in memory thereof bears gules an horse argent issuing out of the sea proper” (l.c. p. 148). This last remark is a very suitable one for Camden to make, he being Clarencieux King-at-Arms. I have myself heard of the tract of land overflowed by the sea being called Lionesse, and also know of large portions of land extending along the shore in the western part of the bay, once covered with delightful green turf (on which I had often walked and played), being entirely carried away by the sea. I have mentioned a modern belief that St. Michael's Mount is (at least) one of the places in Britain anciently resorted to by the Phænicians for tin, but I do not agree therewith. No doubt it has at present a kind of raised flat and broad beach, or natural causeway, connecting it with the mainland, passable for carts, &c., at and near low water, but whether such existed in those ancient times is highly questionable. And this, moreover, is largely supported by the Cornish name of the mount (Carregluzenkuz=“the hoar-rock in the wood”), and we know from our own ancient history that Cornwall was largely disforested in the reign of King John. William of Worcester records a tradition that “St. Michael's Mount was originally enclosed with a very thick wood, distant six miles from the ocean.” The ancient Britons, workers of and traders in tin, must have had a long way to bring their heavy metal ore to such a mart or port, seeing that all old ancient workings have been found at a great distance from the mount. I should rather incline to believe that the Looe Pool, in Mount's Bay (only a few miles east from the mount), was then both open (without its bar of sand at its mouth) and, with the Cober River at its head, formed more of harbour than it is at present, and quite sufficient for the light Phænician vessels; and that Helford River and Harbour, on the east side of the Liazard Promontory (its head-waters at Gweek being only a short distance—three or four miles—across the same from the Looe Pool), was also another port visited by the Phænicians. There are good antiquarian reasons for believing this, some of which I will briefly mention: (1.) Many ancient stream-tin workings have been discovered at and around those two places, with the rude implements then used in the extraction and dressing of tin. (2.) Various foreign remains have also been found there, as urns, coins, beads, &c., of Roman and other nations; and

on the Helford River are the ruins of large Roman encampments and towns. (3.) The ancient name of that country—the Lizard Promontory—is a very peculiar one—Meneâge, said to have been given to it by the Phœnicians, and to mean, in their language, a low heath-like plant with which that district abounds.* Erica vagans = Cornish heath, a highly ornamental little shrub, often grown in gardens, and only found here in Britain; is a native also of the south of Europe. Certain it is that the name is not English, nor Cornish, nor Norman-French, nor Saxon, and it is still the common and legal name of the whole district; while several other names of places around the coast are also of foreign origin—some are said to be Persian. (4.) The principal tin, or “coinage,” town in Cornwall, according to ancient English laws and charters, was Helston, which town is only a short distance from the Cober River. I have said that Cornwall is rocky, and that granite is the chief stone; but there are many other stones and minerals to be found. The granite which forms the great bulk of the westernmost portion of the peninsula is succeeded by a series of very curious stratified rocks, which are generally slaty, but in certain bands assume the characters of a hornblende schist, of serpentinous rock, or of singular alternations of folia, in which garnet and its massive variety—allochroite, axinite, chlorite, and other silicates—play a prominent part. It is these variously coloured and angular, or even jagged, rocks that lend so wild and picturesque a character to the whole range of coast from Cape Cornwall to Pendeen Point, which includes Botallack and Levant; and again we meet these same stratified and ambiguous masses when, after descending through the deep shafts hewn out of the solid granite, we enter the levels or galleries which have opened the way under the western ocean; and, at smaller or greater distances, according to the depth, encounter them again, extending to the farthest points, some half a mile from the shore, which have yet been attained. The lodes or mineral veins themselves are notable for their deviation from the directions which are usual elsewhere in the west of England. They may be seen especially in Levant and Botallack Mines, as well as in others near. They have a tendency to strike north-west and south-east; at the same time they are intersected by cross-veins (the guides of the miners). Some of these veins are narrow strings, but running—a number of them—parallel, in a width of from 10 ft. to 20 ft., through a somewhat friable granite. The ordinary lodes are from 1 ft. to 3 ft. in breadth, though in Botallack and Levant they have been much larger. As

usual, they are often made up of quartz, and commonly in a number of successive crystalline plates or combs; but even here they often exhibit charming little crystals of dolomite, of specular iron-ore, of goöte, or of manganese spar. Tinore (cassiterite) is the substance which has most largely contributed to the wealth of this district; occurring principally where the lodes occur in the granite rock, it has been followed down from the open “coffins”* Miners' term for the surface streaming-pits. of our remote Cornish ancestors to a depth of 300 fathoms (1,800 ft.) from the surface. While, however, certain of the veins, as the north lode of Levant (and those of Huel Cock, a mine adjacent), carry a good deal of yellow copper-ore along with iron and arsenical pyrites, enormous wealth has been obtained from the courses of vitreous copper-ore, the sulphide-of-copper glance, which, especially in Botallack and Levant, extended for a great length under the sea, and which ore was more or less continuous down to a depth of almost 200 fathoms. The occasional occurrence of native bismuth, of cobalt-ores, of silver, and the rare and costly ores of uranium, add much interest to the mineralogical contents of these lodes. Dolcoath Mine is mentioned at the beginning of my paper. This mine is situated near Camborne, and has long been the premier mine in Cornwall. However, after several years of continued unexampled prosperity, the mine is now worked only at a great loss, the loss on the last three months being nearly £6,000 (the total expenditure for the last quarter being nearly £20,000), with no prospect of doing better without a fresh and large outlay required to sink a new perpendicular shaft that would cost from £3,000 to £4,000, and take two years to complete, which is absolutely necessary. Tin-ore is plentiful in the mine, which is still rich, but only found at great depths, some of the levels being 364 and 425 fathoms. To abandon the mine would mean great and absolute want for many hundreds of the population. One of the obstacles was the heavy amount of lords' dues, which should, have been levied on a more equitable and sliding scale; while another was the unwillingness of the adventurers (or shareholders, many of whom lived in London) to respond to a call for a very heavy outlay—a capital of £90,000 being required. A third hindrance was the very low price of tin in the market, mainly owing to the large quantity of that metal imported from the Straits, where it is also plentiful, and can be worked cheaply. However, after several meetings of the shareholders matters seem to be in a fair way of arrangement, by forming the mine into a limited liability company of 300,000 shares, and by the

lords' dues being more equitably assessed according to the profits. It is only by the hearty co-operation of all parties—lords (owners of the soil), adventurers, and working miners—that the industry can be carried on, which will now be done for the first time in mining in Cornwall under a limited liability company. In writing this paper for you I have culled from a few available sources, works both old and new—from Camden's “Britannia” (a ponderous folio first published in 1586, and the fourth and corrected edition in 1722), a veritable literary mine of learning, to sundry small serials of the present year—in order the better to support my own views and observations, made more than half a century ago, with undoubted modern authorities, and by so doing make my paper the more varied and generally interesting.

Dear Sir,— Te Whaiti, Tuhoe Land, 14th January, 1897. Re rahui: The body of the man sacrificed for this would be buried at the base of the pou rahui, and would be termed a “whatu,” In other

cases a maro would be used. This is a piece of petako, or some other sacred plant or shrub, which is suspended on pou rahui or buried at the base thereof. The maro of a rahui is termed “kapu.” This kapu is subjected to powerful karakia makutu, strong enough to kill any one who interferes with what is rahui'd. It is generally concealed lest some person purloin it, in which case its virtue ceases, “Mehemea ka kitea e te kai whanako, kua kore he niho o taua kapu.” Allied to the above is the singular custom of placing the iho (severed umbilical cord) of children at certain spots to hold the mana of a hapu over their lands. A stone at Te Rahui, Waikaremoana, is a famous takotoranga pito tamariki. Many such strange customs obtained in the Urewera country, and information pertaining thereto should be collected without delay, ere it is too late. Yours truly, Elsdon Best. Note by T. White.—Pou, “a post”; whatu, chief meaning, “a stone”; kowhatu-whaka-pakoko, “stone images”; maro “a girdle for the loins”; kapu, “the hollow of the hand”; makutu, “witchcraft.” A kapu makutu is when the tohunga (priest or wise man) is in such straits as to be unable to make a suitable tuahu or altar; he then may use the hollow of his hand as a substitute: this is called a “kaupapa.” One meaning for whata is “an altar”; mana, “the strength or power of possession”; hapu, “the subdivision of a tribe residing apart”; karakia, “an incan-tation.” In a small but very interesting pamphlet, “Waikaremoana,” page 16, Mr. Elsdon Best tells us further about Te Rahui:— Travelling by Canoe on Lake Waikaremoana.—“We are now approaching the point known as Te Rahui, between which and Te Upoko-o-te-ao (the head of the world) is Otau-rito. Te Rahui is a kind of meeting-place of the winds, and is much dreaded by native canoe-men when the lake is rough. The saying at such a time is, ‘Kia ata whakaputa i Te Rahui—that is, ‘Be careful in passing Te Rahui.’ If a canoe reaches Otau-rito safely when crossing in bad weather the paddlers thereof consider all danger is past. The tohunga (wise man)… now commences to initiate us into the ancient lore of Waikaremoana. Thus the kaumatua (old man): ‘The large isolated rock you see at the point of Te Rahui is an ancient whare pito tamariki, or takotoranga iho tamariki, a spot where the iho (umbilical cord) of new-born children is placed as a tohu whenua. This custom, as it obtained in Tuhoe Land, was to place the iho of children of succeeding generations at certain spots, in order to preserve the tribal influence over the lands adjacent. The iho was secured to a stone, and after the former decayed the stone still maintained the name and power of the iho. This is an old custom, and I myself have seen it carried out. And across the lake, where you see the hill Ngaheni, at Opu-ruahine, there lies the iho of Hopa's brother, which preserves our mana over those lands. And it is from such dangerous places as Te Rahui that the lake derives its name of Waikare-whanunga-kore. ka puta i Te Rahui, a ko te ao marama (If you pass Te Rahui you shall look upon the world of life).’”

I notice on the map of this district two other places named Te Rahui. In this same pamphlet, at page 46, mention is made of the other word rahui, “a flock or herd” (in the fight at Pohatunui Pa). “Te Ariki escaped, but was captured after a long chase and slain. Tirawhi was enslaved.” “Te rahui kawau ki roto o Wairau” is an expression applied to the refugees of Nga-whakarara by Tuhoe on account of the manner they flew from place to place—(“The flock of shags (cormorants) within Wairau”). There seems reason to suppose that at the launching of some, or perhaps all, of the historical canoes leaving Hawaiki for New Zealand the success of the voyage was insured by the sacrifice of blood. This fact, becoming obscured by the lapse of time, has varied to the silly story of some of the would-be emigrants killing a boy, as, for example, “When the canoe was being finished a boy, seeing the dinner pre-pared for the workmen placed near by, came stealthily and ate the choice morsels. For this act Rata killed him at the launching of the canoe, and hid his body under the chips therefrom.” Do not our own people act on the relique of a similar custom, but at the present time we make wine a substitute for blood. Man, from his inherent wickedness, will commit the same particular barbarity, and that without any knowledge of or communication with others of his kind, be they white, brown, yellow, or black in complexion, at long distances apart. In Nature of the 22nd April, 1897, is this paragraph “There is no reason to doubt that this custom (human sacrifice) prevailed among the early Aryans of India. The Trantras enjoin human sacrifice to Chandikâ. The folk-tales of India abound in tales of human sacrifice, and in the time of Sir John Malcolm there was a tribe of Brahmans called Karhâda, which had a custom of annually sacrificing a young Brâhman to their deities. All over India there is a very strong tradition that new buildings, bridges, tanks, and wells should be secured against evil by the blood of some victim.” The Maoris have several different versions of the story of the bringing of the kumara (sweet potato) to New Zealand. In one Pani is the man or woman; another gives the credit to Kahu-kura (he of the beautiful raiment, or the rainbow.) Judge Gudgeon, of the Native Land Court, tells us of another story in the “Journal of the Polynesian Society” (vol. ii., p. 100): “Hoake and Taukata arrived in New Zealand by floating thither on blocks of pumice. They brought a supply of kao (dried kumara). When Toi, of New Zealand, tasted this new food he was delighted with the fragrance thereof…. Taukata explained where this

could be obtained, and he and Hoake set to work to make a canoe, which, when finished, was named “Te Aratawhao.” The canoe started on the voyage under the command of Tama ki Hikurangi, and quickly arrived at the land of the kumara. Here they not only received a supply of kumara, but were also instructed as to the method of planting and storing the crops, and were, moreover, warned that if they wished to retain the kumara as a permanent article of food in New Zealand it would be necessary to appease the gods by the sacrifice of some human being, and suggested Taukata as the victim. This advice was carefully noted, and Tama ki Hikurangi returned with his valuable cargo. The seed obtained was planted in a mara, and when in due season the crop had been gathered and stored in the ruas provided for that purpose Taukata was slain as an offering to the gods. In vol. iv. of the “Journal of the Polynesian Society” the Rev. Mr. Williams gives a waiata, or song, in which a Maori chief tells us that he buried his child at the foot of the main post when erecting his new house, according to the traditions of his people in such a serious undertaking. Major Ellis, in “The Ewe-speaking People” of Africa, says that in times of danger, or when the people are especially excited, the priestesses of the temple protect themselves by laying in the paths leading to their quarters palm leaves, or is it branches ? These have a sacred significance, and the riotous crowd are afraid to pass over even a single leaf. Thus man in all countries is greatly afraid of any “hocus-pocus” which he does not rightly understand. The French navigator Crozet, after the death of his superior, Marion, who was killed and eaten by the Maoris, made use of an expedient when taking from the shore some of his people who had been collecting wood. The natives, seeing those whom they regarded as a prey about to escape, began to close in on them, but Crozet, with great coolness, drew a line around on the sand of the beach with the butt of his musket, and commanded them on peril not to pass over the mark. This had the desired effect, and the party were safely embarked. Captain Cook, in a like difficulty, made use of the same expedient, with equal success. This custom of the tapu-mark must have been in use among the Polynesians, but this fact would not be known to the two commanders. The Rev. W. Wyatt Gill tells us that at the island of Nanomanga, when his party landed there, “a charmed circle was drawn round the beach, beyond which none of our party was permitted to wander. We were the first visitors fortunate enough to escape being ‘devilled’—i.e., detention for hours in a broiling sun, whilst the heathen performed incantations to prevent the introduction of disease.”

Supplementary Notes. Titi (the setting-up) o (of) Kura (the tiaha, or ornamental staff painted with red-ochre as a sign of tapu; or the tiaha, coloured red by feathers of that sacred colour). Tiaha, from tia, “to stick in,” “to drive in a peg or stake,” also “feathers stuck in for ornament,” “to place feathers in the hair”; and the suffix ha, “the agent, or one who has or does a thing”: giving, in full, tia-ha, “one having ornament of feathers.” These red feathers may have been the sacred emblem of the staff. (See Tregear's “Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary” for “painted staff” : Kura, No. 4.) Rahui, either two distinct words or a word having widely differing meanings: Rahui, “a flock or herd of birds or other living objects,” and rahui, “a ceremony of tapu.” I take the aforesaid message to translate, “Here are a herd of pigs for you,” thereby leading to the inference that the ship's stores and crew should be used as food by the receiver of the message. This tragedy was so carried out. The other translation, “Here are sacred pigs for you,” is hardly probable. In any case, “herd” and “sacred” could not appear in this sentence in conjunction. Shortland writes, I believe, “Wakatane,” not “Whaka-tane”; and I notice both he and Diffenbach omit the” h” in many words purposely, leading to the inference that this was a customary habit with certain Maori tribes. Shortland gives the traditional origin of the place-name Whaka-tane. The crew of “Tainui” having arrived at New Zealand, landed at this place, and climbed inland, leaving the canoe on the beach. A girl, seeing the incoming tide and raging waves endangering the canoe, exclaimed “Whaka-tane,” “Let me play the man”—i.e., go to the rescue of the canoe (presumably assisted by the other women). Whaka,the causative prefix; tane, “a man.” Mr. Alexander Shand, of the Chatham Islands, publishes a Moriori pedigree in the “Journal of the Polynesian Society,” vol. iv., page 43. In the personal names there given are: No. 83, Manu-kau-moana, “a bird swims the sea”; No. 84, Kahu-ti, “at the time of this ancestor Kahu arrived” from New Zealand; No. 85, Ta-titi-ri, “the knocking-down of the rahui”; No. 86, Ko-rongo, “peace is made.” Have we not here the following information: Kahu-tia, “Kahu sticks in a peg or post”; ta-titi-ri, “it is knocked down by the inhabitants of Chathams”; ko-rongo, “after which peace is ratified or entered into with the new arrivals.” At a later date, in the time of No. 157, Rongopapa, a heke, or migration, of “Rangimata” (canoe) came to the Chathams, when Marupuku, who lived at Auapatiki, contended

with Mīhīti, the captain of “Rangimata,” and his people on their landing there, pulling out a post erected by them to indicate taking possession of the land. “It is said the heke put in one post, first on the sand-spit (tahuna): this the tangata whenua took no notice of; but on seeing the heke put in another at Poretu (north side of the Awapatiki), and with it the image of their god Heuoro, they pulled them up. In the “Journal of the Polynesian Society,” vol. v., page 153, under article “The Maori Whare,” by the Rev. H. W. Williams, a note is appended by the editors (Messrs. Percy Smith and Edward Tregear), which I have referred to in the body of this paper. This I am now enabled to bring to your notice:— “In the building of all large houses intended for meeting-places of the tribe or for the entertainment of visitors, on the erection of the main pillar, or pou-toko-manawa, a slave, or in some instances a member of the tribe, was sacrificed, and, after the abstraction of the heart, the body was buried at the foot of the pou-toko-manawa. The heart of the victim (whatu) was cooked and eaten by the priest, or tohunga, presiding over the work, accompanied by karakias (incantations). This was the practice in some districts, as, for instance, among the Arawa tribe; but the Rev. Mr. Williams tells us that the victim (whatu) was buried at the left-hand back corner of the house, at the base of the poupou in that corner. Amongst the Urewera tribes the whatu was called ‘ika purapura,’ and it was buried at the foot of the pou-toko-manawa. After some time the bones may be exhumed and taken to the tuāhu (altar), and there used as a manea, or means of beneficial influence for the owner of the house. Manea means the hau or spirit, essence of man, and also of the earth. The following lines from an old song are the only references (in song) we recollect alluding to this custom; it is part of an oriori, composed by some member of the Ngati-kahu-ngunu Tribe of the East Coast:— Ka whaihanga Turaia i tona whare, Ka makaia tana potiki Hei whatu mo te pou-tua-rongo, O tona whare, o Te Raro-akiaki. Then Taraia built his house, Placing his youngest child As a whatu for rearmost pillar Of his house, of Te Raro-akiaki. Taraia was a very noted ancestor of the Ngati-kahu-ngunu Tribe, and the house whose name is given above was erected at Herepu, near Karamu, Hawke's Bay.”