So we changed our clothes
and descended by the ladders in the pumpshaft. Pretty work to descend
with the huge pump-rods (garnished with large iron bolts) working
violently, making strokes of 12 feet, close to our elbows; and with a
nearly bottomless pit at the foot of every ladder, where we had to
turn round the foot of the ladder walking on only a narrow
board. However we got down to the bottom of the mine with great safety
and credit, seeing all the mighty machinery on the way, to a greater
depth than I ever reached before, namely 1900 feet. From the bottom of
the pump we went aside a short distance into the lowest workings where
two men nearly naked were driving a level towards the lode or vein of
ore. Here I felt a most intolerable heat: and upon moving to get out
of the place, I had a dreadful feeling of feebleness and fainting,
such as I never had in my life before. The men urged me to climb the
ladders to a level where the air was better, but they might as well
have urged me to lift up the rock. I could do nothing but sit down and
lean fainting against the rocks. This arose entirely from the badness
of the air. After a time I felt a trifle better, and then I climbed
one short ladder, and sat down very faint again.
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