CHAP. IV.

FARMING THE MINES.

instead of working them on their own account,and for their own immediate benefit, as theformer sovereign had done. This farming of themines, when adopted, was in practice found in-jurious to the property so let. Leases for onlyshort terms were granted to the farmers generalof the imposts, who, with the shrewdness naturalto such situations, looked only to the interestsof the present moment. The labour, whetherof serfs or of slaves, was conceded to them withthe mines, and the power over them was exer-cised with no deficient degree of rigour. Thefarmers took out only the best ores, and neg-lected those of inferior quality ; leaving themin the pits, where they soon became buried inthe rubbish with which they were surrounded.Their object being to enrich themselves duringthe term for which they held the mines, theynaturally neglected the interest of future workers,and suffered them to go to ruin.

Whilst exhausting the mines of the richestores, they only cut the passages and propped theroofs in so slight a manner that if they lastedduring the current leases they would all requireto be reconstructed in a short period after ;which, when the best ores had been extracted,would be at an expense that could not be re-placed by any product of the inferior ores whichhad been left behind.

The various contrivances for keeping out the