He will be conducted to every ledge of the mountain, up an inclined plane, till he reaches the summit, and will have an opportunity of seeing the whole process of the slate manufacture. In one place he will discover the workmen aloft, suspended by ropes against the precipitous side of the rock, busily employed in splitting down every projecting shelf of the blue steganium; in another, persons employed in the laborious occupation of boring for the purpose of filling the orifice with gunpowder, to rend the rock from the immense mass to which it is attached; others occupied in removing the rubbish, of which so many years’ labour has produced a wonderful accumulation; and numbers in splitting the detached masses, and cutting them into a variety of sizes, denominated duchesses, countesses, ladies, &c. which names were bestowed by General Warburton about the year 1765. This process is executed with astonishing rapidity. Then may be heard the alarum shout, betokening that a fusee is lighted and will soon explode, warning those employed in the vicinity to secure themselves from danger; and in a few moments, the explosion itself rattles through the extensive levels with terrific grandeur. It cannot be expected that accidents amongst the workmen are of rare occurrence; on the contrary, they too frequently happen, for scarce a week passes without some poor fellows meeting with severe bodily injury; but this is solely attributed to their own negligence of the proper precaution.
Portions of the mountain are farmed by individuals, who pay a price consonant with the value or quality of the substratum, and employ workmen to remove and fit it for exportation; when they receive so much per thousand, in the same ratio, for their labour. There is a strong spring of water at the top of the mountain, which is conveyed by a large wooden pipe to the bottom, and there rendered serviceable in turning an immense cutting mill. A few hundred yards distant, also, are several mills of this description, where large pieces of rock are cut into grave-stones, and into the requisite sizes for roofing houses, and for the use of schools, &c.
St. Ann’s chapel, near the quarries, was erected and liberally endowed by the late Lord Penrhyn; and Lady Penrhyn left a sum for an organ, and a suitable stipend for the organist.—Within a short distance of the slate quarries is the charming cottage of the late Lady Penrhyn, called