Excerpt from Underground Life, or Mines and Miners In the following pages we purpose to describe the struggle of the miner in its reality, without exaggeration of any sort. We shall follow him to the field of his labours, observe him in his subterranean life, and describe his habits in various countries; and as we would not only amuse, but instruct, we shall speak of the countries he inhabits, and of the substances he digs from the earth: in short, we shall endeavour to explain the social position of this pioneer of civilization. We our selves have long sojourned with him both in Europe and in America, and have made ourselves acquainted with the manly qualities which so eminently distinguish him. The first part of the present work is devoted to Coal, a substance indispensable to all civilized nations; the second to Metals, the origin of all progress; the last to the Precious Stones, which play so important a part in the decorative arts. The intrepid coal-miner, whose advent is but of recent date. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.