5.10. Of sundrie minerals. Chap. 10.

Of sundrie minerals. Chap. 10.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 _WIth how great benefits this Iland of ours hath béene in|dued from the beginning, I hope there is no godlie man but will readilie confesse, and yéeld vnto the Lord God his due honour for the same. For we are blessed euerie waie, & there is no temporall commoditie necessarie to be had or craued by anie nation at Gods hand, that he hath not in most aboundant maner bestowed vpon vs Englishmen, if we could sée to vse it, & be thanke|full for the same. But alas (as I said in the chapter precedent) we loue to inrich them that care not for vs, but for our great commodities: and one trifling toie not woorth the cariage, cõming (as the prouerbe saith) in thrée ships from beyond the sea is more woorth with vs, than a right good iewell, easie to be had at home. They haue also the cast to teach vs to neglect our owne things, for if they see that we begin to make anie account of our commodities (if it be so that they haue also the like in their owne countries) they will suddenlie abase the same to so low a price, that our gaine not being woorthie our trauell, and the same commoditie with lesse cost readie to be had at home from other countries (though but for a while) it causeth vs to giue ouer our indeuours, and as it were by and by to forget the matter whereabout we went before, to obteine them at their hands. And this is the onelie cause wherefore our commodities are oft so little estéemed of. Some of them can saie without anie teacher, that they will buie the case of a fox of an Englishman for a groat, and make him af|terward giue twelue pence for the taile. Would to God we might once wax wiser, and each one inde|uor that the common-wealth of England may flou|rish againe in hir old rate, and that our commodities may be fullie wrought at home (as cloth if you will for an example) and not caried out to be shorne and dressed abroad, while our clothworkers here doo starue and beg their bread, and for lacke of dailie pra|ctise vtterlie neglect to be skilfull in this science! But to my purpose.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 We haue in England great plentie of quicke sil|uer, antimonie, sulphur, blacke lead, and orpiment red and yellow. We haue also the finest alume (wherein the diligence of one of the greatest fauou|rers of the common-wealth of England of a subiect hath béene of late egregiouslie abused,The lord Mountioy. and euen al|most with barbarous inciuilitie) & of no lesse force a|gainst fire, if it were vsed in our parietings than that of Lipara, which onlie was in vse somtime amongst the Asians & Romans, & wherof Sylla had such triall that when he meant to haue burned a tower of wood erected by Archelaus the lieutenant of Mithridates, he could by no meanes set it on fire in a long time, bicause it was washed ouer with alume, as were al|so so the gates of the temple of Ierusalem with like ef|fect, and perceiued when Titus commanded fire to be put vnto the same. Beside this we haue also the na|turall cinnabarum or vermilion, the sulphurous glebe called bitumen in old time for morter, and yet [...]: the chrysocolla, coperis, and minerall stone, whereof pe|triolum is made, and that which is most strange the minerall pearle, which as they are for greatnesse and colour most excellent of all other, so are they digged out of the maine land, and in sundrie places far di|stant from the shore. Certes the westerne part of the land hath in times past greatlie abounded with these and manie other rare and excellent commodi|ties, but now they are washed awaie by the violence of the sea, which hath deuoured the greatest part of Cornewall and Deuonshire on either side: and it dooth appéere yet by good record, that whereas now there is a great distance betweene the Syllan Iles and point of the lands end, there was of late yeares to speke of scarselie a brooke or draine of one fadam water betwéene them, if so much, as by those euiden|ces appeereth, and are yet to be séene in the hands of the lord and chiefe owner of those Iles. But to pro|céed.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Of colemines we haue such plentie in the north and westerne parts of our Iland, as may suffice for all the realme of England: and so must they doo hereafter in deed, if wood be not better cherished than it is at this present. And to saie the truth, not|withstanding that verie manie of them are caried into other countries of the maine, yet their greatest trade beginneth now to grow from the forge into the kitchin and hall, as may appéere alreadie in most cities and townes that lie about the coast, where they haue but little other fewell, except it be turffe and hassocke. I maruell not a little that there is no trade of these into Sussex and Southhampton shire, for want whereof the smiths doo worke their iron with charcoale. I thinke that far carriage be the onelie cause, which is but a slender excuse to inforce vs to carrie them vnto the maine from hence.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Beside our colemines we haue pits in like sort of white plaster, and of fat and white and other colou|red marle, wherewith in manie places the inhabitors doo compest their soile, and which dooth benefit their land in ample maner for manie yeares to come. We haue saltpeter for our ordinance, and salt soda for our glasse, & thereto in one place a kind of earth (in Sou|therie as I weene hard by Codington, and some|time in the tenure of one Croxton of London) which is so fine to make moulds for goldsmiths and casters of mettall, that a load of it was woorth fiue shillings thirtie yeares agone: none such againe they saie in England. But whether there be or not, let vs not be vnthankefull to God for these and other his benefits EEBO page image 237 bestowed vpon vs, wherby he sheweth himselfe a lo|uing and mercifull father vnto vs, which contrarie|wise returne vnto him in lieu of humilitie and obe|dience, nothing but wickednesse, auarice, meere con|tempt of his will, pride, excesse, atheisme, and no lesse than Iewish ingratitude.

5.11. Of mettals to be had in our land. Chap. 11.

Of mettals to be had in our land. Chap. 11.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 _ALl mettals receiue their be|ginning of quicksiluer and sulphur, which are as mother and father to them. And such is the purpose of nature in their generations: that she tendeth alwaies to the pro|creation of gold, neuerthe|lesse she sildome reacheth vnto that hir end, bicause of the vnequall mixture and proportion of these two in the substance ingendered, whereby impediment and corruption [...] induced, which as it is more or lesse, dooth shew it selfe in the mettall that is producted. First of all therefore the substance of sulphur and quicksiluer being mixed in [...] proportion, after long and temperate decoction in the [...]els of the earth, orderlie ingrossed and fixed, becommeth gold, which Encelius dooth call the sunne and right heire of na|ture but if it swarue but a little (saith he) in [...]he com|mixtion and other circumstances, then doo [...]t, it pro|duct siluer the daughter, not so noble a child as g [...]ld hir brother, which among mettall is worthilie called the cheefe. Contrariwise, the substances of the aforesaid parents mixed without proportion, and lesse digested and fixed in the entrailes of the earth, where|by the radicall moisture becommeth combustible and not of force to indure heat and hammer, dooth either turne into tin, lead, copper, or iron, which were the first mettals knowne in time past vnto antiqui|tie, although that in these daies there are diuerse o|ther, whereof neither they nor our alchumists had euer anie knowledge. Of these therfore which are re|puted among the third sort, we here in England haue our parts, and as I call them to mind, so will I in|treat of them, and with such breuitie as may serue the turne, and yet not altogither omit to saie some|what of gold and siluer also, bicause I find by good ex|perience how it was not said of old time without great reason,Gold Siluer. that all countries haue need of Bri|taine, and Britaine it selfe of none. For truelie if a man regard such necessities as nature onelie requi|reth, there is no nation vnder the sunne, that can saie so much as ours: sith we doo want none that are con|uenient for vs. Wherefore if it be a benefit to haue anie gold at all, we are not void of some, neither like|wise of siluer: whatsoeuer Cicero affirmeth to the contrarie, Lib. 4. ad Atticum epi. 16. in whose time they were not found, Britannici belli exitus (saith he) expecta|tur, constat enim aditus insulae esse munitos mirificis molibus: etiam illud iam cognitum est, neque argenti scrupulum esse vllum in illa insula, neque vllam spem praedae nisiex mancipijs, ex quibus nullos puto te litteris aut musicis eruditos expectare. And albeit that we haue no such abundance of these (as some other countries doo yéeld) yet haue my rich countrimen store inough of both in their pursses, where in time past they were woont to haue least, bi|cause the garnishing of our churches, tabernacles, images, shrines and apparell of the preests consumed the greatest part, as experience hath confirmed.

Of late my countriemen haue found out I wot not what voiage into the west Indies, from whence they haue brought some gold, whereby our countrie is inriched: but of all that euer aduentured into those parts, none haue sped better than sir Francis Drake whose successe 1582 hath far passed euen his owne expectation. One Iohn Frobisher in like maner at|tempting to séeke out a shorter cut by the northerlie regions into the peaceable sea and kingdome of Ca|thaie, happened 1577 vpon certeine Ilands by the waie, wherein great plentie of much gold appeared, and so much that some letted not to giue out for cer|teintie, that Salomon had his gold from thence, wherewith he builded the temple. This golden shew made him so desirous also of like successe, that he left off his former voiage, & returned home to bring news of such things as he had seene. But when after another voiage it was found to be but drosse, he gaue ouer both the enterprises, and now keepeth home without anie desire at all to séeke into farre coun|tries. In truth, such was the plentie of ore there séene and to be had, that if it had holden perfect, might haue furnished all the world with abundance of that met|tall; the iorneie also was short and performed in foure or fiue moneths, which was a notable incourage|ment. But to proceed.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Tin and lead, mettals which Strabo noteth in his time to be carried vnto Marsilis from hence,Tin. Lead. as Dio|dorus also confirmeth, are verie plentifull with vs, the one in Cornewall, Deuonshire (& else-where in in the north) the other in Darbishire, Weredale, and sundrie places of this Iland; whereby my countrie|men doo reape no small commoditie, but especiallie our pewterers, who in time past imploied the vse of pewter onelie vpon dishes, pots, and a few other tri|fles for seruice here at home, whereas now they are growne vnto such exquisit cunning, that they can in maner imitate by infusion anie forme or fashion of cup, dish, salt, bowle, or goblet, which is made by goldsmiths craft, though they he neuer so curious, exquisite, and artificiallie forged. Such furniture of houshold of this mettall, as we commonlie call by the name of vessell, is sold vsuallie by the garnish, which dooth co [...]eine twelue plaiters, twelue dishes, twelue saucers, and those are either of siluer fashion, or else with brode or narrow brims, and bought by the pound, which is now valued at six or seuen pence, or peraduenture at eight pence. Of poringers, pots, and other like I speake not albeit that in the making of all these things there is such exquisite diligence vsed, I meane for the mixture of the mettall and true making of this commoditie (by reason of sharpe laws prouided in that behalfe) as the like is not to be found in any other trade. I haue béene also informed that it consisteth of a composition, which hath thirtie pounds of kettle brasse to a thousand pounds of tin, whervnto they ad thrée or foure pounds of tinglasse: but as too much of this dooth make the stuffe brickle, so the more the brasse be, the better is the pewter, and more profitable vnto him that dooth buie and purchase the same. But to proceed.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 In some places beyond the sea a garnish of good flat English pewter of an ordinarie making (I saie flat, bicause dishes and platters in my time begin to be made déepe like basons, and are indéed more con|uenient both for sawce, broth, and kéeping the meat warme) is estéemed almost so pretious, as the like number of vessels that are made of fine siluer, and in maner no lesse desired amongst the great estates, whose workmen are nothing so skilfull in that trade as ours, neither their mettall so good, nor plentie so great, as we haue here in England. The Romans made excellent looking glasses of our English tin, howbeit our workemen were not then so equisite in that feat as the Brundusiens: wherefore the wrought mettall was carried ouer vnto them by waie of merchandize, and verie highlie were those glasses EEBO page image 238 estéemed of till siluer came generallie in place, which in the end brought the tin into such contempt, that in manner euerie dishwasher refused to looke in other than siluer glasses for the attiring of hir head. How|beit the making of siluer glasses had béene in vse be|fore Britaine was knowne vnto the Romans, for I read that one Praxiteles deuised them in the yoong time of Pompeie, which was before the comming of Caesar into this Iland.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 There were mines of lead sometimes also in Wales, which indured so long till the people had con|sumed all their wood by melting of the same (as they did also at Comeristwith six miles from Stradfluer) and I suppose that in Plinies time the abundance of lead (whereof he speaketh) was to be found in those parts, in the seauentéenth of his thirtie fourth booke: also he affirmeth that it laie in the verie swart of the earth, and dailie gotten in such plentie, that the Ro|mans made a restraint of the cariage thereof to Rome, limiting how much should yearelie be wrought and transported ouer the sea. And here by the waie it is worthie to be noted, of a crow which a miner of tin, dwelling néere Comeristwith (as Le|land saith) had made so tame, that it would dailie flie and follow him to his worke and other places where soeuer he happened to trauell. This labourer wor|king on a time in the bottome or vallie, where the first mine was knowne to be, did laie his pursse and girdle by him, as men commonlie doo that addresse themselues to applie their businesse earnestlie, and he himselfe also had vsed from time to time before. The crow likewise was verie busie flittering about him, and so much molested him, that he waxed angrie with the bird, & in his furie threatened to wring off his necke, if be might once get him into his hands; to be short, in the end the crow hastilie caught vp his girdle and pursse, and made awaie withall so far as hir wings could carrie hir. Héerevpon the pore man falling into great agonie (for he feared to vse perad|uenture all his monie) threw downe his mattocke at aduenture and ran after the bird, curssing and me|nacing that he should lose his life if euer he got him againe: but as it fell out, the crow was the means whereby his life was saued, for he had not béene long out of the mine, yer it fell downe and killed all his fellowes. If I should take vpon me to discourse and search out the cause of the thus dealing of this bird at large, I should peraduenture set my selfe further into the briers than well find which waie to come out againe: yet am I persuaded, that the crow was Gods instrument herein, whereby the life of this poore labourer was preserued. It was doone also in an o|ther order than that which I read of another tame crow, kept vp by a shoomaker of Dutch land in his shop or stoue: who séeing the same to sit vpon the pearch among his shoone, verie heauilie and drousie, said vnto the bird: What aileth my iacke, whie art thou sad and pensiue? The crow hearing his maister speake after this sort vnto him, answered (or else the diuell within him) out of the psalter: Cogitaui dies an|tiquos & aeternos in mente habui. But whither am I di|gressed, from lead vnto crowes, & from crowes vnto diuels? Certes it is now high time to returne vnto our mettals, and resume the tractation of such things as I had earst in hand.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Iron is found in manie places,Iron. as in Sussex, Kent, Weredale, Mendip, Walshall, as also in Shropshire, but chéeflie in the woods betwixt Beluos and Willocke or Wicberie néere Manchester, and elsewhere in Wales. Of which mines diuerse doo bring foorth so fine and good stuffe, as anie that com|meth from beyond the sea, beside the infinit gaines to the owners, if we would so accept it, or bestow a little more cost in the refining of it. It is also of such toughnesse, that it yéeldeth to the making of cla|ricord wire in some places of the realme. Neuerthe|lesse, it was better cheape with vs when strangers onelie brought it hither: for it is our qualitie when we get anie commoditie, to vse it with extremitie to|wards our owne nation, after we haue once found the meanes to shut out forreners from the bringing in of the like. It breedeth in like manner great ex|pense and waste of wood, as dooth the making of our pots and table vessell of glasse, wherein is much losse sith it is so quicklie broken; and yet (as I thinke) easie to be made tougher, if our alchumists could once find the true birth or production of the red man, whose mixture would induce a metallicall tough|nesse vnto it, whereby it should abide the hammer.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Copper is latelie not found,Copper. but rather restored a|gaine to light. For I haue read of copper to haue béene heretofore gotten in our Iland; howbeit as strangers haue most commonly the gouernance of our mines, so they hither to make small gains of this in hand in the north parts: for (as I am informed) the profit dooth verie hardlie counteruaile the charges, whereat wise men doo not a litle maruel, consider|ing the abundance which that mine dooth séeme to of|fer, and as it were at hand Leland our countrie|man noteth sundrie great likelihoods of naturall copper mines to be eastwards, as betwéene Dud|man and Trewa [...]thher places, wherea [...] in sundrie pla [...]es of this booke alreadie, and therefore it shall b [...] but in vaine to repeat them here againe: as for [...]hat which is gotten out of the marchasite, I speake not of it, sith it is not incident to my purpose. In Dorsetshire also a copper mine latelie found is brought to good perfection.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 As for our stéele,Stéele. it is not so good for edge-tooles as that of Colaine, and yet the one is often sold for the other, and like tale vsed in both, that is to saie, thirtie gads to the sheffe, and twelue sheffes to the burden. Our alchumie is artificiall, and thereof our spoones and some salts are commonlie made, and preferred before our pewter with some, albeit in truth it be much subiect to corruption, putrifaction, more heauie and foule to handle than our pewter; yet some ignorant persons affirme it to be a mettall more na|turall, and the verie same which Encelius calleth Plumbum cinereum, the Germans, wisemute, mithan, & counterfeie, adding, that where it groweth, siluer can not be farre off. Neuerthelesse it is knowne to be a mixture of brasse, lead, and tin (of which this latter occupieth the one halfe) but after another proportion than is vsed in pewter. But alas I am persuaded that neither the old Arabians, nor new alchumists of our time did euer heare of it, albeit that the name thereof doo séeme to come out of their forge. For the common sort indeed doo call it alchumie, an vnwhol|some mettall (God wot) and woorthie to be banished and driuen out of the land. And thus I conclude with this discourse, as hauing no more to saie of the mettals of my countrie, except I should talke of brasse, bell mettall, and such as are brought ouer for merchandize from other countries: and yet I can not but saie that there is some brasse found also in England, but so small is the quantitie, that it is not greatlie to be estéemed or accounted of.

5.12. Of pretious stones. Chap. 12.

EEBO page image 239

Of pretious stones. Chap. 12.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 _THe old writers remember few other stones of estimati|on to be found in this Iland than that which we call great, and they in Latine Gagates: Geat. wherevnto furthermore they ascribe sundrie properties, as vsuallie practised here in times past,Laon. Chalchon|vtle. whereof none of our writers doo make a|nie mention at all. Howbeit whatsoeuer it hath plea|sed a number of strangers (vpon false surmise) to write of the vsages of this our countrie, about the triall of the virginitie of our maidens by drinking the powder hereof against the time of their bestow|ing in mariage: certeine it is that euen to this daie there is some plentie to be had of this commoditie in Darbishire and about Barwike, whereof rings, salts, small cups, and sundrie trifling toies are made, although that in manie mens opinions no|thing so fine as that which is brought ouer by mer|chants dailie from the maine. But as these men are drowned with the common errour conceiued of our nation, so I am sure that in discerning the price and value of things, no man now liuing can go beyond the iudgement of the old Romans, who preferred the geat of Britaine before the like stones bred about Luke and all other countries wheresoeuer. Marbo|deus Gallus also writing of the same among other of estimation, saith thus:

Nascitur in Lycialapis & propè gemma Gagates,

Sed genus eximium faecunda Britannia mittit,

Lucidus & niger est, leuis & leuissimus idem,

Vicinas paleas trahit attritu calefactus,

Ardet aqua lotus, restinguitur vnctus oliuo.

The Germane writers confound it with amber as if it were a kind therof: but as I regard not their iudgement in this point, so I read that it taketh name of Gagas a citie and riuer in Silicia, where it groweth in plentifull maner, as Dioscorides saith. Nicander in Theriaca calleth it Engangin and Gan|gitin, of the plentie thereof that is found in the place aforesaid, which he calleth Ganges, and where they haue great vse of it in driuing awaie of serpents by the onelie perfume thereof. Charles the fourth em|perour of that name glased the church withall that standeth at the fall of Tangra, but I cannot ima|gine what light should enter therby. The writers al|so diuide this stone into fiue kinds, of which the one is in colour like vnto lion tawnie, another straked with white veines, the third with yellow lines, the fourth is garled with diuerse colours, among which some are like drops of bloud (but those come out of Inde) and the fift shining blacke as anie rauens fea|ther.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Moreouer, as geat was one of the first stones of this Ile, whereof anie forren account was made, so our pearles also did match with it in renowme: in so much that the onelie desire of them caused Caesar to aduenture hither, after he had séene the quantities and heard of our plentie of them, while he abode in France, and whereof he made a taberd which he offe|red vp in Rome to Uenus, where it hoong long af|ter as a rich and notable oblation and testimonie of the riches of our countrie. Certes they are to be found in these our daies, and thereto of diuerse co|lours, in no lesse numbers than euer they were in old time. Yet are they not now so much desired bicause of their smalnesse, and also for other causes, but espe|ciallie sith church worke, as copes, vestments, albes, tunicles, altarclothes, canopies, and such trash, are worthilie abolished; vpon which our countrimen superstitiously bestowed no small quantities of them. For I thinke there were sew churches or religious houses, besides bishops miters, bookes and other pon|tificall vestures, but were either throughlie fretted, or notablie garnished with huge numbers of them. Marbodeus likewise speaking of pearles, commen|deth them after this maner:

Gignit & insignes antiqua Britannia baccas, &c.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 Marcellinus also Lib. 23, in ipso, fine, speaketh of our pearls and their generation, but he preferreth great|lie those of Persia before them, which to me dooth séeme vnequallie doone. But as the British geat or o|rient pearle were in old time estéemed aboue those of other countries; so time hath since the conquest of the Romans reuealed manie other: insomuch that at this season there are found in England the Ae|tites (in English called the ernestone, but for erne some pronounce eagle) and the hematite or blood|stone, and these verie pure and excellent: also the cal|cedonie, the porphyrite, the christall, and those other which we call calaminares and speculares, besides a kind of diamond or adamant, which although it be ve|rie faire to sight, is yet much softer (as most are that are found & bred toward the north) than those that are brought hither out of other countries. We haue also vpon our coast the white corall, nothing inferiour to that which is found beyond the sea in the albe, néere to the fall of Tangra, or to the red and blacke, where|of Dioscorides intreateth, Lib. 5. cap. 8. We haue in like sort sundrie other stones dailie found in cliffes and rocks (beside the load stone which is oftentimes taken vp out of our mines of iron) whereof such as find them haue either no knowledge at all, or else doo make but small account, being seduced by outlan|dith lapidaries, whereof the most part discourage vs from the searching and séeking out of our owne com|modities, to the end that they maie haue the more frée vtterance of their naturall and artificiall wares, whereby they get great gaines amongst such as haue no skill.

Compare 1577 edition: 1 I haue heard that the best triall of a stone is to laie it on the naile of the thombe,Triall of a stone. and so to go abroad into the cleare light, where if the colour hold in all places a like, the stone is thought to be naturall and good: but if it alter, especiallie toward the naile, then is it not sound, but rather to be taken for an artificiall péece of practise. If this be true it is an experiment woorthie the noting. Cardan also hath it in his De subtilitate; if not,Lib. 7. I haue read more lies than this, as one for example out of Cato, who saieth, that a cup of iuie will hold no wine at all. I haue made some vessels of the same wood, which refuse no kind of liquor, and therefore I suppose that there is no such Antipathia betweene wine and our iuie, as some of our reading philosophers (without all maner of prac|tise) will seeme to infer amongst vs: and yet I denie not but the iuie of Gréece or Italie may haue such a propertie; but why should not the iuie then of France somewhat participat withall in the like effect, which groweth in an hotter soile than ours is? For as Bap|tista porta saith, it holdeth not also in the French iuie, wherefore I can not beléeue that it hath anie such qua|litie at all as Cato ascribeth vnto it. What should I say more of stones? Trulie I can not tell, sith I haue said what I may alreadie, and peraduenture more than I thinke necessarie: and that causeth me to passe ouer those that are now & then taken out of our oisters, todes, muskels, snailes and adders, and like|wise such as are found vpon sundrie hils in Gloce|stershire, which haue naturallie such sundrie proporti|ons, formes & colours in them, as passe all humane possibilitie to imitate, be the workeman neuer so EEBO page image 240 skilfull and cunning, also those that are found in the heads of our perches and carps much desired of such as haue the stone, & yet of themselues are no stones but rather shels or gristles, which in time consume to nothing. This yet will I ad, that if those which are found in muskels (for I am vtterlie ignorant of the generation of pearls) be good pearle in déed, I haue at sundrie times gathered more than an ounce of them, of which diuerse haue holes alreadie entered by nature, some of them not much inferiour to great peason in quantitie, and thereto of sundrie colours, as it happeneth amongst such as are brought from the esterlie coast to Saffron Walden in Lent, when for want of flesh, stale stinking fish and welked mus|kels are thought to be good meat; for other fish is too déere amongst vs when law dooth bind vs to vse it. Sée more for the generation of pearls in the descrip|tion of Scotland, for there you shall be further infor|med out of Boetius in that behalfe. They are called o|rient, because of the cléerenesse, which resembleth the colour of the cléere aire before the rising of the sun. They are also sought for in the later end of August, a little before which time the swéetnesse of the dew is most conuenient for that kind of fish, which dooth in|gender and conceiue them, whose forme is flat, and much like vnto a lempet. The further north also that they be found the brighter is their colour, & their sub|stances of better valure, as lapidaries doo giue out.