824.] JOURNEY INTO CORNWALL. 69 It was true the works' had been scarcely established at Newcastle, and needed vigilant direction. But the principal object for which they had been started—the construction of locomotives-could not be attained until there was a public demand for the commodity; and even to Robert Stephenson, not less sanguine than his father as to the ultimate success of the locomotive, it seemed highly improbable that the demand would be either urgent or general for some years. At all events he might with advantage to his health and prospects go to South America for three years. George Stephenson did not at all like the proposal. Not even the annual salary of £500, with allowances for travelling expenses, could lessen his disapproval. In the spring of 1824, Robert Stephenson, at the direction of the Colombian Association, went on a trip to Cornwall, accompanied by his uncle Robert (the father of the present Mr. George Robert Stephenson), and made a careful examination of the mining system of that country. The result of this trip was an elaborate report by the uncle and nephew on Cornish mining-its usages, implements, engines, and commercial organisation. Writing to his father from Oakhampton, Devonshire, March 5, 1824, Robert Stephenson said : As far as I have proceeded on my journey to the Cornish mines, I have every reason to think it will not be misspent time; for when one is travelling about, something new generally presents itself, and though it is perhaps not superior to some scheme of our own for the same purpose, it seldom fails to open a new channel of ideas, which may not unfrequently prove advantageous in the end. This I think is one of the chief benefits of leaving the fireside where the young imagination received its first impression. In this same letter he speaks of having inspected the Bristol steam-boats, and especially the George IV.,' in which he and his father had crossed from Ireland in the previous year. He mentions also having been at Swansea, where the engine for drawing coals, put up by George Stephenson, was seen working admirably. Speaking of the Neath Abbey Works, he observes : When I was at Neath Abbey I had the pleasure of being introduced to Mr. Brunton the engineer: he is a very sensible man, but there is not one of them who understands the parallel motion thoroughly. They seemed to doubt me when I told them I had never seen one mathematically true, not even in principle. In the firm and self-reliant tone of this passage may be seen the young man of twenty-one conscious of his power to be a leader of others. Returning to Newcastle, Robert Stephenson found that he could not settle down to his work. He wrote to his father, begging him no longer to oppose his wish to go to Colombia. But now (he wrote) let me beg of you not to say anything against my going out to America, for I have already ordered so many instruments that it would make me look extremely foolish to call off. Even if I had not ordered any instruments, it seems as if we were all working one against another. You must recollect I will only be away for a time; and in the mean time you could manage with the assistance of Mr. Longridge, who, together with John Nicholson, would take the whole of the business part off your hands. And only consider what an opening it is for me as an entry into business; and I am informed by all who have been there that it is a very healthy country. I must close this letter, expressing my hope that you will not go against me for this time. Sorely against his will, George gave his consent; and 1824.] PREPARATIONS FOR THE VOYAGE TO AMERICA. 71 Robert Stephenson, once more going up to London, took up his quarters (April 27, 1824) at the London Coffee House, Ludgate Hill, and made his preparations for departure. It was a terribly wet season, and he walked about day after day in the flooded streets, soaked to the skin, buying implements and stores and engaging workmen. Nor did he confine his attention to the concerns of the Colombian Association. Already he was a man of mark, invited to the tables of wealthy merchants, and carried hither and thither to give his opinion on engineering questions relating to gas works, water works, and marine engines. He examined minutely Mr. Brown's ‘vacuum engine,' which was making as great a stir as Perkins' machine did, until George Stephenson, by the simple application of muscular force, stopped the action of the pretty toy. The vacuum engine' Robert Stephenson significantly described in a letter to his father as 'extremely ingenious, but : -. At the same time he busied himself in inventing, for a company of London merchants, a machine for stamping coin, which he hoped to see employed in the Colombian mint. The Messrs. Magnays had given him an order for a paper-drying machine. Whilst he was deciding how he should construct the machine for stamping coin and the drying machine, he visited the Mint and the Times' Newspaper Office; with which establishments he was so pleased that he wrote his father a long account of them. The Magnays (he wrote) got me an introduction to the 'Times' printing office, where I was almost as much delighted as I was in the Mint. The facility with which they print is truly wonderful. They were working papers at the rate of 2,000 per hour, which they can hold for any length of time. The mode they have of conveying the sheet of paper from one part of the machine to the other, is, I think, precisely what is wanted in the drying machine. Hitherto Robert Stephenson's experience as a mining engineer had been principally confined to coal mines, whereas he was now about to search for the precious metals. That he might be possessed of all the requisite practical information, he took lessons of Richard Phillips, the Professor of Mineralogical Chemistry-the Colombian Company paying five guineas for each lesson. At the same time he was acquiring the Spanish language. After staying for a short time at the London Coffee House, he removed to lodgings in No. 6 Finsbury Place South, and there remained till he left London. In the city' he underwent much disappointment. Arrangements which had been spoken of as completed had still to be begun. Heavy arrears of labour fell upon the young engineer, in respect of matters about which he ought to have had no trouble whatever. Even about his appointment-the salary and exact character of the position there were difficulties; and he had to haggle and insist before he could get any recognition whatever of his engagement with the Colombian Mining Company; and after all his agreement was not with the Company, but with the Company's agents, Messrs. Herring, Graham, and Powles, in their individual capacity. Thus after all Robert Stephenson sailed from England the agent of the firm, although he was to preside over the engineering affairs of the Association. All this augured ill for the state of affairs in South America. During his protracted stay in London, whilst he was acquiring scientific information, purchasing stores, and 1824.] HIS VISIT TO LONDON. 73 vainly endeavouring to ascertain what his duties would be in South America, Robert Stephenson wrote to his friend, Mr. Longridge, in March, and again in April. The March letter was written at a time of great distraction and uncertainty, just after his return from Cornwall. The April letter was penned after a brief excursion in the country. Imperial Hotel, Covent Garden: DEAR SIR,Your letter the other day gave me pleasure in hearing you were going on (I suppose, of course, at Forth Street) pretty regularly. I wrote to my father this morning, but positively I durst not mention how long it would be before I should be able to reach once more the North. Indeed, I scarcely dare give it a thought myself. I saw Mr. Newburn yesterday, and he informed me it would at least be fourteen days before I could get my liberty. For heaven's sake don't mention this to my father. Joseph Pease will perhaps give him the information: it will, I know, make him extremely dissatisfied, but you know I cannot by any means avoid it. There are some new prospects here in agitation, which I look forward to with great satisfaction. It is the making of a road in Colombia. What a place London is for prospects! This new scheme of the road or railway is also connected with four silver mines at Mariquita. The road is projected between La Guayra and the city of Caraccas. You may find La Guayra on the coast, I believe, of the Gulf of Mexico. The climate, from Humboldt, is not quite so salubrious as that of Mexico. Mr. Powles is the head of the concern, and he assures me there is no one to meddle with us. We are to have all the machinery to make, and we are to construct the road in the most advisable way we may think, after making surveys and levellings. Well might Robert Stephenson say, 'What a place London is for prospects!' He had come up to London to settle about going to South America as engineer of the Colombian Mining Association, and after all the |