of the whole Duchy number far less than those of such towns as
Birmingham, Liverpool, or Manchester. The church here was rebuilt in
1848, when all the old monuments were carefully replaced. Portreath is
the thriving little port of the district, and is also popular with
Camborne and Redruth folk as a watering-place. But the presence of
active and prosperous mining does not make for beauty; a mine only
becomes picturesque when it has been deserted and taken back into the
bosom of Nature. Otherwise, Portreath has many attractions, and the
coast is grand. The port has four docks and a pier of about 260 yards
long. Lord de Dunstanville built the first dock here. Copper ore is
exported, and there is an import of coal and iron. What with
commercialism and pleasure, Portreath (formerly named Basset's Cove)
should do well; but the industries certainly bring some disfigurement,
and the stream that flows to the sea discolours the ocean waves with
its ruddy stain. From here to St. Agnes the coast is broken into
coves, one of which, Porth Towan, is popular with excursionists; but
the tripper cannot be here at all times, and when he is absent the
shores are left to majestic loneliness, their caves haunted by seals
and their crags by crying sea-fowl. We do not escape from the mining
when we come to St. Agnes, but we come to a district of notable
memories, and those who climb the Beacon can look towards St. Ives on
the one side and Newquay on the other. We must not suppose that the
Beacon is associated with any memories of the saintly maiden whom
Keats and Tennyson have poetically glorified; St. Agnes here is
pronounced St. Anne's, and it is supposed that this Ann is the
so-named goddess of the Irish Celts, but the identification is rather
difficult. More vivid is the legend that speaks of the love of the
giant Bolster for this saint, and the manner in which she contrived to
get rid of him. As a married man, the giant believed in the virtues of
quick change; he found that a new wife each year was a fairly
satisfactory allowance, and it is reported that he killed the old ones
by throwing stones at them. St. Agnes was much perturbed by his
attentions; she did not approve of his matrimonial methods, and she
had some sympathy with the existing Mrs. Bolster. "At last she
conceived a device, not very saint-like but perhaps necessary. Would
he fill a little hole in the cliff with his blood as a proof of his
affection? Of course he would. He