It's a queer feelin' ye have when ye first go doon into a pit.

The sun's gone, and the light, and it seems like the air's gone from your lungs with them.

I carried a gauze lamp, but the bit flicker of it was worse than useless--it made it harder for me to see, instead of easier.

The pressure's what ye feel; it's like to be chokin' ye until you're used to it.

And then the black, damp walls, pressin' in, as if they were great hands aching to be at your throat! Oh, I'm tellin' ye there's lots of things pleasanter than goin' doon into a coal pit for the first time.
I mind, since then, I've gone doon far deeper than ever we did at Hamilton.