JO W A LA MOOKEE. 297 



and is intersected in various places by small spurs, which issue 

 from it, or small isolated hills. It is highly cultivated, presenting 

 in many places fine sheets of the richest vegetation. Distant 

 from the river, and over a magnificent undulating road, which 

 attests the euergy and activity of the present able magistrate, 

 Mr. G. Barnes, is the far-famed Jowala Mookee, with its temple 

 perched on the side of a mountain, at an altitude of about 

 200 feet, and the mountain itself rising to a height of about 

 1200 feet above it. The rocks consist of sand-stone, and red 

 and green marls, from which numerous springs issue, and 

 some of them being saliue are much and successfully used in 

 the treatment of goitre, probably owing to the iodine they 

 contain.* 



Here, too, carburetted hydrogen in the form of three or four 

 small white flames issues from the sandstone rocks, and in this 

 locality the famed temple is built. By the Hindoo pilgrims these 

 gas springs are adored with the greatest veneration, and by the 

 attendant Brahmins are daily fed with loads of Ghee. If a person 

 of rank visits the temple and gives a handsome present, the jets 

 are made to burn with increased vigour by removing plugs, and 

 thus increasing the size of the holes through which the gas 

 escapes, and he is informed by the priests that his present has 

 been acceptable to the Deity, his approbation being expressed by 

 the brilliancy of the flames. The poor bigot leaves the temple 

 highly satisfied, and with a light heart, but empty purse. In this 

 manner the minds of pilgrims are worked upon by the wily 

 Brahmins, and large sums annually collected by them. Gas 

 springs are common in many places in Europe and America. 

 Mr. Vanuxem states that the presence of carburetted hydrogen 

 gas on the upper part of the Ohio river is considered a sure 

 indication of the presence of salt water. At Fridouia in Chaulangue 

 country, America, the gas is collected by means of a shaft sunk 

 in bituminous shale, and conveyed by a tube to a gasometer, 

 and from thence for the purpose of illumination to different parts 

 of the village. In a similar manner the gas at Jowala 

 Mookee might be usefully employed in lighting the streets of 

 the town. 



The following table points out the temperature of the salt and 

 other springs met with in the Punjab and Himalayahs, and the 

 rocks from whence they issue : — 



See Mooreroft's Travels. 



