Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Ixiv. (192 1), No. 5 7 



a slight series of depressions — and here and there a few 

 splinters of quartz which gave an assay — and the usual marks 

 of crushing on the hard trappoid rocks near the Hutti nullah. 

 Cross cutting exposed a long series of workings which were 

 not bottomed by means of a small exploratory shaft. The 

 Company was formed and deeper mining on a larger scale 

 was undertaken, but the first attempt failed to bottom the old 

 workings. Finally it was proved that the ancients had 

 excavated all payable quartz to an unparalleled depth of 640 

 feet. The presence of explosive gas — no doubt due to rotting 

 timbers — and the expense that spilling through the loose 

 material in the old slopes would have cost prevented any 

 extensive exploration of the old mine. 



Sufficient evidence was found to state that the quartz reef 

 was extracted by fire-setting— and after it was loosened was 

 gouged out by iron-shod wooden levers. A great amount of 

 timber had been employed ; one piece might have been a 

 windlass and marks on the " hanging wall " suggested the 

 ore was raised by means of ropes. It was probably water that 

 finally stopped the old workers from going deeper, for at 640 

 feet a large quantity of broken " chatties " were found, which 

 suggested heavy bailing. No such instance of perseverance 

 and skill has so far as I know been ever discovered in the 

 other ancient mining centres at Kolar, Wainad, Dharwar and 

 Anantagiri. The development of this mine must have taken 

 a considerable period and employed a great number of people, 

 not only in the actual mining', but in the crushing of the 

 resulting ore. 



I should like also to mention the ash mounds at Wondalli 

 and Machnur. For a long time speculation attributed them 

 to the slag, resulting from the refining of the gold or from 

 glass making. Captain Newbold, who noticed some others 

 near the so-called copper mountains, near Bellary, thought 

 they were the remains of funeral pyres, and Mr. Maclaren, 

 whose reports for the Geological Survey are so full of interest, 

 gives the following- assay, which he thinks upholds this theory. 



% 



Moisture 0.26 



Loss by ignition ... 3.39 



Si0 2 66.19 



CaO 15.88 



FeoO a and Al 2 O a ... 8.19 



P 2 6 5 1.57 



Undetermined ... 4-5 2 



100.00 



