222 MANGANESE, MONAZITE 



than any other country in the world, and could easily satisfy 

 all our needs, but at present we receive from her less than 

 a third of her total export : the rest (except for a small 

 quantity which we produce ourselves in Carnarvonshire) we 

 buy from Russia and Brazil. 



Manganese is also found in all the states of Australia, and 

 in New Zealand ; in Canada, South Africa, and West Africa, 

 but the output from these countries at present is small. 

 Egypt, too, has large deposits of a manganese ore very rich 

 in iron, and Newfoundland has abundant supplies, near 

 Conception Bay, in the south of the island. 



MONAZITE. In the extreme south of Southern India, within 

 the Presidency of Madras, lies the state of Travancore, one 

 of the most progressive of the native Indian states. From 

 Cape Comorin it extends along the west coast northwards 

 for 150 miles, and inland to the crests of the mountains. 

 The climate is very hot, and the rainfall abundant, so that 

 the slopes of the mountains and hills are clothed with thick 

 forests, and in the lowlands are plantations of rice, and sago 

 palms. There are very many rivers, and these on reaching 

 the coast are pushed back by the currents of the Arabian 

 Ocean and form lagoons along the shore. The mountains and 

 hills are made of ancient rocks, such as granite, and in them 

 occur particles of the mineral Monazite. 



The torrential rains beating down upon the land, year after 

 year, through the ages, have worn away the surface of the 

 rocks, and washed down the debris to the valleys of the 

 mountains. Among this debris are the precious Monazite 

 crystals, which being heavier than the other constituents of the 

 rocks, sink to the ground first, and are now found in the lower 

 layers of the sands and gravels, on the margins of the rivers, 

 and streams, and lagoons. 



To obtain the mineral the sand and gravel is powdered and 

 put into a trough, through which a stream of water is driven ; 

 the monazite being heavier, sinks to the bottom, and the 

 lighter constituents are carried away by the water. 



