VOL. LXXVII.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 285 



order to give the best satisfaction in his power, was pleased to send to the pre- 

 fect, as far as Patna, a man in his service, who, being a native of the country 

 where the borax is prepared, could give the most ample intelligence concerning 

 that substance. 



This man, partly in the Nepalese and partly in the Hindoo language, both 

 which are understood by the prefect, gave the following account. In the pro- 

 vince or territory of Marme, 28 days journey to the north of Nepal, and 25 to 

 the west of Lassa, the capital of Thibet, there is a vale about 8 miles broad. 

 In a part of this vale there are two villages or castles, the one named Scierugh, 

 and the other Kangle, the inhabitants of which are wholly employed in digging 

 the borax, which they sell into Thibet and Nepal, having no other means of 

 subsistence, the soil being so barren as to produce nothing but a few rushes. 

 Near the two above-mentioned castles there is a pool of a moderate size, and 

 some smaller ones, where the ground is hollow, in which the rain-water collects. 

 In these pools, after the water has been some time detained in them, the borax 

 is formed naturally; the men, wading into the water, feel a kind of a pavement 

 under their feet, which is a sure indication that borax is there formed, and there 

 they accordingly dig it. 



Where there is a little water, the layer of borax is thin ; and where it is deep, 

 it is thicker, and over the latter there is always an inch or two of soft mud, 

 which is probably a deposit of the water, after it has been agitated by rain or 

 wind. Thus is the borax produced merely by nature, without either boiling or 

 distillation. The water in which it is formed is so bad, that the drinking a small 

 quantity of it will occasion a swelling of the abdomen, and in a short time death 

 itself. The earth that yields the borax is of a whitish colour; and in the same 

 valley, about 4 miles from the pools, there are mines of salt, which is there dug 

 in great abundance for the use of all the inhabitants of these mountains who live 

 at a distance from the sea. The natives, who have no other subsistence on 

 account of the sterility of the soil, pay nothing for digging borax; but strangers 

 must pay a certain retribution, and usually agree at so much a workman. This 

 is paid to a Lama, named Pema Tupkan, who owns the pits in Marme. Ten 

 days journey farther north, there is another valley named Tapre, where they 

 dig borax, and another still farther, called Cioga ; but of this latter I have not 

 marked the situation. Borax in the Hindoo and Nepalese languages is called 

 Soaga. If it be not purified, it will easily deliquesce; and in order to preserve 

 it any time, till they have an opportunity of selling it, the people often mix it 

 with earth and butter. In the territory of Mungdan, l6 days journey to the 

 north of Nepal, there are rich mines of arsenic; and in various other places are 

 found mines of sulphur, as also of gold and silver, whose produce is much 

 purer than those of the mines of Pegu. 



