284 WYNNE : GEOLOGY OF THE SALT EANGE IN THE PUNJAB. 



layers, often so earthy as to resemble laterite, and I never found it 

 affect the magnetic needle of my compass. 



In his introductory chapter (foot-note, p. xii, and again at p. 8, 

 para. 33) Mr. Powell mentions a new discovery of a first-class iron-ore 

 in hills belonging to the Salt Range^ made by Dr. Henderson, Civil 

 Surgeon of Shahpur, who had procured from it bars of the metal. This 

 ore was obtained from the Korana (Kot Kerana) hills, previously men- 

 tioned, not from the Salt Range itself. " The ore was very abundant 

 in several of the hills, and attempts to work it appeared to have been 

 made/^ Dr. Henderson believes it to contain at least 70 per cent, 

 of iron, which was favourably reported upon by Mr. Bocquet, of the 

 Punjab Railway, and Mr. Harrison. Dr. Henderson only smelted a few 

 maunds of the iron, with a primitive apparatus, as fuel was scarce in the 

 vicinity, and he estimated the cost of production at Rs. 7 per cwt."^ 



Salt. 



The places of the occurrence of the salt, its composition, position, 

 and general relations, have been noticed in the 

 preceding pages, and reference has been made to 

 the memorandum by Dr. Oldham, to the reports of Dr. Fleming, to the 

 full report of Dr. Warth (the latest published), and those on the admi- 

 nistration of the Inland Customs Department, in all of which much de- 

 tailed information may be found. 



Where so much has been already written, it seems superfluous to 

 add further remarks upon the salt-mines of the range ; some general idea 

 of them may, however^ be briefly conveyed, rather than that they should 

 be left altogether unnoticed ; mining details are taken from Dr. Warth^s 

 reports. 



It appears that the mines were formerly much more numerous, and 

 under native management merely consisted of small openings at first. 



* Information kindly supplied by Dr.j Henderson, under date Rawalpindi, September 

 lOth, 1877. 



( 284 ) 



