264 



FOOTE : SOUTH MAHRATTA COUNTEY. 



bank of the Malprabha."^ The furnace is constructed of red clay, and 

 at the latter place, where the claj is very bad in quality, the chimney 



Native smelting furnace at Siddapur. 



is hooped with iron in several places. The furnace is worked with 

 double-skin bellows of the ordinary construction, with yoked iron 

 nozzles passing- into a clay tuyere which enters the triangular aperture 

 at the side shewn in the figure at T. The daily out-turn at Siddapur 

 was 8 viss = 241bs., valued at 1^ rupee. 



The ore used is a very poor, dusty material, a product of wea- 

 thering of the tolerably rich haematite schist. The smelters had no blooms 

 ready as they were at the time of my visit just resuming work after 

 a long holiday ; but some of their tools, made of the iron they produce, 

 shewed it to be of very poor quality, flakey and coarse in grain. 



The Bhima Series. 

 Little else but building-stone is yielded by the rocks of this series, 

 and this is chiefly obtained from the limestones ; but these are very largely 

 used owing to the great ease and cheapness with which they can be ob- 

 tained and to their extreme suitability for building purposes. The most 



* The ore smelted at Sidanhal is brought from the great hsematite beds west of 

 Amingarh. 



( 264 ) 



