24 OLDHAM : GEOLOGY OF MANIPUR AND NAGA HILLS. 



the ore carefully collected and washed to separate the ore from the use- 

 less clay ; the ore is then carried to the iron-mater's villages and 

 there pounded in wooden mortars previous to reduction in the furnace. 



51. Captain Pemberton in his report says that in the streams to the 

 Titanif erons iron south of Thobal titaniferous iron ore is extracted, 



ore ( ? )- and that the exact locality of the deposit is dis- 



covered by thrusting a spear into the sand and examining 1 the blade for 

 particles of ore adhering to it. I cannot, however, but think that he 

 was misinformed as to this, or misunderstood the process. He explains 

 it by supposing the spear, which is always kept stuck upright into the 

 ground, had acquired magnetic properties ; this, however, could only be 

 the case to a very slight degree, nor does it seem possible to me that, 

 even if strongly magnetic, the fragments of ore could adhere to the blade 

 while it was being extracted from the sand. I myself did not hear 

 of any such process of discovering the ore, but it is possible that it may 

 be followed, and that the yellowish-red streak of the ore on the spear 

 blade betrays its presence. 



52. The furnace used in Manipur for the reduction of the ore differs 



not much in appearance, but greatly in principle, 

 from those used in other parts of India. Exter- 

 nally it is a truncated cone, 18 inches high, about the same in diameter 

 at the top and a few inches more at the base, perched on the edge 

 of a terrace of earth four to six inches in height. The hearth varies 

 somewhat, being larger in old furnaces than in new ones, but in the 

 latter case is about 9 inches in diameter and the same in height ; the 

 tuyeres are inserted at the back at the level of the terrace on which the 

 furnace stands and point downwards, while opposite to them is a 

 roughly semi-circular aperture 9 inches broad and the same in height. 

 Above the hearth the walls are thickened, and the central aperture 

 is reduced to 6 inches in diameter : this structure will be easily under- 

 stood from the sketch elevation and section in PI. I, fig. 2, (page lfi). 

 When at work the blast from the tuyeres impinges on the hearth and 

 passes out with all the products of combustion through the aperture in 

 ( 240 ) 



