Pt. II. Chap. II.] collieries — mode of working. 171 



accurate compilation and the preservation of such records should be 



compulsory. 



In a few of the more shallow pits, the water is raised by hand in the 



same way as in quarries, or occasionally by means 

 Steam power. 



of the buckets employed to raise the coal, but in 



all the deeper mines steam power is used. The steam engines "are 



mostly small, seldom exceeding 25 to 30 H. P., and the majority of 



the mines, except when first opened, contain but little water. The 



pumps, two in number, are placed in a t quadrangular space cut in the 



side of the pit from top to bottom. The pump rods are never worked 



directly from the engine, but are connected by a travelling rod, the 



greater portion of this, and the whole of the pump rods being formed 



of salwood, with iron fastenings. The diameter of the pumps, and 



the length of stroke, depending upon the amount of water to be 



raised, varies in different mines. 



The workmen employed above ground and in quarries are mostly 



agricultural peasants, some being Hindoos or 

 Laborers. 



Mussulmans, but the majority of them belong to 

 the quasi-aboriginal tribes, Bhauris, Santhals, &c, who form a large 

 proportion of the inhabitants of the district. These races entirely 

 furnish the under-ground workmen, the supply of whom is naturally 

 one of the most important items connected with the establishment of 

 any colliery. Each colliery possesses, either as zemindars (putnidars), 

 or on lease, certain villages, from which its labor is, for the most part, 

 procured. Want of sufficient labor acts largely, even now, in re- 

 stricting the out-turn of coal, many mines being quite competent, so 

 far as the remainder of their establishment and their machinery 

 is concerned, to raise a considerably larger quantity of coal than 

 they at present produce. During the two seasons in which the survey 

 was carried on, viz. 1858-59 and 1859-60, the partial failure of the 

 crops in the Raniganj or adjoining districts, and the high price of food, 



