Black. — (hi a Drjin.^ii in iJic Shafi of I he Ihinipimi As^nriarin}!. 457 



the deposit aud cut their hands, the skin being worn through, as they 

 were actually working with tools encased in stone. At this time it also 

 formed in the Hues of the skin on the men's hands and arms, and took a 

 great deal of cleaning and rubbing to get rid of. 



It speedily began to act upon the working of the pumps, aud castings 

 had to be got specially constructed to disconnect the pump bucket from the 

 rods below, as it would not come up the column, and as time went on the 

 column had to be chipped the whole length inside to keep the water space 

 clear ; this was done by slinging five or six men at a time on to a rope and 

 lowering them down into the column, which they chipped with chisel- 

 pointed hammers. This operation would take about three daj^s, but it wa 

 not all performed at the same time, one part of the column would be done 

 when we had to change a bucket, and another part was done at next 

 changing of bucket, and so on, and by this means the lift was kept clear. 



The twenty-five inch lift was cleared its entire length by this means 

 three different times, and the working barrel at the ends of the stroke had 

 to be chipped fortnightly. 



The deposit was very irregular while forming, with regard to hardness. 

 Sometimes it would form hard, sometimes soft ; when it did form soft there 

 was always more of it ; sometimes it would form three-eighths of an inch 

 in a week ; when so, for two or three hours after the bucket came to the 

 surface the incrustation was qiiite soft, but it hardened very soon on 

 exposure to the atmosphere. 



■ There is a peculiarity in the deposit, viz., — it always forms in layers, 

 and these layers change colour without any apparent cause — one layer 

 may be white, the next one red, and it would keep changing in shade from 

 pure white to a dark brown. 



Where the water was hottest the deposit was most, aud in some parts of 

 the workings, on the thermometer being held in the stream as it issues 

 from the rock, it will rise to 108° Fahr. ; 100° is quite usual. 



Since the crosscuts have been driven on both sides of the shaft the 

 deposit has ceased forming in the pumps, and it now forms on the sides of 

 the di'ives. The drives north and south for a distance of 300 feet on both 

 sides of the shaft being now all coated with it, it also forms in the shoots in 

 which the water is conveyed after it leaves the pumps on the surface. This 

 deposit is not like what is formed below, being quite soft and having more 

 of an earthy appearance. 



There is an old shoot on the surface not now in use, along which a small 

 quantity of water has been running ; this shoot is about eight inches square 

 inside and it has completely filled up with deposit during the last two 

 months. 



g2 



