ECONOMIC ASPECT OF SALT REGION. 205 



40 feet, and the detritus rose 40 feet also above its mouth. This was 

 situated east of the excavations previously mentioned. Besides these and 

 workings which followed the standard method, there were places worked in 

 a different way, and exhibiting still more difficulty in obtaining the salt. 



At one of these the men had found only two small pieces or veins 

 of salt, one 6 and the other 12 feet thick ; both were extensively en- 

 veloped in debris ; they appeared at the bottom of a well 40 feet deep, 

 which was liable at any time to fall in upon the workmen. At another 

 place a single man was working in a most dangerous hollow at the base of 

 which mere blocks of salt were embedded in the debris. Another exca- 

 vation was worked so as to leave rather a convex wall of salt. This 

 unusual shape was owing to the peculiar outline of the debris towering 

 above. 



Further at the bottom of a great crater-shaped hollow in the 

 debris of at least 80 feet in depth there was a regular tunnel driven into 

 the salt. It had two entrances, and was about 50 feet long and 10 feet 

 by 10 feet wide. The men worked without lights, although it was almost 

 perfectly dark in some parts of the tunnel. However their workings 

 resemble real mines they evidently object to work with lights. 



The most perfect mine was seen on the south slope of the hill 

 towards the Teeree (Tiri) river ; its mouth was 10 by 20 feet, and it went 

 for about 50 feet into the hill. Its height and width within were from 

 20 to 25 feet. There was very little salt to be seen, the debris appeared 

 almost everywhere, and the place was dangerous enough, yet not more 

 so than others. 



How deep the still unworked portion of the salt extends here is a 

 mere matter of speculation. I have no doubt it extends a good depth 

 further than can be seen, and the bottom has not been reached in any 

 of the workings. 



Thus it appears that, under the present system, the thickness of the 

 whole salt deposit is gradually diminishing through excavation of the 



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