206 WYNNE : TRANS-INDUS SALT REGION, KOHAT DISTRICT. 



upper strata, whilst the mass of debris overlying the whole surface is 

 becoming thicker and thicker at the same rate from the addition of 

 waste salt. Instead of the overlying f heading' being once for all removed 

 to a distance, it is lifted and shifted over and over again in the course of 

 many years. 



That these Malgheen (Malgin) quarries are in difficulty as regards 

 the salt supply is further evident from the small amount of working 

 surface. An approximate estimation of this in each of the thirteen 

 quarries or mines above enumerated gave a total working surface of 

 3,000 square feet only. The number of workmen was 100, so that each 

 had only on an average 30 square feet to work upon, whilst at the Jatta 

 quarries there were 90 square feet for each man. 



The annual production of the Malgheen (Malgin) quarries is about 

 the same as of those at Jatta, or in round numbers one lakh of Sikh 

 maunds. 



Nurree (Nari). — The Nurri depot is, like Kurruk, a second rate 

 one, only intended as a kind of reserve for Jatta, where the necessary 

 supply of salt could not well be obtained all the year round. During the 

 time of our visit the trade at Nurree (Nari) was very slack. 



The quarries are situated on the northern slope of the hills south of 

 the village of the same name ; the distance between the quarries and the 

 depot is only a mile. 



The salt outcrops extend over a length of two miles, but in order to 

 facilitate the guarding, the quarrying has been confined within a space of 

 half a mile long and several hundred yards broad ; there are several large 

 crater-like hollows of more than 100 feet in depth, the sides of which 

 exhibit the salt in many places. Here and there the men had cleared off 

 the debris and begun blasting : most of the working spaces being 20 

 feet broad or less. There was very little salt accumulated, and very little 

 recent work done. The few quarries were all open, the amount of debris 

 not being considerable, and the salt surface was more than was required. 

 The most troublesome part of the work was left to the merchants : they 



( 310 ) 



