1868.] BATJERMAN ARABIA PETR^A. 29 



tion being' confined to a few localities. Judging- by the present con- 

 ditions of mining economy, it may be fairly said that no such deposit 

 could possibly be worked now unless the value of copper was to be 

 raised to several times that of gold. On the other hand, it may be 

 said that the ground worked away by the ancients was possibly 

 richer than that which has been left ; but there does not appear to 

 be much reason for such a supposition, as it is evident from the 

 nature of the excavations that the rock has been searched with 

 extraordinary diligence : numerous small cavities in the walls show 

 that even the smallest nodules of ore have been removed wherever 

 there was a chance of doing so without breaking down a quantity of 

 dead rock. So perfectly has nearly every visible spot of ore been 

 removed, that we were for some time in doubt as to whether the 

 outer hollow was really an old mine and not a natural cavern. 



Copper-worhs of Nasb. — The ores from the mine at Wady Khalig 

 were smelted in Wady jSTasb, close to the springs, as is evidenced 

 by the mass of slags, which forms a roughly elliptical heap about 

 350 yards in length and 200 in breadth. The depth is very variable, 

 and probably not more than 8 or 10 feet at the most; and over the 

 greater part of the area the slags form only a thin covering to the 

 rock. Upon digging into the heaps, numerous clay twyer-nozzles, 

 with an air-passage of about | inch diameter, were found. These 

 have evidently been formed by the accretion of the slag to the wall 

 of the furnace in front of the blast, and in many cases have been 

 repaired by plastering fresh clay over the former face — an operation 

 that is seen, from some of the broken tAvyors, to have been repeated 

 three or four times. In one instance the slag nose has accumulated 

 to such an extent as almost completely to block up the passage for 

 the blast. In nearly all cases shots of metallic copper are found in- 

 cluded in the slag adhering to the twyers ; but not a fragment of 

 unaltered ore, or of any kind of regulus, was found, although care- 

 fully looked for. The only building that can be regarded as hav- 

 ing formed part of a furnace is a pair of small walled enclosures of 

 unequal size, the larger one being about G feet square, and the 

 other 2| feet square, both being walled in on three sides to a 

 height of about 2 feet above the ground. These may j)ossibly 

 have been the outer walls of a hearth or low blast-furnace ; but 

 no trace of any lining that had been subjected to the action of heat 

 could be detected. In the smaller compartment a stone pestle, 

 worked round, and about 1| inches in diameter, was found. 



On examining the different parts of the heap, it becomes evident, 

 from the nature of the slags themselves, that several different opera- 

 tions were carried on here. Thus in places the fragments are broken 

 up small, and contain many shots of metal now mostly changed into 

 malachite ; these are probably rich selected cinders, either from the 

 first fusion, or perhaps from the refinery, which have been put on one 

 side for farther treatment ; while, on the other hand, at the upper 

 end of the heap, crusts of well-melted clean slags, from 1-|- to 

 2 inches in thickness, are spread over the ground, as though they 

 had been allowed to flow from the furnace and solidify upon the rock 



