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pagodas, and the shining domes of new temples, interspersed 

 among verdant scenery., altogether presenting a scene to which 

 we had not lately been accustomed. Here we encamped after a 

 fatiguing journey of seventeen miles; although the heat was in- 

 tense, and the thermometer in my palanquin at 102°, at two in the 

 afternoon, I walked out out to view the place, and gain what in- 

 telligence I could respecting the iron works, which I knew would 

 be deserted later in the evening. The scattered ruins were all of 

 Hindoo architecture; one was a large circle, containing a smaller 

 one, surrounded by a gallery covered with neat domes. The 

 outer circle of buildings had most probably been allotted for the 

 accommodation of travellers, but were now inhabited by a few 

 half-starved wretches, covered with dirt and tatters. From thence 

 going round the fort, which had a few towers of a conical form, 

 I came to one of those dark-looking banks near the entrance of 

 the town, where I entered a blacksmith's house, who received me 

 with great civility, and in the course of our conversation, I found 

 I had made a mistake in supposing that the rocks and hills of a 

 ferruginous appearance furnished a quantity of iron ore; on the 

 contrary it was extracted from another kind of earth, called lohaka 

 mittee, or iron earth, which was only to be procured at one hill, 

 seven miles distant. It was purchased on the spot by traders in 

 that article, and brought for sale to Berye, Dewoy, Mohuna, Gwa- 

 lier, and Nerwar, where the ore was extracted, and the metal 

 worked by the smiths for sale far and near, at least as far as the 

 want of an inland navigation would admit of. My host further 

 informed me, that the greatest number of smiths, and those of 

 superior ability, lived at a place called Maggeronce, four miles 



VOL. IV. E 



