246 Native Manufacture of Steel in Southern India. [June, 



The furnace is a temporary circular structure of clay, from four to 

 five feet in height, and five feet in diameter. It is sunk two feet below 

 the surface of the ground. The fuel is charcoal, and the fire is kept up by 

 a blast from four bullock skins, placed at right angles to each other : 

 the muzzles resting on the upper edge of the furnace, so as to force 

 the blast downwards. The granitic clay of the furnace is highly 

 infusible ; it is found in the neighbourhood, and is formed of the 

 decomposition of granite rock with small pieces of quartz and 

 felspar, and is so valued for its refractory qualities, that it is exported 

 for the manufacture of crucibles, &c. After some days, however, if 

 a considerable heat has been maintained, the furnace becomes semi- 

 vitrified, and requires renewal ; the cost of a furnace is from two to 

 three rupees. 



The bellows are plied incessantly day and night : during the 

 operation, the men are relieved every four hours, each being engaged 

 to work 12 out of the 24. They are partly protected by a screen 

 of mud placed between them and the furnace, but the heat and ex- 

 ertion render their task sufficiently laborious. 



The iron is converted into steel in pine-shaped crucibles, made of 

 the same clay as the furnace, and of various sizes, according to the 

 purpose for which the steel is to be applied, whether for the fabrication 

 of swords, or knives, or other articles. 



In making the crucibles, the granitic clay above described is ground 

 to a fine powder along with the fragments of old furnaces and cruci- 

 bles, and the whole kneaded together with the chaff of rice and oil. 

 The vessels are defended by a luting of the same, they are covered 

 with a similar top, but a perforation is made in the latter. No char- 

 coal is put into the crucible, but small pieces of kanch, or the glass 

 formed in the process, are put at the bottom of them along with the 

 ore, and serve of course as a flux. The crucibles are arranged and 

 steadied in the furnace occasionally by the superintendent, with a long 

 and stout rod of iron. 



The materials used in the preparation ofthe steel are two different 

 kinds of iron ; one from Mirtpalli — the other from Kondapur, in the 

 proportion of three parts of the former to two of the latter. The 

 Mirtpalli iron is derived originally from the iron sand already notic- 

 ed, and is sent in the state of large amorphous masses of a red- 

 dish grey color, and of an extremely porous texture. The internal 

 fracture is often iridescent. The Kondapur iron is procured from an 

 ore found amongst the iron clay, at a place about 20 miles distant. 

 It is said to be of a dirty brown colour, and very frangible. The iron 



