J8G2.] Literary Intelligence, Sfe. 293 



The valley narrowing, we slowly ascended still, till at 3 P. M. we 

 arrived at the village of " Seebeing," where the inmates of six houses 

 live by making charcoal on the sides of the hills on either side of 

 them, and so close that it looked as if one could throw a stone to 

 either. I hurried on to the spot where the village people said the 

 " iron stone" was to be found. 



After a mile or so, we ascended some of the toes as it were of the 

 mountain on our right or west side, and at one spot, I could see far 

 away, the valley stretching to the south and widening into low land. 

 Getting close to the main ridge, they conducted me to a hole, about 

 six feet square and ten. feet deep. " Who made this ?" " We dug 

 it, because when this ' iron stone' was shown to the king, His Majesty 

 said, there must be silver ore, beneath where this was found, and 

 ordered us to dig. We did so, but could find no silver ore." I went 

 down the hole by a bamboo, and found the same rock that I had been 

 going over all day, but a more slaty-like structure and of a more 

 crystalline grain, with none of the veins of quartz that made some 

 of the rocks bear the name of a silicious schistose. The dip was east 

 65° and the cleavage so to say north and south. Besides this was 

 on the south and west side of the whole huge blocks of iron oxide, 

 (magnetic) and as deep as could be examined, the same iron ore with 

 little pebbles of quartz, and clayey matter extended. 



Coming up I examined around, to the east, west and south I could 

 see nothing but the crystalline, cleavable, rock, rising in great masses, 

 and tumbled pell-mell down the mountain sides. To the north, 

 however, I tracked up a line of iron ore cropping out from among the 

 common rock, in sometimes huge blocks of several tons' weight. 

 One piece I saw, like a great square casting, with little veins of 

 quartz running through it, and a flat table surface six feet by ten. 

 feet, while its thickness was not less than five feet. Other enormous 

 blocks seemed only barely uncovered, and I nrust have seen and 

 handled hundreds of tons within the few yards I could examine. 

 The little hill on the side of which these blocks were cropping out, 

 was crowned by several knife-like peaks of the common crystalline 

 rock, looking like awful sentinels, and of a drab-grey colour, not 

 black. 



Turning back to the village, I found my escort, guide, he had just 

 arrived, my boy being at Bouk with all provision, clothing, &c, &c, 



