84 On the Mineral resources, fyc. of Northern Afghanistan. [No. 109. 



crude iron into malleable, one-third is lost, so that the unfortunate purchaser has 

 not only to pay for an expensive and ill-manufactured article in the first place, 

 and for the difference in the price of labour and charcoal, pointed out in the second, 

 but for the carriage of a large proportion of dross.* 



The cost of the transport of a khurwar of iron, (13 Hindoostanee maunds,) in Dost 

 Mahomed's time, was about Rs. 15 from the Punjcor ariver to Kooner, and from 

 thence to Cabool Rs. 10, making in all Rs. 25. At present, the hire will I am told, 

 be about Rs. 35; but for the sake of example, let Rs. 30 be looked upon as the ex- 

 pence of conveying a khurwar of iron from the Punjcora river to Cabool. A hundred 

 khurwars of this iron are said to be about the quantity annually consumed in Cabool, 

 in the time of Dost Mahomed ; lately the demand has greatly increased. Taking this 

 quantity only, however, as the estimate, we have at the rate of Rs. 30 per khurwar, 

 an expence of Rs. 3000 for carriage ; but to render the iron fit for use, one-third is 

 lost, so that an expence of Rs. 1,000 is every year incurred in Cabool, for the con- 

 veyance of slag. The information I have been able to gather respecting the probable 

 quantity annually produced in Bajour is so vague and contradictory, that I do not 

 feel j ustified in carrying out this calculation farther. At a guess, I believe it must be 

 about a thousand khurwars ; but be this as it may, there is no doubt that the saving, 

 effected by a well manufactured article in the mere transport alone, would in a short 

 time cover the expence of erecting an iron work upon the Swedish principle. 



As a set-off to the practical difficulties inseparable from establishing works of this 

 kind in a new and uncivilized country, the advantages which the manufacture of 

 Bajour would possess over that of Sweden, would be these : — 



First. The difference in the price of labour, the wages of a workman being about 

 2 annas per day, according to the present rate ; whilst labour in Sweden, though mode- 

 rate, varies from 6c?. to 1*. per day. Allowing, however, that the price of labour 

 should rise in Bajour, and that able-bodied workmen received from to 2 to 4 annas 

 per da) 7 , still the rate would be considerably less than the Swedish. 



Secondly. The circumstance of mining being commuted for the easy process of 

 collecting and washing the sand, would occasion a great saving of expence ; women 

 and children are employed in this operation. f 



Thirdly. The forests are described as being of great extent, and close by the locali- 

 ties where the iron sand is collected, and the charcoal used, is made from oak (quer- 

 cus beloot,) which is the best adapted for that purpose. This will give the manufac- 

 ture of Bajour a decided superiority over that of Sweden, where the light charcoal of 

 the pine only is used, oak and hard wood being scarce in that country — the charcoal 

 moreover is transported in sledges during the winter, a distance frequently of 30 miles 

 to the furnaces. 



I shall here offer a few observations on the subject of the iron in Northern India, 

 for the purpose of showing, that if an improvement be called for there, the argu- 

 ment applies with still greater force to the remoter regions in this quarter. 



* The iron is sold in the shape of bricks of different sizes. In making a trial the other day of one 

 of these, which weighed one seer of Cabool, (equal to six seers of Hindoostan,) I obtained out of 16 

 parts, 10 of iron fit for use. 



t The iron sand is brought down annually by the melting of the snow in spring, and in such vast 

 quantity, that for one iron work at any rate, the supply is ample without having recourse to mining" 





