390 Report on Productions and Manufactures. [No. 113. 



with in the neighbourhood. Flocks of sheep, black and white, are every 

 where seen. 



The breed of horses, small, ill-shaped ponies, is very indifferent. 



Wool meets a ready market in the districts being brought up for the 

 carpet weaving of Warungal, and the manufacture of Kumlees ; a small 

 quantity is sent to Chandah in the Nagpore territory, its price at present 

 is nine seers (the seer of 82 Halle Siccas) a rupee, white wool is 25 per 

 cent, more valuable than black. 



Hides were formerly exported, their price varies from twelve annas to 

 (2) two rupees each. The ceasing of the export of hides within the last 

 few years, is a favourable index of the extention of agriculture, as leather 

 is employed in a certain quantity in almost every implement of farming. 



The iron ore is found at the foot of a range of hills running N. and 

 S. about ten miles to the west of Hunumkoonda. 



It exists in the form of fragments, often of a rhomboidal shape 

 imbedded in a red clay, and accompanied by pieces of gueiss and quartz. 

 It is evident that the neighbouring hill is the source from whence it is 

 derived, and I have little doubt that a skilful miner with some trouble 

 (for the gueiss hill, unlike the granite, is clad with a pretty deep alluvion) 

 might come upon the original bed of ore, of which these are mere detached 

 portions ; as it is, the demand for metal is sufficiently met by collecting 

 and smelting these fragments. It is said that the Iron tract occupies a 

 space of tenbegahs, the greater part of which is covered by a woody jungle. 

 The shafts are of various depths from 10 to 30 feet ; into these the miner 

 descends, and detaches by means of a small pickaxe whatever mineral he 

 meets with from the red clay containing them, he determines by their 

 weight whether they contain ore or not, and thus fills his basket. He 

 can gather during the day six or eight small baskets full, one hundred 

 and twenty of which are sold to the smelter for a rupee. The ore is 

 reduced in the adjacent villages in the usual rude way so well known. 

 It occupies six men for two days to turn out a maund (12 seers) of metal. 



The Iron is brought up by Bunyas, for exportation, for R. 1| a maund, 

 and is sold to other customers for two or three annas more. The ore 

 is of that kind usually called magnetic iron ore, and black iron ore being 

 a compound of protoxide and peroxide of iron ; it possesses the magne- 

 tic power but slightly. 1 have made a number of trials, and have found 

 no specimen with magnetism enough to pick up a small needle. The 

 circumstance too of the cutlers here having in their possession pieces of 

 magnetic iron ore, as heir looms and talismans, sufficiently prove that this 



