1840.] Existence of Copper in the territory of Luz . 31 



had been near the town, of Bela, and brought away specimens 

 of copper ore, which he melted and sold at Kurrachee, making 

 a considerable profit ; but that the Jam of Bela had heard of, 

 and prohibited his returning, having punished those who gave 

 him the ore. I requested Sukkaramdass to bring the man to 

 me, or his son, if the man himself was dead, as I feared he 

 was. On the 4th December Sukkaramdass brought the son of 

 the man who had been to Bela, and his statement is as follows. 

 Twenty years ago, the informant, a banian named Kattoo, 

 and his father Phuth, having dealings at Sonmianee, were in- 

 formed that tamba (copper) was procurable from a mountain 

 near Bela, they accordingly went to within four coss of the 

 mountain, and got about three maunds of ore from some 

 Belochees and Baboonies there ; they melted this, and it yielded 

 nearly half a maund of excellent copper ; they took a 'very small 

 specimen of this, and went to the brother of the Jam of Bela (Kes- 

 ser Khan) and offered to work the ore under his protection ; 

 he at first seemed inclined to listen to the proposal, but an 

 old man, named Neroo, of Shikarpore, said, that if he agreed 

 or caused his brother Ali to agree, he would lose the country ; 

 on which both Kesser Khan and the Jam Ali desired the inform- 

 ant and his father to go ; and told them if ever they again 

 came there, they would be buried alive. They left Bela, and 

 brought with them the copper they had concealed, which they 

 sold at Kurrachee, making a good profit. The following ques- 

 tions were put by me to the banian. 



Question. How did you go to Bela ? 



Answer. By Sonmianee. 



Q. Is there any other road to it ? 



A. Yes, by Shah Billawl, and the Kunnaraj river. 



Q. How far is the Kunnaraj river from the place where cop- 

 per is found ? 



A. I believe about 20 coss, but do not really know, never 

 having been that road. 



Q. Where did you get the ore (muttee or phatur) from which 

 you extracted the copper ? 



A. From a hill 12 coss south-east of Bela ; some Belochees 

 brought it to us. 



