1842. J Asiatic Society. 895 



to establish, or to improve a trade. In Europe, of course the latter can never be 

 requisite ; but in the present state of India, I believe it will be allowed, that with- 

 out the fostering aid of Government, no new manufacture can be introduced in 

 which natives of the country may be expected to participate. 



7. In the present instance there is no one acquainted with the theory or practice 

 of the processes which I employ, and even if they were well known in Europe they 

 could never be put in practice in India ; because being very simple, it is more than 

 probable that in less than five years, the natives will have learned and taken them out 

 of the hands of the first institutors, while the modes of manufacture common in 

 England, which from the great expence of the furnaces, &c. required, are retained 

 in the hands of capitalists, cannot be generally employed in India, in consequence of 

 the manner in which the ore and fuel are distributed through the country. 



I have the honor to be, &c. 



(Signed) J. Campbell, Capt. Assistant Surveyor General, 



Ryacottah, 9th May 1842. 



Report upon the manufacture of Natural Steel in Southern India. By Captain Campbell, 

 Assistant Surveyor General, Madras Establishment. 



1. In England, steel is made by cementing bars of Swedish or Russian iron, at a 

 high temperature, while embedded in powdered charcoal. In this manner the 

 cheapest kind is produced called " blister steel." 



2. By drawing out this steel into small bars under a " tilt hammer," the quality 

 is much improved, and it is then called " tilted steel ;" and by combining bars of 

 " blister steel" at a welding heat, and drawing them out under the hammer, " shear 

 steel" of still better quality is formed, and by fusing pieces of blister steel together 

 in a crucible "cast steel" is produced, which is the finest kind of steel made in 

 England. 



3. The wholesale prices of the above varieties of steel in the English market vary 

 from 30 to 801 per ton, and blister steel is sold at Madras in retail, at the rate of 

 560 rupees per ton. 



4. In Mysore, steel is made by a process which admits of considerable improve- 

 ment, and is sold in retail at the rate of 373 rupees per ton. In quality this steel 

 is sometimes far superior to any English steel, but as considerable practical know- 

 ledge is required to select the good from the bad, and as the quality is very uncertain, 

 it is not probable that while the manufacture remains in the hands of natives, it can 

 ever supersede the use of English steel. 



5. The cheapest steel made in India, sells at about 233 rupees per ton, and being 

 of very inferior quality, it is only used by the natives for making axes and bill- 

 hooks. 



6. In Germany and Styria, a kind of steel has long been made, by treating cast 

 iron in a particular manner, called " natural steel," or *' German steel," which at 

 one time was imported largely into England, and is still used on the Continent, in 



