1838.] the Ghorband mines, and Hindu Kush. 535 



seemed almost at a stand still. One of the human skulls which we 

 found, had the scalp and hair attached to it, in a good state of preser- 

 vation, and a porcupine which lay at the bottom of the shaft, though 

 evidently long dead, was almost entire. 



The only living animal in the excavation was a bat, (Rhinolophus,) 

 which I have preserved ; but the quills and other spoils of porcupines, 

 with a great heap of their dung shewed this to have been a favorite 

 resting place with them for many generations . The remains of oxen 

 and sheep which occurred, had probably been taken down for the pur- 

 pose of feeding its human inhabitants in former times, and this was 

 rendered still more likely, from the circumstance of the horns having 

 been sawn off the heads of the rams ; such a practice obtaining even to 

 the present day, the object being to place on some rustic shrine (zearut), 

 to which they are considered an appropriate offering. Half-burnt blocks 

 of timber were in some of the large chambers, but we did not succeed 

 in finding tools of any sort. 



From the number of galleries we had to examine on our passage 

 downward, before ascertaining the right road, we were more than two 

 hours in reaching the one, but our return only occupied 20 minutes. 

 We did not reach the extreme limit of the excavation, as the fear of 

 our oil being exhausted compelled us to limit our researches. The 

 total time we remained under ground was a little short of 3 hours. 

 We returned to the external world at 5 minutes before 3 of p. m. and 

 found nearly the whole population of the neighbourhood assembled to 

 witness our resurrection. We retraced our steps the same evening to 

 Kinchak, immediately at the back of which is a mountain, from which 

 antimony is procured in abundance. The formation is black slate, 

 and the ore is on the surface, so that it requires no further description. 



Murdar sungan, ore of lead, I have not ascertained of what nature, 

 and my specimens are at Kabul while I am writing at Kunduz, occurred 

 in the valley under Kinchak, and was also to be found on our way to 

 Hindu Kush, under the village of K a shim. The ore is crystallized, 

 and is generally picked up in lumps at the bottom of the valley, being 

 distinguished as I was told, by its property of drying with great rapidi- 

 ty, so that the usual time of gathering it is after a shower of rain when 

 all the other stones are wet. The mine of it is not known, but certain- 

 ly must be very near, as these lumps are got in great abundance, and are 

 said by the natives to be brought down by the stream, the source of 

 which is, at most, but 3 or 4 miles distant. 



At Kinchak and generally through this district, the slate was found 

 reposing on quartz rock,, which in other parts of the range seldom ap- 

 3x2 



