1839-1 On Wells used in Foundations in Upper India. 329 



ten or twenty feet, the well-sinkers will profess their inability, or de- 

 cline to contract for greater depths; in fact where cylinders are .re- 

 quired of from thirty to fifty feet, the Chah-kuns above mentioned 

 would decline the undertaking altogether; the tools and method of 

 using them in such a case, being quite different from what they have 

 been accustomed to. 



The tools in use by the Chah-kun consist of the Phaora, or com- 

 mon Mamooti* as it is termed in the Ordnance Magazines, and the 

 J ham, a large species of Phaora. The size of the J ham appears to 

 vary according to the fancy of the well-sinker: in the cases which 

 have come under my own observation, the blade has been usually 

 twenty-seven inches wide by thirty-six inches long. The handle, 

 which is short, but similar to that of the Phaora, is tied to the blade 

 by a rod of strong iron wire, providing a support and means of attach- 

 ment for the rope by which the machine is put into operation. The 

 apparatus is a rough looking and barbarous affair, but well adapted 

 to the use to which it is applied, and to the people by whom it is 

 approved of. 



In village well-sinking for the use of irrigation, or to supply the 

 inhabitants with water for drinking and other purposes, where the 

 supersoil is tenacious, and resting upon loose strata, in which the 

 springs are found, it is usual to excavate through the upper soil down 

 until water is reached ; a ring of timber adapted to the thickness of 

 the walls of the cylinder is then placed horizontally, upon which 

 the masonry is built to a height of three or four feet above the surface 

 level of the country ; as the masonry advances, the outer surface is 

 rubbed over with mortar, and the whole is allowed to obtain a mo- 

 derate degree of induration by remaining untouched for at least ten 

 days ; at this period the Chah-kun, or well-sinker's aid is put in re- 

 quisition. In the earlier stage of the proceedings, the Chah-kun 

 carries on his work very easily, it is only when the cylinder has 

 reached to a depth beyond that of himself, that the tedious and diffi- 

 cult part of his labours commence. After descending the well, and 

 having in the first instance fixed a string and plummet to the top so 

 as to secure a regularity in the depression, he commences by removing 

 the soil from the centre, and then from the four sides respectively ; the 

 soil is brought up to the surface in baskets, and the Chah-kun at the 

 top is in sole charge of the plummet and its movements. For the first 

 three or four feet of sinking there is little fear of accident, and little 

 trouble; in fact, up to this point I have frequently employed common 

 labourers, who, with a little care and superintendence, have done the 



* Query. — Whence this word? 



