558 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 139. 



of the country ore for casting iron cannon, I have notwithstanding applied 

 my whole attention to that object ever since. I had resolved not to trou- 

 ble your Honorable Board for any pecuniary assistance, till I should be 

 able to produce a gun as a specimen of my work. But the expense of 

 cutting down jungle, of erecting a dwelling bungalow, and several neces- 

 sary buildings for artificers, of preparing materials for forming a dam and 

 of cutting part of a canal for supplying the bellows-wheel with water, has 

 amounted to such a sum, that I find myself unable to go on with the work 

 unless assisted by Government. And I trust, Gentlemen, that you will not 

 suffer an undertaking to fail which was formerly approved by the Honor- 

 able Company, and was twice attempted to be carried into execution en- 

 tirely at their expense. 



I have estimated that it will require only fifteen thousand Rupees to 

 finish the canal sluices, &c. and to erect one furnace capable of casting a 

 12-Pounder. 



Should you be pleased to grant this sum, I make no doubt of your ap- 

 proving the following proposal. There are at present fifty matchlock-men 

 maintained at the Company's expence, chiefly for the protection of the 

 iron trade. As there is no check on their Sirdar, their number is never com- 

 plete, nor is their appearance such as to keep the hill people in awe. Should 

 you think fit, Gentlemen, to put them under my orders, to raise their pay 

 from 3 to 4 Rupees, and to allow them 50 stand of arms, I would engage 

 to clothe them uniformly, and to teach them to fire at a mark. They 

 would then afford sufficient protection not only to the foundry, but to the 

 adjacent country, which, in case of Capt. Browne's corps being recalled, 

 will be much exposed to the incursions of the Choars. 



Calcutta, 20tk June, 1779. J. Farquhar. 



Government simply requested to be informed, in answer to this letter, 

 the specific engagements into which Farquhar was willing to enter as a 

 return for the assistance solicited. These, Farquhar lost no time in 

 supplying : — 



Mr. Farquhar to the Government. 



Hon'ble Sir and Gentlemen, — As success in casting guns is not abso- 

 lutely certain, it is not in my power to enter into any agreement respecting 

 them. But should I fail in bringing them to the requisite degree of per- 



