576 Journal of a Tour through parts [No. 139. 



There are one hundred houses in the vicinity of the Chotana mine, 

 and no cultivation : the head man is Shamo Khan Janjooa. 



There is no cultivation at the Korah mine, and the houses are on an 

 eminence. There is no water nearer than half kos, and that is rain 

 water. The head man is Faizbakhsh, by tribe a Jalab. To the North is 

 the Dannee Darra. There are two hundred stone huts in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Kerah mine ; but no cultivation. They have none but 

 rain water. 



There are two hundred stone huts in the neighbourhood of the 

 Makraj mine, and no cultivation. There are two running streams, 

 one fresh and one salt. The head man is Karamdeen, by cast a Gogir. 



I went to most of the mines myself. They have all one entrance 



each, the galleries run through red earth, and the salt lies in veins 



„ . which the miners follow, until exhausted, when they 



Interior of mines. 



proceed in a fresh direction ; some of the shafts are 

 sunk so low, that they have come upon water ; other galleries proceed 

 so high, that light is let in from the top of the ground. Many acci- 

 dents, some fatal, occur, by the falling in of the roofs of the cham- 

 bers. 



While I was in one of the mines, a labourer's arm was broken by the 



fall of a block of salt, and a general rush, headed of 

 Accidents. 



course by myself, was made for the open air. I saw one 



miner, who had lost his right arm by an accident, digging with his left. 



The galleries are so dark, narrow, and winding, and so numerous, 

 that it is impossible to traverse them without a light and guide. 



The warmth of the mines is very oppressive, and the reflection of the 



, , ^ labourers' lamps on the crystal roofs of the chamber 



Beautiful effect. v J 



has a very beautiful effect. The mines of Neelawan 

 and Khur Chotata are the finest. 



The miners separate the blocks by picking round the two sides 

 and bottom, and then detach it from the top by heavy blows. The 

 blocks generally weigh four maunds. The chips are collected by 

 women and children. The miner's tool is a pick, of about thirteen 

 inches long, having a sharp point at one end, and 

 the other end about three inches square, which 

 serves as a hammer. It is furnished with a wooden handle about 

 a guz long. 



