246 Report on the Geological Structure of the Salt Range. [No. 3. 



boles. A lever is then inserted into the crack and the divided por- 

 tions separated. Were this process introduced in the mining of the 

 salt, we are satisfied that a considerable saving to Government would 

 be effected. On account of the dangerous state of the roots of 

 nearly all the mines, gunpowder is seldom used, and hence all the 

 work is done by the pick and hammer. 



The mines are generally very faintly lighted by small oil lamps 

 made generally out of bits of salt, the glimmer from which reflected 

 from the sparkling salt and salt-encrusted bodies of the workmen 

 has a most singular effect. From the want of circulation of air in 

 most of the mines and the dampness of the atmosphere, the heat is 

 most oppressive, and from the filthy habits of the miners, the stench 

 in some of the mines is quite overpowering. In the month of Decem- 

 ber when the temperature of the external air was 71° in the Buggie 

 Mine at Keurah, the thermometer indicated a temperature of 81°. 



Men, women and children indiscriminately pursue the avocation 

 of salt miners. Families generally work together, the mother and 

 children being chiefly occupied in carrying on their backs the masses 

 of salt from the workings to the mouth of the mine, which the father 

 has quarried. Like miners generally, they are a somewhat discon- 

 tented set, and strifes among them are by no means uncommon. 



The pay of the miners varies a good deal. At Keurah, Mukrach 

 and Yurcha, salt is turned out at the mouth of the mines at the rate 

 of Es. 3-12 per 100 maunds (£0 Is. 6d. for 8,000 lbs.) at Surdee 

 they receive Es. 2-8 (£0 5s. Od.) while at Kalibay where the salt 

 occurs in enormous masses which crop out on the surface of the 

 marl, and which have only to be broken np and removed, they receive 

 Es. 2-14 for quarrying it, and Es. 1-5 per 100 maunds for conveying 

 it to the depot at Marree. The above rates include the expense of 

 oil, instruments, &c, all of which are supplied by the miners them- 

 selves. 



The quantity of salt that can be turned out in a day by a good 

 workman is about 10 maunds (800 lbs.) which at the present rate 

 of Es. 2-8 per 100 maunds would give the miner 4 As. or 6 pence. 

 Where, however, a family work together, the father and perhaps one 

 of the sons mining while the mother and children remove the salt, 

 their earnings amount to something considerable. 



