108 Memorandum on the Geological structure [No. 2. 



Gold is found in situ near a slight eminence a little north Assun- 

 tullea in Khursowa, to the west of the road. It cannot however 

 be very plentiful, as few take the trouble to look for it. This spot 

 is well worthy of a careful examination, as being the highest in the 



all very close together because the people are afraid to run galleries under ground, 

 in some places the old shafts are so numerous that I can only compare the coun- 

 try to a gigantic rabbit warren, and they must have been sunk'nearly 100 years ago 

 notwithstanding which the soil in which the gold is found is as abundant as ever ; 

 in some places where the ground is cut by rivers and nullahs, it outcrops in the 

 banks, but these are not numerous, the shafts being the chief resource. The gold is 

 found in several sorts of soil, a blue clay ; a red clay of a very singular description, 

 and a yellow clay full of large gravel or stones. The gold is separated from the soil 

 by washing in wooden troughs, the principle being exactly the same as that of the 

 cradle used in California, only without the slight aid of machinery applied to that 

 plan. Another plan and a very remarkable one, in which the people collect the 

 gold, is by drawing up small water-courses before the rains, so as to make places 

 for a deposit of soil carried down by the water : this soil is cleared out several times, 

 and in it is found a large deposit of gold, proving that it exists all over this parti- 

 cular tract of country in large quantities. I believe that the formation of gold is 

 still very little understood, and from my observation am convinced that it takes 

 place only in small particles, and in particular combinations of soil ; by the action 

 of water these particles may become collected in larger or smaller quantities in 

 certain places, but I believe generally the gold is found where it was formed: these 

 mines at such a depth as 60 ft. underneath jungle, and over such a large extent of 

 country, render any other supposition very improbable. It is impossible to ar- 

 rive at any estimate of the total annual produce of all these mines, because the 

 gold is carried away by native mahajuns who exchange rice, salt, &c. for it, in 

 such an infinity of directions, and the people themselves are far too primitive and 

 ignorant to be able to give any idea upon this point. That it must be large however 

 is certain, from the comfortable appearance of the people, and from the abundance 

 of gold possessed by all the Rajahs, Zeminders, and other wealthy men all over the 

 country ; the regular price at which the people who work in the mines will sell the 

 gold is Rs. 10 per tolah (R. 1 weight) but they much prefer exchanging it for rice, 

 salt, ghee, cloth, &c. 



My journey extended as far as Robhobe in Oodipore 220 miles hence, and find- 

 ing that place was best adapted to an experiment on a small scale, water being 

 abundant from the river Soane, I left M. there and returned here, when I got a 

 lease of the village with liberty to work the mines from Government for seven 

 years. The result of this trial I found to be, that basing it on a simple calcula- 

 tion of lsbour, a man to whom I paid 1 anna per day, produced me between 3 and 

 4 annas worth of gold, and of course this return could be increased materially, by 



