1854.] and Mineral resources of the Singhbhoom Division. 116 



superstitious dread by the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages. 

 When at Kalkapore last year, I through the influence of the Sirdar 

 G-hatwal, collected a party to visit it. It was evident from the 

 stories told, that a visit to it had been a rare event, nothing daunted 

 I climbed the very steep hill at dawn, and with some little difficulty 

 reached the place. 



The cavity appeared to penetrate the hill horizontally. As we 

 had no light, I could not ascertain whether it expanded internally 

 or not, for my head closed the entrance. The natives who were with 

 me, could not be induced even to approach it. They asserted that 

 unearthly noises were occasionally heard proceeding from it, and 

 that in some years after very heavy rain, fire issued from it. I could 

 not detect the odour of any gas exhaling from it, and the cave itself 

 had no appearance of igneous action about it. A bush was growing 

 a few yards in front, which could not be the case, had a jet of burning 

 gas issued from it within a period of two years. There was a white 

 waxy exudation (which seemed to me to be nitrate of soda) in smalL 

 quantities on the rocks. 



The dung of porcupine and hill-rats showed that the cave was an 

 abode of these animals. The Sirdar promised to send me notice on' 

 the next occasion of fire breaking forth, but though we have had 

 some very heavy rain this year, as yet no notice has been given to 

 me. 



The mountain undoubtedly contains copper disseminated through 

 a very considerable thickness — at the least some hundred feet of 

 rock. Whether it contain a vein of sufficient richness to repay the 

 labour of working, careful examination must decide. 



The copper vein at Badea may be traced for about two miles in a 

 north-westerly direction into the jungles. Its course is shown by a 

 series of pits varying in depth from ten to forty feet. It has not 

 been worked within any traditional period, and trees of large size 

 grow on the edges of the pits. I have not seen any genuine speci- 

 men of copper ore from this locality, though fragments of quartz 

 coloured with the oxide of that metal are abundant. A specimen was 

 handed to me from the immediate neighbourhood as containing lead, 

 which it was asserted had been extracted the year before, from the 

 same ore, I failed however to find any trace of lead in it, but think, 



