IRON. 89 



water is allowed to flow and which is used to quench the hot material 

 raked down the slope at the end of the operation. Just above the 

 place where the long sloping hearth meets the front wall, there are 

 three upright rectangular holes, which serve as places where long 

 iron rods can be introduced by means of which the charcoal and 

 ore are kept from clogging. The brick wall on the right-hand side 

 of these holes is removable, and is pulled down at the end of a blow 

 to enable the hot charge to be raked down into the water-tank. 



I regard this furance as partly calciner and partly blast furnace, 

 as it is only intended to serve in the preliminary treatment of the 

 ores, which always undergo another reduction before metal is 

 obtained which can be used. For example, in the manufacture 

 of castings like bowls, the impure material from the first furnace is 

 always reduced with charcoal in a smaller and more powerful blast 

 furnace before metal pure enough for the purpose is obtained. The 

 first furnace reduces part of the ore to the metallic state and prepares 

 the remainder for a subsequent treatment. 



Charcoal and ore are added from time to time during the 24 

 hours which the smelting takes. Two grades of material are yielded 

 by the furnace — (1) flat cakes of crude iron, which are obtained by 

 allowing the molten metal to flow from the tap-hole over the ground : 

 (2) material raked out of front and quenched in water. This* 

 appears to consist of finely divided metallic iron mixed with a 

 good deal of charcoal and roasted ore ; it is eventually worked up 

 into horse-shoes, nails, knives, ploughshares, etc. 



The working up by charcoal is done in a forge the bed of which 

 is oval and some three feet long by two feet broad. It is erected 

 on solid brickwork raised to a convenient height from the ground. 

 The blower used is a small one. and is placed with a slight downward 

 tilt to the hearth of the forge, being slightly raised above the level of 

 the hearth so that the tuyer, which enters through a raised brickwork 

 wall at the back, has a downward turn given to it. The blower in 

 this case is worked by hand. A small anvil is placed near. 



One furnace produces from 130 to 260 lbs. of iron in 24 hours. 

 A tax of three annas is demanded by the Provincial Government 

 for every 100 catties of iron produced. Charcoal is very plentiful 

 and cheap locally. Sometimes in the course of smelting small 

 " blooms " of steel are formed in the furnace, but this is quite acci- 

 dental and is not looked upon as desirable, as the * blooms " collect 

 around the tuyer and so stop the blast. The local workers appeared 



a 



