PRODUCTIONS OF THE HIMALAYA. 



237 



Of copper, lead, and iron, the metals next in value, there is no defi- 

 ciency ; or I should rather say, there ought not to be any ; for the actual 

 produce in any of these metals, is trifling in quantity, and inferior in qua- 

 lity. There are many considerations which combine to prove that the 

 mountain tract, extending from the Setlej to the Brahmaputra, is rich in 

 copper. With regard to iron, it may be said to constitute a considerable 

 part of the country ; either as a constituent of rocks, in the form of ironstone, 

 or in the numerous and extensive beds of the better defined ores. Lead 

 also is found in abundance ; and is worked as well as the two preceding in 

 many places, and with considerable profit. With regard to the other me- 

 tals, little is known. Antimony is found, combined with lead and sul- 

 phur ; but the ore is not worked. Manganese has been detected as enter- 

 ing, in small quantity, into the composition of one of the iron ores. Perhaps, 

 were its characters and value known to the miners, it might be discovered. 

 Arsenic, in the state of sulphuret, is imported from beyond the frontier ; 

 but I have not heard that it has been found within our provinces. Of the 

 rarer and less extensively useful metals, it is impossible to pronounce with 

 certainty. There is, of course, a probability, that some of them which may 

 be said to be geologically connected with the existing formations, will be 

 found. Nor does their non-occurrence hitherto, militate against that proba- 

 bility; when it is considered, that their properties and value are alike un- 

 known amongst those with whom the task of discovery has hitherto rested. 



The metals which yield revenue; are copper, lead, and iron. The 

 GOLD obtained from the sand of rivers ; paid during the Gorkhali rule, a 



small 



of mines of the precious metals, may be found in their comparatively small produce, thereby occa- 

 sioning an expence in searching for or raising them, which, in most cases, more than balances their 

 superiority of value. It is the accidental discovery where no expence has been incurred, or the 

 falling on a rich vein in a mine already worked which constitutes the prizes in this lottery. For one 

 who makes his fortune, hundreds lose. 



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