78 



VISITS THE AMBER MINES. 



forming a hook for drawing up the baskets, and the Madras lever 

 for drawing up heavy loads. 



The soil throughout the upper portion, and indeed for a depth of 

 15 to 20 feet, is red and clayish, and appears to inclose but small 

 pieces of lignite; the remainder consists of greyish slate clay increas- 

 ing in density as the pits do in depth : in this occur strata of 

 lignite very imperfectly formed, which gives the grey mineral a 

 slaty fracture, and among this the amber is found.* The deepest 

 pit was about 40 feet, and the workmen had then come to water. 

 All the amber I saw, except a few pieces, occurred as very small 

 irregular deposits, and in no great abundance. The searching occu- 

 pies but little time, as they look only among the lignite, which is at 

 once obvious. No precautions are taken to prevent accidents from 

 the falling in of the sides of the pits, which are in many places 

 very close to each other (within two feet) : but the soil is very 

 tenacious. 



We could not obtain any fine specimens, indeed at first the 

 workmen denied having any at all, and told Mr. B. that they 

 had been working for six years without success. They appear to 

 have no index to favourable spots, but having once found a good 

 pit they of course dig as many as possible as near and close together 

 as they can. The most numerous occur at the highest part of the 

 hill now worked. The article is much prized for ornaments by the 

 Chinese and Singphos, but is never of much value ; five rupees 

 being a good price for a first-rate pair of earrings. Meinkhoon is 

 visited by parties of Chinese for the purpose of procuring this article. 

 There are at present here a Lupai Sooba and a few men, from a 

 place three or four days' journey beyond the Irrawaddi, waiting for 

 amber. These men are much like the Chinese, whose dress they 

 almost wear : they squat like them, and wear their hair like them ; 

 shoes, stockings, pantaloons, jackets, tunic. They are armed chiefly 

 with firelocks, in the use of which at 50 yards two of the men were 

 expert enough. They talk the Singpho language. 



The vegetation of the plains, proceeding to the mines, is unchanged. 

 Noticed Apluda, a Phyllanthus, Cacalia, Poa, etc. That of the 

 hills is the same as that of the low ranges before traversed. The 

 only new plants were a Celtis ? a Krameria (the Celtis is the Boolla 



* This would seem to be Coal formation, in which amber is frequently found. 

 It occurs, for instance, in the spurious coal of Kurribori, E. of Rungpore. 



