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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



ENTRANCE) TO ANCIENT GOLD MINKS IN INDIA 



rock a trench was cut, into which water 

 was fed and flowed into saucer-like de- 

 pressions in the rock. These cups were 

 the mortars in which the laborers ground 

 the ore by hand, using pestles of stone. 



As there were a hundred 

 or more holes, it would seem 

 that this "mill" was of a 

 good capacity. This form 

 of "mill" occurs in many 

 places, and of them Mr. 

 R. B. Foote, F. G. S., Su- 

 perintendent of the Geo- 

 logical Survey of India says 

 that "* * * the small mor- 

 tars called 'Mullockers,' sau- 

 cer-like hollows in the trap- 

 poid rock, are rather larger 

 and deeper than half a 

 cricket ball." He describes 

 others as "* * * much 

 larger, in which the ores 

 were crushed by working 

 rounded boulders, a half to 

 one ton in weight, in them. 

 These boulders must have 

 been supported by some sort 

 of frame-work." 



It is believed by some per- 

 sons that the mines near 

 Gadug were worked about 

 2,000 years ago, and that 

 they have been idle for at 

 least 400 years. Of this sub- 

 ject Mr. Foote says: "The 

 gold mining industry was 

 considerable before the Mus- 

 sulman invasions," and there 

 are stories to the effect that 

 these properties were looted 

 of "tons of gold during the great wars" — 

 a case where the past production is as 

 fabulous and probably as truthful as 

 many that are today predicted for some 

 new properties. 



