ECONOMIC GEOLOGY 



377 



tribes living to the east of the Salween, and the revenue is de- 

 voted to the upkeep of a large monastery at Bawgyo, where a 

 great Buddhist festival is held yearly. The well was described by 

 Dr. Noetling in 1891, 1 and was again visited by myself in 1905 

 for the purpose of ascertaining the quantity of sulphate of soda 

 that could be obtained annually, as the water of the well was 

 known to contain a large proportion of this substance, in connec- 

 tion with a proposal to establish the manufacture of wood pulp in 

 Burma. The solid contents of the brine were found to yield about 

 60 per cent, of sodium chloride and 35 per cent, of the sulphate, 

 and I estimated that, if the crude salt were properly refined, about 70 

 tons of sulphate could be obtained from this well annually. The 

 present method of refining the product is extremely rough, amount- 

 ing to no more than stopping the evaporation before it has reached 

 dryness, and throwing away the scale, containing the bulk of the 

 sulphate, which collects on the bottom of the evaporating pans. 2 



Silver-lead Ore. 



A full description of the silver-lead mines of Bawdwin, situated 

 „ ,. in the northern part of the Tawng Peng State. 



which have long been famous for their pro- 

 duction of silver, has been published in the Records of the Geol- 

 ogical Survey. 3 The mines had been worked by Chinese, who paid 

 a certain tribute to the King of Burma, from time immemorial, 

 but were abandoned about 60 years ago, probably on account of 

 the unsettled state of the country. The Chinese appear to have 

 made little use of the lead, copper, and zinc contained in the crude 

 ore, but extracted the silver on the spot by cupellation, and threw 

 away the lead slag, great heaps of which, now spread over the 

 sides of the valley in which the mines are situated, testify to the 

 activity of former years. In 1827 Crawfurd* estimated the produc- 

 tion of silver as worth 960,000 ticals, or £120,000 yearly, of which 

 4,800 ticals (£600) was paid as tribute to the King of Ava ; and 

 so late as 1855 Dr. Oldham was informed 6 that 40 viss (2,276 oz.) 



1 Note on a Salt Spring near Bawgyo ; Records, Oeol. Surv. Ind., Vol. XXIV, Pt. 2, 

 p. 129. 



2 Note on the Brine-well at Bawgyo ; Ibid, Vol. XXXV, Pt, 2, p. 97. 



3 T. D. La Touche and J. Coggin Brown, The Silver-lead mines of Bawdwin : /bid, 

 Vol. XXXVII, Pt. 3, p. 235. 



4 Embassy to the Court of Ava, p. 444. 



5 H. Yule, Mission to the Court of Ava in 1855, Appendix A, p. 345. 



