292 



Correspondence. 



of iron found in this country. At some of the places above named, a 

 superior description of iron is prepared called by the Natives Beer, 

 which is used for giving a finer edge to tools. I send herewith a 

 specimen, and have sent for some of the ore from which it is made, 

 which 1 will forward hereafter. 



12. — Gold dust in small quantities is procurable in Jouk Nuddee, near 

 Sonakan in Chutteesgurh, in the Mahanuddee near Rajoo in Chuttees- 

 gurh, in the Sou and Deo nuddies, in Lanjhee, and in the Marroo nud- 

 dee in the Amborah Pergunah. A caste, called Soujerries, gain a poor 

 livelihood by collecting the sand and washing it, and then separating 

 the gold from the finer particles of sand by means of quicksilver. I send 

 specimens of the gold freed from the sand, and some mixed with it. 



13. — If I should hereafter make any discovery of other metals or 

 minerals, I will report the same for the information of the Committee. 

 Nagpore Residency, the 22d April, 1841. 



The following extracts of a letter from Bagdad can 

 hardly fail to interest our readers,* and the information 

 given regarding a country so little known, and which so few 

 Europeans have ever an opportunity of visiting, must be 

 thought valuable even by the most indifferent person : — 



" During my last trip up the Euphrates to Sook-el-sook and the 

 ruins of two Babylonian cities near it, the fearful curse pronounced 

 upon that wicked land, was impressed most deeply upon my mind. 

 The horrible desolation ; the soil full of saltpetre ; the flood from the 

 Euphrates; and the misery and oppression everywhere exercised upon 

 the inhabitants, all speak this most strongly. The desolation has 

 fallen not only upon Babylon, but upon all her provinces, which extend 

 from Anna to Bussorah. Every city was built upon a high mound of 

 mud, bricks, and straw, raised above the level of the low land around ; 

 and these mounds are the only vestige left by which we can discern 

 where her rich cities were; for there is not a natural hill in all Meso- 

 potamia ; not a building to be seen but these mounds, which are inva- 

 riably shunned by the Arab for a distance of thirty miles ; not a vestige 

 of life or dry land is to be seen, the banks of the river having been 

 washed away, the water has flowed over the whole face of the country 

 converting (what was formerly so fertile,) into one vast dismal sheet of 

 bitter water, for not a rush nor a reed will grow. So, turn which way 



* We are indebted for it to Capt. Campbell of Madras, whose valuable contributions have 

 formed so prominent a feature in our pages.— Ed, Cat. Jour. Nat. Hist. 



