1838.] 



Des'&i'iption of ike Valtey of Sondur. 



129 



Tnmbaku. 



Nicotiana tabacum. 



Ganja. 



Cannabis sativa. 



Pan 

 X all* 



Piper beteL 



Dal. 



\-/yilSUS Cdjrin. 



Pnllnr 



Dolichos Lablab. 



TV/rTnnn or 



X IlcloCUl llo IVJ Ullgt/» 



Lobey. 



Dolichos catjang. 



Kulti. 



Glycine tomentosa. 



Raggi. 



Cynosurus corocanus 



No table rice is grown ; nor is salt produced. The fruits are figSj 

 plantains, limeSj and wood-apples. A considerable quantity of coarse 

 sugar is manufactured from the sugar-cane. The jungle clothing the 

 hill sides in part supplies Bellary with firewood, a little timber and 

 small bamboos ; while the rocks furnish large quantities of iron oreo 

 This is chiefly smelted at a small place called Dharrampur near the en- 

 trance of the Ohlagundi pass. The furnaces are made of clay and do not 

 differ in construction from those usually employed in Mysore and other 

 parts of India. The ore, reduced to a coarse powder, is put in with the 

 charcoal through a funnel-shaped aperture at the top : there is a vent 

 at the bottom to allow of the extrication of the fused mass ; into which, 

 during the process of smelting, are inserted the nozzles of a large 

 double leathern bellows passing into ^ clay tube communicating with 

 the interior of the furnace, the aperture of which is luted up prepa- 

 ratory to working the bellows. Each furnace, of which I saw four* 

 can be filled four times during the day, producing about 2 maunds and 

 4 seers of metal per diem or about 750 maunds per annum, the average 

 price of which is 674 rupees 12 annas. The amount realized in the 

 first year scarcely repaid the expence of outlay : but now, I am assured 

 it brings a profit to the contractor of about 200 rupees per annum, and 

 promises much more. The following items for the material requisite 

 for a native mining speculation will astonish the European miner by 



their simplicity and cheapness : — 



R. A. P. 



Price of 8 buffaloes, 6 to bring charcoal, 2 ore « . , 56 0 0 



saddles, gunny bags, &c. for buffaloes 7 0 0 



8 hatchets to cut wood for charcoal 7 0 0 



4 sets of bellows 21 0 0 



anvil 10 8 0 



hammers , .... 10 8 0 



Rent to sircar 25 0 0 



Yearly hire to 1 carpenter ...... c , 63 0 0 



