384 
Alum Works in Kutch. 
[Dec. 
these the melted metal is cast, and forms small bars or ingots, salak, weighing 
2 or 3 seers each, and which are now supposed to be fit for the. purpose of 
coinage. 
These ingots are removed to the mint, taks&l, and are there divided 
with hammers and cutting punches, child, into small pieces, of the weight of 
a pice, paisa, or about 5 drachms, and are then fashioned into the usual 
circular shape in the following manner : A small charcoal fire is kindled in an 
earthen pot, and round the burning fuel is arranged a number of the half-wrought 
pieces of copper, each of which is taken up with a pair of small sharp-pointed 
spiing-tongs, in the left hand of the workman, who is seated opposite a smooth 
stone, having in it a small cavity which would hold about one third of the pice when 
set upon its edge. By continually turning the metal blank round in this cavity, 
and at the same time striking it with the hammer in his right hand, the coin is 
completed, and is ready for any farther finishing operation that may be deemed 
necessary, such as comparing it with a standard weight, «r striking it with a die. 
I have not yet succeeded in obtaining an accurate account of the quantity of 
copper produced annually from the Singhana mines, nor the expense of working 
them. The master smelters are of course inclined to reduce the apparent profits of 
the concern to the lowest possible quantity, as the Klietri Raja is said to receive, 
one-sixth of their amount, in addition to the 14,000 rupees for which the 
concern is farmed. They stated the returns of pure metal to vary from one to 
three seers from amaund of ore, (i. e. from 2£ to 7\ per cent.) but I should think 
this to be far below the true average. 
It may be remarked in conclusion, that this method of extracting the metal 
appears to be far more tedious, more expensive, and more laborious than the pro- 
cess adopted at the copper works of Basdwar in the Bhartpfir district. At 
Singhana the ore is not merely broken up into lumps, but is pounded into powder; 
then worked up with cow-dung ; formed into lumps ; dried in the sun ; burned in 
a clamp ; and finally, mixed with the scoria of iron before it makes its way through 
the blast-furnace, as detailed above : instead of which the Basdwar ore is only 
broken with a hammer into fragments the size of a nutmeg, and is then thrown 
into the furnace with a due admixture of charcoal. The copper produced by this 
simple process is, I think, of a very superior quality as compared with the Singhana 
metal, which is lilac-coloured and brittle ; yet the Bashwar ore is of so poor a 
quality that it does not now pay its own expenses, and the smelting works have in 
consequence been abandoned. 
Camp Singhana, April 30, 183L 
A. E. 
III . — Alum Works in Kutcli . 
The Alum Pits at Mehr have been worked for the last century. They are said 
to have been first opened by a Muselmdn in the reign of Rao Goharji 1 , who ac- 
cidental!} tasting the earth became convinced that some profit might be derived in 
extracting the saline particles from it. He disclosed his secret to a relative at 
Naha, a merchant who had carried on an extensive trade with Bombay and other 
ports ; and being directed by Asapusa in a dream, they succeeded in their first 
experiment of fabricating alum. The manufacture of this article was carried on 
ecietly for a few years, until stopped by Rao Goharji, on hearing of the advan- 
ta n es which government might secure to itself by taking the management of the 
concern into its own hands. He was however induced to leave it to the Muselin&ns, 
1 Rao Goharji mounted the throne in 1716, a. d. 
