GOLD.
Gold mines are as uncertain as women, and yet from either it seems
impossible to keep away. Perhaps it is this very uncertainty which
constitutes the chief charm of both. But, however that may be, it is
certain that about gold in general, whether visible or prospective, there
is such a degree of attractiveness that, as the Kanarese proverb puts it,
if gold is to be seen even a corpse will open its mouth; and I feel sure
as I write, that in this chapter at least I can count not only on
attention, but on a general attitude of expectancy in the mind of the
reader. And from one point of view he will be fairly satisfied, for the
history of gold mining in Mysore has quite a romantic cast, and in the
hands of a skilful novelist, there might be extracted from it much
literary capital. The foremost fact indeed which I have to give has almost
a sensational flavour, and at first sight seems a mere dream. We often
read of fields of golden grain, but that corn should ever, by any process
of nature, have on its ears grains of gold, seems beyond belief. And yet
the fact of grains of gold being found on the ears of the rice plants is
probably the very earliest tradition connected with gold, and it is not
improbable that the circumstance may have been one of the means of calling
attention to the existence of gold in Mysore. An account of this tradition
is to be found in the "Selections from the Records of the Mysore
Government,"[25] and from them it appears that Lieutenant John Warren,
when he was employed in surveying the eastern boundary of Mysore in 1800,
was told by a Brahman that "In prosperous years when the gods favoured the
Zillah of Kadogi (a small village on the west bank of the Pennar river,
Hoskote Talook, 15 miles from Bangalore) with an ample harvest now and
then grains of gold were found on the ears of the paddy (rice plants)
grown under the tank lying close to the north of that village." And in
this connection I may mention that, when visiting the Kolar mines last
January, I found, in the course of a conversation with the head man of the
village of Ooregum, that he was aware of this tradition, and that grains
of gold were said to have been seen on the rice plants at a village about
fifteen miles distant from his own. The explanation of this is extremely
simple, as the rice plants are usually grown in nurseries and transplanted
in bunches of several plants, after which the fields are flooded, and in
heavy floods (and this accounts for the gold having been found in the
years which are prosperous from the abundant rain) the plants would often
be quite submerged. With the water no doubt came grains of gold, which
were deposited on the rice plants, and as these grew, the grains of gold
would naturally rise with them, and thus often be found adhering to the
roughly-coated grain.
After the attention of Lieutenant Warren was called to the subject, he
seems to have taken some trouble in investigating it, and having heard a
vague report that gold had been found in the earth somewhere near a small
hill about nine miles east of Budiakote, offered a reward for information
regarding this, and shortly afterwards a ryot of the village offered to
show him the place, which was close to his village. He visited the spot
in question on February 17th, 1802, "when the women of the village were
assembled, and, each being provided with a small broom and vaning basket,
and hollow board to receive the earth, they went to a jungle on the west
of the village. Here they entered some small nullahs, or rather breaks in
the ground, and removing the gravel with their hands, they swept the earth
underneath into their vaning baskets, by the help of which they further
cleared it of the smaller stones and threw it into the hollow board above
mentioned. Having thus got enough earth together, they adjourned to a tank
and placed the hollow boards containing the earth in the water, but just
deep enough for it to overflow when resting on the ground, and no more.
Then they stirred the earth with the hand, but keeping it over the centre
of the board, so that the metal should fall into the depression by its own
weight, and the earth wash over the edges. After a few minutes' stirring,
they put the metallic matter thus freed of earth into a piece of broken
pot, but only after examining it for gold, which they did by inclining the
board and passing water over the metallic sediment which adhered to it.
They thus drove the light particles before the water, leaving the heavier
metal behind just at the edge where it could easily be seen, however small
the quantity." Lieutenant Warren, having afterwards heard that gold was
extracted from mines near Marikoppa, three miles from Ooregum, visited
four of the mines, the descent into which was made by means of small foot
holes which had been made in their sides. The first was two feet in
breadth and four in length with a depth of about thirty feet, and in
distance fifty feet (of galleries I presume), the others were from thirty
to forty-five feet deep. "The miners extracted the stones (how we are not
informed) and they were passed from hand to hand in baskets by the miners
who were stationed at different points for the purpose of banking the
stones. The women then took them to a large rock, and pounded them to
dust. The latter was then taken to a well and washed by the same process
as that used when washing the earth for gold, when about an equal quantity
of gold was found to that procured from an equal quantity of the
auriferous earth."
The only people, writes Lieutenant Warren, who devote their time to
searching-for gold are Pariahs, who work as follows. "When they resolve on
sinking a mine, they assemble to the number of ten or twelve from
different villages. Then they elect a Daffadar, or head man, to
superintend the work, and sell the gold, and they subscribe money to buy
lamp oil, and the necessary iron tools, then partly from knowledge of the
ground, and partly from the idea they have, that the tract over which a
peacock has been observed to fly and alight, is that of a vein of gold,
they fix on a spot and begin to mine."
Such, then, was the condition of gold mining in Mysore about the end of
the last and the beginning of this century, but in ancient times mining
was carried on by the natives to very considerable depths, and I am
informed by Mr. B. D. Plummer, who has had ten years' experience of mines
at Kolar, and worked the Mysore and Nundydroog mines, that the old native
workings went down to a depth of about 260 feet. These, which were all
choked up, were followed down to the bottom, and valuable lodes were found
at about 150 to 260 feet. Nothing was found in the old native workings,
but remains of old chatties (earthenware pots) and the wooden props put in
to secure the sides. The native workings, in the opinion of Captain
Plummer, were evidently carried on with skill and efficiency, and appear
to be of great antiquity. Large quantities of water were found, requiring
pumping machinery working day and night for its removal. How the natives
in olden times got rid of the water is not known. It is supposed that
they must have done so by chatties, and by hand, with the aid of large
numbers of people. As no native iron tools[26] were found in the cases of
the two above-mentioned mines, it is evident that they were deliberately
abandoned, either from excess of water in them, or some unknown cause. As
the lodes they worked at the depths they reached were rich, it is probable
that the miners could no longer contend with the difficulty of removing
the large quantities of water. I am informed by Mr. Plummer that the main
lodes where the natives have formerly worked have, in nearly every case,
proved successful. Mr. Plummer has examined other districts in the
province, extending more than 100 miles north of Mysore city, and thinks
that there is a very large mining future for the Mysore country. I am
informed by one of the mine managers that from the quantity of charcoal
found in the old native workings, it is probable that the natives first of
all burnt the rock so as to make it the more easy of extraction, just as
they now burn granite rock in order the more easily to split off the
stone.
As the facts connected with these mines were brought very fully to the
notice of the Government at such an early date, it at first sight seems
strange that we have to skip over a period of about seventy years till we
again meet, in the "Selections" previously quoted from, any further notice
of the mines; but the neglect of them was evidently owing to the similar
neglect of coffee and other industries, which might have been pushed
forward at a much earlier date, and most certainly would have been, had
the Government taken pains to see that the information so frequently
obtained was published in an available and readable form, instead of being
buried in the various offices of the State. That more efforts were not
made in this direction was probably owing to the fact that the Government
officers did not perceive the widespread effect that the introduction of
European capital would have on the agriculture of the country, and,
consequently, on the finances of the State--a subject referred to in my
introductory chapter, and to which I shall again allude in the chapter on
Coorg--while they were under the erroneous impression that Europeans would
probably be a cause of annoyance to the Government and the people. We find
a characteristic survival of the last idea in the "Selections," and in
Clause X. of the conditions under which, in 1873, the first leave to mine
was granted by the Government of Mysore, it is declared that, "In the
event of the grantee causing annoyance or obstruction to any class of the
people, or to the officers of Government, the chief commissioner reserves
the power of annulling the mining right thus granted." But such
apprehensions, I need hardly say, have long since passed away, and
certainly within my long experience they never existed in Southern India
in the case of the planters who, as a body, have always been encouraged by
the State, and have always got on well with it and the people, though, of
course, as in all countries, there are occasionally individuals who cannot
bring themselves into harmony with any person, or condition of things.
And now, before proceeding with my narrative of gold mining in Mysore, I
pause for one moment to note the rather remarkable fact that it seems
impossible to find in old records or inscriptions any reference to gold
mining in Mysore.[27] As to this I have made diligent inquiry, from the
librarian of H. H. the Maharajah, from a member of the Archæological
Survey of Mysore, and in every quarter that occurred to me. I was informed
by a European resident at Bangalore that, at the Eurasian settlement near
that city, there is a stone pillar with an inscription said by tradition
to relate to gold mining, but I can hardly suppose it possible that this
could have escaped the notice of the officers of the Archæological Survey.
One of the officers of this department informed me that, in consequence of
the absence of traditions regarding gold mining, he inferred that mining
in Mysore must have been carried on from very remote times. But it is time
to proceed with the history of mining in Mysore.
It appears, then, from the "Selections," that a Mr. Lavelle on the 20th of
August, 1873, applied for the right to carry on mining operations in
Kolar. Two years previously he had examined portions of the Kolar district
(without any grant it would seem, from no mention of one being made), and
found three auriferous strata, in one of which he sunk a shaft to the
depth of eighteen feet, and found gold increase in quality and size as he
went downwards. In the event of a mining right being granted he proposed
to begin work again in November. After some correspondence came a letter
from the chief commissioner, dated September 16th, 1874, submitting
conditions (which must be regarded as final) as the basis of an agreement
(to be afterwards legally drawn up) to be entered into between the
Government and Mr. Lavelle. It is unnecessary to recapitulate all the
conditions; suffice it to say that the right to mine in Kolar was to
extend over twenty years, and that a royalty of ten per cent. on all
metals and metallic ores, and of twenty per cent. on all precious stones,
was to be paid. On September 20th, 1874, Mr. Lavelle accepted the terms,
but what he did or did not do as regards mining does not appear in the
"Selections," and I find it merely stated therein that on March 28th,
1876, leave was given him to transfer his rights to other parties. It,
however, appears from a statement made by Mr. Lavelle in 1885 to the
special correspondent of the "Madras Mail,"[28] that a small syndicate was
formed, and some work carried on in the native style, though little
success seems to have been met with, and the work was abandoned. About a
year afterwards it was again recommenced by Mr. Lavelle, who in the
meanwhile had been prospecting in other parts of Southern India, and he
succeeded in once more attracting attention to the Kolar field, and
subsequently various companies were formed, but so disappointing were the
results obtained that all were practically closed in 1882, except the
Mysore mine, which was working to a small extent. In February, 1883, the
Nundydroog mine was ordered to be closed, and almost every other mine was
in a state of collapse. Caretakers were put in and only a little work
done. Early in 1884, when only twelve or thirteen thousand pounds of their
capital were left, the Mysore shareholders were convened. Some were for
closing at once and dividing the remaining capital, but, acting on the
advise of Messrs. John Taylor and Sons, of 6, Queen Street Place, London,
it was, fortunately for the province of Mysore, determined to spend it on
the mine. The shares were then as low as tenpence. The company began to
get gold about the end of 1884, and the prospect improved so much that the
Nundydroog mine in May, 1885, was enabled to raise money on debentures,
and so to again carry on work. If the shareholders of the Mysore company
had not persevered, it is almost absolutely certain that the whole of the
Kolar gold field would have been permanently abandoned. This is just one
of those cases which cheer the sinking hopes of shareholders, and attract
vast sums of money to gold mines; and no wonder, when we find the chairman
of the Mysore company apologizing lately because he could not declare a
dividend of more than fifty per cent.; that up to the end of 1892 the gold
sold by the company realized £1,149,430 2s. 1d., and that the total sum
paid in dividends amounted to £602,156 10s. 6d.
The Mysore mine had been sunk to a depth of about 200 feet when it was
proposed that the project should be abandoned. Just below this depth the
miners struck the Champion lode on which the Mysore, Ooregum, Nundydroog,
Balaghaut, and Indian Consolidated Companies are working. The Mysore mine
has now been sunk to a depth of over 1,200 feet, Ooregum 850 feet, and
Nundydroog over 860 feet. The lode is not richer per ton, as is commonly
supposed, on greater depths being reached. The yield per ton is probably
about the same, though from larger quantities being taken out, and the use
of the rock drill, which causes a large extraction of country rock, the
product per ton of quartz is apparently smaller. The specimens now found
are as good as ever.
The circumstances of the Champion lode are briefly these. In the interior
of a surrounding of granite there is a great basin of hornblende rock of
schistose character, and through this, at an angle of about forty-five
degrees, runs the lode. This is not of continuous thickness. In some
places it is four or five feet wide, in others runs down to an almost
vanishing point, and then again thickens. In the case of the mines now
working on this lode, the basin of hornblende is more than two miles in
width, and is possibly many thousands of feet in depth, so there seems to
be a reasonable prospect of there being a long future before the workers
on the Champion lode.
The Kolar gold field is about seven miles in length, and averages about
two to three miles in width. There are in all fourteen mines, but two of
them are practically stopped. The general appearance of it is at present
by no means attractive, as the land is rocky and sterile, and unfavourable
to the growth of trees, but, from the appearance of some of the Baubul
trees, I feel sure that if large pits for the trees were dug, and filled
with soil from the low-lying ground, a great deal might be done to
beautify the field, by planting here and there groups of Baubul and other
hardy trees indigenous to the locality. As I thought it would be
interesting, and perhaps useful, to give some idea of life on the fields,
I asked one of the ladies resident there to supply me with some notes for
publication, and her observations on the situation from a social and
general point of view are as follows.
"You ask me for some notes on the field, and I may begin by telling you
that we usually rise about half-past six, when the menkind go off to their
offices, or underground, as the ease may be. We have tiffin between twelve
and one, and dinner at half-past seven. Breakfast is generally at about
eight, and the managers commonly have theirs sent down to the office.
"In the afternoon, that is to say, when the five o'clock whistle blows, we
play tennis, or else go down to the Gymkana ground to watch the cricket.
Sometimes there is a gymkana in which we all take great interest,
particularly in those races called ladies' events, when the winners
present their prizes to the ladies who have nominated them. The great
drawback to the gold fields at present is the absence of some general
meeting-place or club, but it is hoped that by next year this want will
be supplied, as the Ooregum, Nundydroog, and Champion Reefs Companies have
combined to build a hall, which is to contain a billiard-room, card-room,
library, etc., and there is to be a tennis court in the compound.
"One of the great pleasures is gardening. The plants that grow best are
jalaps, sunflowers, roses, cornflowers, nasturtiums, verbenas, and
geraniums, all of which, with the exception of the two first-named plants,
require water constantly. The creepers that grow best are passion-flowers,
and a small kind of green creeper with convolvulus flowers, the name of
which I do not know. Honeysuckle also grows, though but slowly. Trees have
recently been planted in the various compounds, and also along some parts
of the road leading to the bungalows, but owing to the shallowness of the
soil, and the roots so soon reaching the rock, they seldom grow to any
size. Some casuarinas in the Mysore mine camp have grown to about twenty
feet in height, but these have now struck the rock, and most of them are
dying.
"We have occasional visitors, many of them being shareholders in the
various mines, bringing with them introductions from England, and wishing
to inspect all the works, stamps, etc., on the surface, and very often
going underground. Several ladies have been taken down the mines lately,
but they do not seem to care for it much, for though of course it is
interesting, still the fatigue of going down so many feet on ladders is
great. The mines, too, in many parts are dirty and wet, and amongst other
disagreeables are the cockroaches, which are enormous, and the stinging
ants. Ladies too, I find, are as a rule disappointed at not seeing more
'visible gold.' I believe they cherish generally some idea of picking up a
nice little nugget to keep as a souvenir of their expedition.
"None of the mines have any 'cages,' as they are called, so if one does
not want to go down by the ladders, one can only go in the box in which
the quartz comes up, and as this is only two feet square and four feet
deep, the journey by it would be decidedly uncomfortable. At every eighty
feet, I may mention, you come to a small wooden platform (or level) where
you can rest, and from which branch off the cross cuts and drives, or
narrow passages. The depths of the different mines vary a great deal,
Mysore being as low as 1,400 feet, the greatest depth sunk at present,
while the least depth sunk is about 300 feet. Ladies going underground
have to wear suitable attire. Skirts would be quite useless. A long coat,
or short skirt reaching to the knees, and knickerbockers, is the most
comfortable dress for the occasion. Very strong boots should be worn.
"Many of the miners and people employed in the gold fields have joined the
Volunteers. There is now quite a strong corps of about 100 men, some being
Eurasians, but the majority are either English or Italians. Once a year
some 'bigwig' comes from Bangalore to review them. There is a
sergeant-instructor on the field, and the adjutant comes very frequently
to see them drill, etc.
"Round the various large tanks about six or eight miles away from the
mines excellent snipe shooting is to be had, and duck and teal are also to
be found. Spotted deer and bears are sometimes shot by sportsmen from the
mines, but for those one must go further away. The fishing is not
considered to be very good, but perhaps those who fish do not know how to
set to work. The natives sometimes bring very large tank fish round for
sale.
"Driving and riding are not very enjoyable, owing to the terribly bad
state of the roads. When the railway to the mines is opened, which it soon
will be, I am happy to say, the roads will be better. At present the heavy
machinery for the mines, boilers, etc.--sometimes taking sixty bullocks
to draw them--cut up the roads dreadfully. These will of course come by
rail directly the line is open for traffic. The supplies, vegetables,
fruit, etc., come from Bangalore three times a week, each mine keeping a
'Supply boy' (servant), who goes in from Kolar Road (our railway station,
seven miles from the mines), and returns the following day. We get mutton
and beef from the local butcher, and also good bread from the bakery on
the field. Our butter comes from Bangalore, and from there we obtain,
peas, potatoes, French beans, tomatoes, cauliflowers, vegetable marrow,
and lettuces, and also fruit, such as apples, peaches, grapes, plantains,
custard apples, melons, and sometimes pine-apples. Servants on the whole
are good. Most of them come from Madras. Wages are much higher on the gold
fields than in Bangalore--head butlers, 16 rupees; ayahs, 12 to 14 rupees;
chokras, 10 to 11 rupees; cooks, 11 to 14 rupees; and gardeners, 10 to 16
rupees a month. Many of them leave domestic service and take work in the
mines, where they get higher wages very often."
As the elevation of Kolar is about 2,700 feet above sea level, the climate
is for many months of the year extremely agreeable, and it would, so far
as my experience goes, be difficult to find a more exhilarating and more
exquisitely-tempered atmosphere than that of Kolar in the month of
January--at least such was my conclusion when I stayed with my friends at
the field last January. Nor did I hear anyone there complain of the
climate, which, from the appearance of my host (who looked as if he had
never left England) and others on the mines, must be a very healthy one,
and in proof of this I may mention that Mr. Plummer, whom I have
previously quoted, told me that the European miners had as good health as
miners have in England. Cholera has on several occasions broken out
amongst the coolies, but this was rather a proof of the want of attention
paid to sanitation and water supply, as none I believe has occurred since
an improved water supply has been introduced by all the companies now
pumping it up from depths of 200 feet from the bottoms of abandoned
shafts. There was a remarkable confirmation of the connection between
cholera and water supply and sanitation one year, and the first company
which paid attention to these points had no cholera amongst its people,
while most of the other mines had more or less of the disease. I may
mention here a fact to which I have alluded in my chapter on coffee
planting in Mysore--namely, that Europeans in Mysore have been so little
liable to cholera that in sixty years there has only been one death from
it amongst the European officials of the province, and one doubtful case
amongst the planters.
As regards mining and the extraction of gold, there is little to be said.
I inspected the works and the rock drills. These work through the agency
of compressed air, and at a cost of 15 rupees a day for coal for each
drill, the same tool which is used in drilling by hand. It is doubtful
whether hand-drilling is not cheaper, but the latter is far slower, and
hence does not pay as well, rapid progress being absolutely essential.
When working with rock drills, a shaft can be sunk 10 to 20 feet a month,
against 7 to 8 feet by hand, and a level may on the average be driven 45
to 50 feet a month by rock drills against 10 or 12 feet by hand. When,
however, a large surface for operating on is exposed, hand-drilling may be
profitably employed. This is interesting as illustrating the fact that
where labour is cheap machines seldom pay, and this is particularly worth
mentioning for the benefit of those who have thought that it would be
useful to introduce agricultural machinery into India. After looking at
the rock drills I inspected the gold extraction works. The processes here
need not detain us long. The quartz is first broken by stone-breakers
like those used in England. The broken stone is then placed in an iron
trough (battery box), and is pounded by iron stampers, which of course are
worked by machinery. In front of this trough is a fine sieve. Water is
incessantly run into the trough, and as it overflows, carries with it all
the quartz which has been pounded sufficiently to pass through the sieve.
The water, mingled with this finely powdered quartz, then falls on to a
sloping plate of copper coated with quicksilver, which amalgamates with,
and so detains, the gold. The deposit thus formed is scraped off the
sheets of copper at intervals of about eight hours, and formed into balls
of various sizes, which consist of about one-half gold and one-half
quicksilver. The latter is subsequently separated from the gold by
processes which I need not describe, and the gold is afterwards formed
into bars for export.
I inquired particularly as to the rates of wages. These are, for coolies
working underground, from 7 to 8 annas a day (with the rupee at par one
anna is equal to 1-1/2d., and 8 annas would therefore amount to 1s.).
Those who work rock drills in mines, 12 annas to a rupee a day; ordinary
coolies working aboveground, 4 to 8 annas; and women, 2 to 4 annas a day.
The working population on the field numbers about 10,000, while 20,000
more, who work for varying periods of the year, reside in the neighbouring
villages.
I was much struck with the fact that no advances whatever are given to
coolies by the companies, as is the case with men working on plantations,
and I would particularly call the attention of planters to this, as it
proves what I have elsewhere stated--namely, that where labour rises to a
comparatively high rate no advances are necessary, and I feel sure that if
planters would resolve to reduce gradually the amount of advances, they
might ultimately be altogether dispensed with.
My next subject of inquiry relating to labour was as to the probable total
amount paid for it, and, from an estimate made for me by a very competent
authority residing on the mines, I believe that the following account is
substantially correct. The amount of wages paid monthly to native
labourers and the small number of Eurasians working on the mines is about
2 lakhs of rupees. To natives who fell and bring in timber for fuel about
80,000 rupees monthly are paid. On quarrying and carting granite, and in
building, about 30,000 rupees a month are spent; on the carriage of
materials from the railway about 15,000 rupees, and probably from 5,000 to
10,000 rupees on local products such as straw, grain, oil, mats, bamboos,
tiles, etc. Now, if we take no account of the last two items, and deduct
10,000 rupees from the second and third, we shall have a fair estimate of
three lakhs of rupees a month as the amount spent on the Kolar gold field
in wages, which, taking the rupee at par (and I think I am justified in
doing so, as for expenditure in India by labourers it goes about as far as
it ever did), amounts to £360,000 a year. And this great sum is earned by
people who either have land and work for occasional periods of the year on
the mines, or by labourers, who, when they have saved enough money from
their wages (which they could do with ease in a year), will acquire and
cultivate a small holding. A large proportion of this sum of £360,000 a
year--probably two-thirds of it--goes to improving the status and
condition of the agricultural and labouring classes, and I need hardly add
that this not only leads to an improvement of the resources of the State,
but enables the people the better to contend with famine and times of
scarcity, and thus still further improves the financial condition of the
Government. And it is largely in consequence of the great sums brought
into Mysore by the planters and the gold companies that the revenues of
Mysore are in such a nourishing condition, and that year after year the
annual budget presents an appearance more and more favourable.
And here this question naturally arises. What can the Government of Mysore
do to stimulate the employment of labour in mining, and thus still further
strengthen the financial position of the State? I am prepared to show that
it can do much to stimulate the opening of new mines, and also to
encourage many of those now in existence which have not as yet been able
to pay dividends.
The reader will see by a glance at the map that the auriferous tracts of
Mysore (to which I shall presently more particularly allude) are of great
extent, and, judging from the report of the geological surveyor employed
by the Government, and especially from the existence of numerous old
native workings, there is no reason why prizes even greater than the best
of those already obtained should not exist. Now one of the greatest
obstacles in the way of rapid progress lies in the fact that before mining
can be got fairly under weigh much preliminary work has to be done, and
the shareholders have therefore a long time to wait before any paying
return can be obtained. But if the preliminary work, such as the providing
of water, the collection of building materials, and the making of roads,
etc., were carried out before a company was formed, mining could be begun
at once, and results rapidly arrived at, and the frittering away of money,
both in England and India, that at present necessarily occurs, would be
averted. Now the country has already been largely explored, and the
Government is therefore in a position to know the places where favourable
results will probably be obtained, and as the State, besides the other
advantages I have previously pointed out, gets a royalty on the gold, it
has a natural interest in doing its utmost to select the most favourable
sites for new mining operations. Such sites then should, with the aid of
experienced mining advisers, be selected by the Government, which itself
should execute the preliminary works previously specified, and then
advertise the blocks, so selected and prepared, for sale in the London
market. For such prepared blocks purchasers could readily be found, and if
the price they paid merely covered the bare cost of the preliminary works,
the expenditure of capital that would thus be stimulated, with all its
consequent direct and indirect advantages to the province, would amply
repay the Government for its trouble and outlay.
But the State may give yet another stimulus to mining, which, I feel sure,
would prove of great advantage to the State. The present royalty is five
per cent. on the value of the gold produced, and from this source the
Government last year received 5 lakhs and 18,000 rupees. Now the
prosperous companies which are paying good dividends do not feel this to
be a very serious burden, but it is a serious burden--every shilling of
expenditure indeed is--to a company which has not begun to pay dividends,
and I would suggest that, till a company is able to pay dividends,
one-half of the royalty, or, better still, the whole of it, might be
remitted. This sum would by no means be lost to the State, for does not
the milk that is left in the cow go to the calf?
The measures I have proposed would be of such obvious advantage to the
State that, were I a shareholder, or intending investor, in mines in
Mysore, I should have no hesitation in suggesting their adoption, but it
may be as well to mention that I am neither.
I drove one afternoon with my host to the court on the field, and had some
conversation with the magistrate regarding thefts at the mines, and it
certainly appears that a special Act is required to check the stealing of
gold. Sponge-gold (i.e., gold from which the quicksilver has been
evaporated), quartz, or gold amalgam, if found in the possession of any
person, renders the individual liable to prosecution, if the possession of
gold in any of these forms cannot be satisfactorily accounted for. But the
individual cannot be called to account for having ordinary pure gold in
possession. Now in a man's possession at the mines there has been found
all the means of separating the gold by quicksilver, and it is therefore
quite clear that gold stolen in either of the first three mentioned forms
may, after having been deprived of its concomitant impurities, be held by
an individual to any amount, and even by a workman earning 6d. a day,
without his being liable to be called upon to account for its possession.
Some Act to meet this kind of case is then clearly required--an Act
similar to our Mysore Coffee-stealing Prevention Act, which provides that
any person not a planter is liable to be called upon to account for coffee
in his possession.
A difficult point occurs where quartz is found in a hut occupied by
several people, as it is impossible to charge any one person with being in
illegal possession of the article. There are numerous evidences of gold
stealing, and certainly some summary process ought to be established with
the view of checking these thefts. I may add that the Government is much
interested in this matter, as five per cent. of the gold belongs to it,
and is handed over in the shape of royalty. Those who are most concerned
should bring the matter annually before the members of the Representative
Assembly. Even in England remedies for, or mitigations of, evils are not
provided without much continuous parliamentary hammering.
After discussing the subject of gold stealing with the magistrate, I
called on the manager of the Mysore mine, and afterwards went with my host
to a lawn tennis party at the house of the doctor of the mines, who is
employed by the various companies. He has a comfortable bungalow, which
is at a considerable elevation above the level of the valley, and commands
an extensive view of the surrounding country and of the distant hills.
Above the house, and at some little distance on one side of it, stands the
hospital, and on a knoll just below, the building of the new Roman
Catholic church was in progress, and the walls were nearly finished. From
the doctor's bungalow a good general view of the whole field can be
obtained, and I was particularly struck with the number of buildings to be
seen in all directions. I was told that from this point as many as thirty
tall chimneys can be counted.
There is a great want of water in the field, for purposes connected with
the separation of the gold from the quartz, and tanks are being provided
to store it. I venture to suggest that a considerable distance of the
catchment area on the sides, and especially at the back, of the tanks
should be honeycombed with pits, as the water, which is often largely lost
from falling in heavy deluges, would thus percolate into the ground, and
so find its way into the bed of the tank by degrees. I may mention that a
great effect has been produced in the case of a tank on one of my coffee
estates by thus digging pits to catch water that would otherwise run
directly down into the tank, to be largely lost by the overflow during
heavy rains, and a similar effect has been produced on the property of a
neighbour. In fact, the effect produced by such pits on the supply of
water in tanks is far greater than one could have imagined to be possible,
and I may therefore, in passing, call particular attention to the
advisability of such pits being made near tanks used for agricultural
purposes. On the margins of the tanks, and in parts of the bed where
sufficient soil exists, trees should be planted, with the view of
diminishing evaporation from the surface of the water.
When the railway is completed, soil might easily be brought into the
field oil trucks, and the pits dug for trees should be filled with it. The
planting of trees in and around the field would certainly be beneficial in
many obvious ways, and would improve the climate and probably affect, not
perhaps the amount, but the distribution of the rainfall. I would suggest
that if earth closets were used by the people, and the used earth spread
around the trees, there would be a great improvement in their growth. This
would at once improve the sanitation of the field and beautify it at the
same time.
The reader has now probably learned enough of this rising settlement,[29]
and I have only to add that on the day following I returned to Bangalore,
after having had a most pleasant and interesting time of it with my
friends on the Kolar field.
I next pass to a brief mention of the other auriferous tracts in Mysore,
which were surveyed in 1887 by Mr. R. Bruce Foote, Superintendent of the
Geological Survey of India, who, in connection with his investigations
between February 2nd and May 7th of that year, travelled no less than
1,300 miles in Mysore in marching and field work. A full report of his
work appears in the "Selections,"[30] and this is accompanied by a map in
which Mr. Foote has sketched out the distribution of the auriferous rocks.
In the "Selections" alluded to there, is also a "Report on the Auriferous
Tracts in Mysore," by Mr. M. F. Lavelle, and "Notes on the Occurrence of
Gold and other Minerals in Mysore," by Mr. Walter Marsh, Mining Engineer.
But in the brief remarks I have to make I shall confine my attention to
Mr. Foote's Report.
Mr. Foote informs us that the chief gold-yielding rocks of Southern India
belong to one great geological system, to which, from the rocks forming it
occurring very largely in the Dharwar country, he two years previously
gave the name of the Dharwar System, as he saw the necessity of separating
them from the great Gneissic System, with which they had formerly been
grouped. In his long tour in Mysore he found that every important
auriferous tract visited lies within one or other of the areas of the
Dharwar rocks, or forms an outlying patch of the same. These Dharwar
rocks, it appears, are the auriferous series in Mysore, the ceded
districts, and the Southern Maharatta country.
Mr. Foote groups the auriferous rock series of Mysore into four
groups--the central, west-central, western, and the eastern--the last
group being formed by the Kolar gold field, which was not included in the
tracts Mr. Foote was called upon to visit. He then gives a systematic
account of his examination of the country, beginning with the central, and
ending with the western group.
He examined ten auriferous tracts or localities in the central group,
beginning with the Holgen workings near the southern border of the
province, and ending with the Hale Kalgudda locality near the northern
border, and reports more or less favourably on five out of the ten
localities in question. For brevity I use the numbers into which he has
divided the localities he regards as more or less promising. Of part of
number three, he says that his examination, though but a cursory one, led
him to regard it "very favourably," and of another part, he says that the
whole outline indicated, which is seven miles long by about a mile wide,
is deserving of very close examination, and the reefs of being prospected
to some depth. As regards number five, he reports the existence of old
native workings occupying a considerable area, and which showed evidence
of much work being done. Fine reefs are to be seen pretty numerously, and
he desires to draw attention to this promising tract. With reference to
number eight, he says that "taking all things into consideration this
tract is one of the most promising I have seen." Of number nine he says,
"with regard to this gold-yielding locality, it is one of very great
promise and worthy of all attention from mining capitalists," and as
regards number ten, he reports that, though not so favourable as the two
numbers previously mentioned, it is yet deserving of the closest
investigation.
The west-central group was examined by Mr. Foote in the same order,
i.e., from south to north, and he tells us that the auriferous
localities in this group occur all in small detached strips or patches of
schistose rock scattered over the older gneissic series. They are really,
he says, remnants of the once apparently continuous spread of schistose
(Dharwar) rocks which covered great part of the southern half of the
Peninsula. Mr. Foote examined in all fifteen localities, and they do not,
from his account, seem to present appearances as favourable as those of
the central group, and he only recommends that attention should be paid to
six of them. As regards the first locality mentioned, he says that, though
the results from washings and other indications were not very favourable,
the field was deserving of further close prospecting, as the nature of the
country is favourable. Of locality number five, he says that it contains a
considerable number of large and well defined reefs, to which a great
amount of attention has been paid by the old native miners, and thinks
that they are deserving of the closest attention at the present time by
deep prospecting on an ample scale. Of number seven he finds it impossible
to form any positive opinion, though he adds that the size of the old
workings show that the old miners found the place worth their attention
for a long period. He advises that number eleven should be prospected and
tested. Locality thirteen he considers to deserve close prospecting, and
he makes much the same remark as to number fourteen.
The western group, Mr. Foote tells us, is far poorer in auriferous
localities than either of the others, and they are scattered widely apart.
He examined in all seven localities. Of the first locality examined, he
says that the geological features are all favourable to the occurrence of
gold, and that the locality is worthy of very careful prospecting. In
locality number two, such a good show of coarse grained gold was got from
the sands of a stream that he thought a portion of the land from which its
water came ought to be closely tested in order to trace the source of the
gold found in the stream. When writing on locality number three, Mr. Foote
observes that the elevated tract of the auriferous rocks of which the
Bababudan mountains form the centre is one well deserving great attention
both from the geologist and the mining prospector, it being an area of
great disturbance, the rocks being greatly contorted on a large scale and,
the north and south sides at least of the area, much cut up by great
faults. The whole of the auriferous areas here, he says, are deserving of
close survey, for even the best of them are very imperfectly known, and
much of what was known to the old miners in former generations has been
forgotten. "From the fact," writes Mr. Foote, "that in my hurried tour I
came upon no less than five sets of old workings that had not been brought
under the notice of Messrs. Lavelle and Marsh (reports of whose
investigations are given in the "Selections"), I quite expect to hear that
many other old abandoned workings exist in wild and jungly tracts which
bound in the hilly and mountainous parts of the country." In locality
number five such fine shows of gold were obtained, and there was such a
good looking old mine, and quartz reefs of great size, that Mr. Foote
considered the place deserving of "very marked attention from earnest
prospectors."
It is evident, from what Mr. Foote has said, that there is much to be done
in the way of exploring and testing the Mysore province for gold, and I
hope that what I have written may be the means of attracting further
attention to the subject.
At the close of his report Mr. Foote mentions the fact that "a great dyke
of beautiful porphyry traverses the hills east of the Karigatta temple
overlooking Seringapatam. The porphyry, which is of warm brown or
chocolate colour, includes many crystals of lighter coloured felspar, and
dark crystals of hornblende. The stone would take a very high polish, and
for decorative purposes of high class, such as vases, panels and bases for
busts and tazzas, etc., it is unequalled in South India, and deserving of
all attention. If well polished it fully equals many of the highly prized
antique porphyries. The dyke is of great thickness and runs for fully a
mile, so is practically inexhaustible. Blocks of very large size could be
raised, and from the situation of the dyke on the side of two steep hills,
it would be very easy to open up large quarries if needful." As this dyke
is close to a railway it may be worthy of the attention of capitalists.
FOOTNOTES:
[25] Printed for the use of the Government, and kindly lent to me by the
Dewan of Mysore.
[26] Mr. Bosworth-Smith, _vide_ p. 36 of his Report, says that, up to
1889, only three finds of iron tools had been met with in the old native
workings.
[27] In Mr. Hyde Clarke's paper entitled "Gold in India," London,
Effingham Wilson, Royal Exchange, 1881, it is stated that "Dr. Burnell
brings direct proof as to the abundance of gold, by his successful
decipherment of a remarkable inscription in the Tanjore temple. Dr.
Burnell is thus enabled to state that in the eleventh century gold was
still the most common precious metal in India, and stupendous quantities
of it are mentioned. He considers, too, that this gold was obtained from
mines, and that the Moslem invasion interrupted their workings." It does
not, however, appear, at least in Mr. Hyde Clarke's paper, that the
inscription deciphered by Dr. Burnell makes any reference to gold mining.
[28] "The Kolar Gold Field in the State of Mysore." Reprinted from the
"Madras Mail," December, 1885; Madras, the Madras Mail Press. London,
Messrs. H. S. King and Co., 1885.
[29] Those who desire detailed information are referred to Mr. P.
Bosworth-Smith's "Report on the Kolar Gold Field and its Southern
Extension." Madras, Government Press, 1889. Mr. Bosworth-Smith writes as
Government Mineralogist to the Madras Presidency.
[30] "Selections from the Records of the Mysore Government. Reports on
Auriferous Tracts in Mysore." Bangalore. Printed at the Mysore Government
Press, 1887.