Bison are often attacked by tigers, and I once found the remains of one that had been killed by a tiger. It had been killed on the gra.s.s land between two and three hundred yards from the jungle, and I was much struck by the fact that the tiger had separated the head from the body and carried it into the forest, where I found the skull. It appeared to be that of a fair sized bull. But the largest bulls are sometimes killed by tigers, though I imagine that this must be rare, or we should not find very old bulls in a country where tigers are plentiful. A tiger I believe sometimes tires out a bull by inducing him to charge again and again till he is quite worn out, and sometimes, I am informed by an experienced sportsman, two tigers will join in attacking a bison, and have been known to hamstring it. I have been told by a toddyman who lived on the edge of the forest region, that in a valley near his house he had seen a tiger worrying a bison and inducing it to charge for nearly a whole day and ultimately killing it. But sometimes the bison succeeds in driving off the tiger, which then slinks away. About two years ago an interesting ill.u.s.tration took place of this, which was witnessed by a neighbour of mine, who found that when stalking a bull bison he had a fellow stalker in the shape of a tiger. The incident was at once rare and interesting--in fact, so far as I know, quite unique--and I asked my friend to write me an account of it for publication in my book.

"When I was returning," writes my friend Mr. Brooke Mockett, "one day in the beginning of the monsoon of 1891, from visiting a plantation of mine near the Ghauts, I deflected somewhat from my route to visit an adjacent range of minor hills, and presently entered a shallow valley, on the opposite side of which the forest land was fringed with some scrubby bushes mingled with ferns, outside of which was a stretch of open gra.s.s land. As I entered the valley I saw on the opposite side of it a solitary bull bison grazing along towards the open gra.s.s land. This, at the rate he was moving, he would soon reach. I therefore took up a position so as to get a shot at him when he got fairly into the open land, where he would be immediately below and opposite to me. Two Hindoo ryots--always called goudas in Manjarabad--from a neighbouring village were with me, and were keeping a sharp look out. We were all quite concealed in the long gra.s.s.

Presently one of them whispered, 'Look, look, there is a tiger stalking the bison,' and, after peering into the bushes for a few seconds, I at last made out the tiger, which was about 200 yards further along the valley to the east of the bison, towards which it was stealthily creeping.

I at once decided not to interfere at present, but to leave the animals alone and watch the result. The tiger struck me as being a small one, and the goudas thought so too. It was probably the same one that had some weeks before killed a three-parts-grown bison, the remains of which we saw when on the way to the spot. The bull was a magnificent animal, and just in his prime. It was a most exciting scene; the ponderous bull grazing quietly along the valley in utter ignorance of danger, and feeding so industriously that he never once lifted his head from the ground, while the tiger crawled towards him in a manner that was exquisite to see. Belly to the ground, its movements resembled rather those of a snake than an animal as it wound its way through the scrub, gliding through the ferns, and taking advantage of all the bushes. Occasionally it sat up to peer cautiously at the bull, and then sinking down it again glided on. Except now and then, when the bushes were low, I doubt if it could see the bull, nor could the latter scent the tiger, for the bull was feeding down the valley in the teeth of the strong monsoon winds, and the tiger was following in its tracks.

"As the two goudas sitting with me in the long gra.s.s observed the movements of the tiger, they could not contain their indignation. No doubt they thought of the many cattle they had recently lost, and, connecting the present revelation of the tiger's mode of proceeding with the slaughter of their buffaloes, they relieved their feelings by uttering _sotto voce_ the most virulent abuse of the tiger, its wife, and its female relations in general, and every fresh movement of the tiger drew from them some extremely powerful and untranslatable epithets. The temptation to fire at the tiger was very great, but I refrained, as every moment brought them nearer to me, and it seemed certain that the fight must come off just below the ground I was seated on.

"The scene was now an extremely exciting one, for the animals were about 200 yards from us, the bull having fed to within fifty yards of the open gra.s.s, and the tiger having crept so close to him that every moment we expected something to happen. We saw the tiger crawl right up to the bull, and it seemed to get actually within a yard of it, and yet it did not spring. A few seconds more pa.s.sed, and then the bull, suddenly becoming aware of the tiger's presence, made a rapid rush forward into the open gra.s.s land outside of the scrub. Then he pulled up at a distance from it of about sixty yards, and faced round in the direction of the tiger. Had he liked, he might have gone away altogether; but, far from showing fear, he was furious, and looked superb as he shook his head and snorted with rage. Then for about two minutes he stood as still as if carved of stone, evidently straining all his senses to discover the tiger, after which he made a terrific charge up to the edge of the scrub, where he pulled up and again snorted, and shook his head. If ever a bison meant business he did, and could he have seen the tiger he would have certainly tried to kill it, but it was hiding in the scrub and was invisible to him, though we could just make out its golden red skin.

"The sight of the infuriated bull within a few yards was altogether too much for the tiger, which now turned and commenced to sneak off with astonishing rapidity, keeping completely out of the bison's sight, and looking like the most abject wretch imaginable. My goudas became frantic at this, and seeing that there was now no chance of a fight between the bull and the tiger, I rushed along the hill with the view of trying to get a good shot at the latter, but this I found would be impossible, so I rested my rifle on a stamp, and, as he moved through the scrub, took a long shot, which knocked him off his legs, and we saw him partly roll and partly scramble into the dense jungle below. A shout of 'The bull is going,' from the goudas, made me look back, and just as he was starting I hastily fired my second barrel into his shoulder and dropped him dead. We then went to look for the tiger, but, most unfortunately, the rain, which up to this time had kept off, descended in torrents, and the whole country became enveloped in dense mist. We found the spot where the tiger had been knocked over, and the goudas soon discovered cut hair (by the bullet), a sure proof of a hit. We could see where he had rolled down, the slope to the thick forest, crushing the ferns, and tearing up the ground with his struggles, but the blood was of course washed away by the tropical rain torrents. Within the forest, which was almost impenetrable, all was dark as night, and as no track could be seen, and we were soon all drenched to the skin, it was impossible to do anything more, and I was compelled to give up the pursuit. Why the tiger, after getting so close to the bison did not attack, it is impossible to say, but the men who accompanied me were of opinion that, owing to the bison being partly hidden by the scrub, the tiger could not gauge its size till quite close to it, and then was afraid to attack such a large bull."

I think that their surmise is correct, and as I have before suggested, I think that these very large bulls are but rarely attacked by tigers, for my experience shows that solitary bulls are easily stalked, to within quite close distances, and, were the tigers easily able to kill them, I feel sure that a solitary bull would very seldom be found.

I have said that the bison is a harmless animal, but this of course is only when you keep away from it, and a wounded bison should be approached and tracked up with caution, and in no case should a single tracker follow up a wounded bull. He should always have a companion to keep a general look out in case of the bull suddenly charging the tracker when he is busy following the trail. On one occasion a manager of mine went out shooting, wounded a bull, and then went round to a point to cut him off, and sent in the only man he had to follow up the track and drive the bull on. He waited for some time and then shouted, but received no answer, for the poor tracker was dead. He had evidently been charged by the bull when he was busy tracking it, and was taken by surprise. By a curious coincidence my manager had dreamed the night before that he had gone out with this tracker, that he had been killed by a bull, and that the body was found extended in the position in which it was ultimately found on the following day.

Close to the place where the man was killed we had a capital ill.u.s.tration of the need for keeping a good look out when tracking. When out shooting one evening with a friend, we wounded a solitary bull (which I have reason to suppose was the same bull that killed the tracker), and on the following morning took up his track, which led down into a spot in the forest where, from some trees probably having been blown down in former years, there was a little thicket of small trees and underwood. Into this the bull had gone, and we soon found where he had been lying, and were proceeding to take up the track again, when one of our men, who stood a little way behind, and luckily, was looking about, said "There's the bull." He had evidently heard us coming, got up, gone ten yards away, and was waiting for a favourable moment to charge, and, had he done so when we were in the thicket, he probably would have killed one of the party. My friend, who was an old hand, and of course saw the danger at a glance, cleared out of the thicket with wonderful alertness, and the rest were not slow to follow his example. We then pa.s.sed round the upper side of the thicket, and came down upon the bull in the more open forest, and soon killed him. Just as we had done so, news came that a herd of bison was grazing on a ridge about half or three-quarters of a mile or so away, and as our pursuit of them elucidates some points of practical importance, I give a short description of the stalk and its accompanying circ.u.mstances.

The herd of bison, it appears, were just outside a jungly ravine which ran up from the main forest through the gra.s.s land. The jungle terminated just below a ridge of hill, along which we approached the spot. Overhanging the hollow were some rocks which afforded us a convenient place to creep behind, and presently we lay down there, looking at the herd, which was below us, and about a hundred yards away. And then we found (as Mr.

Sanderson so often did that he at last gave up attacking herd bison) that it was impossible to fire at the bull, as he was screened by the cows. How long we lay watching I cannot exactly tell, but as the day got hotter the bison began to move, and then we had a chance of firing at the big bull.

The herd, bull included, then entered the jungly ravine, and presently reappeared a little further down and on the right of the ravine with a calf which had evidently been left in the ravine, and filed along the slope. The bull, however, had remained behind. Now comes a point of great importance in following up big game, and which, curiously enough, has never been noticed hitherto, at least I have not been able to meet with any reference to it in the many big game shooting books I have looked at.

If an animal is wounded, it is a common practice to follow it up at once, the result of which is that it will often go off to a considerable distance (which is often highly inconvenient) and frequently be lost. But if, instead of following the startled animal at once, a perfect silence is maintained, and you remain where you are, the animal, the moment it is inside the jungle, will stand to listen, and if it can neither hear nor see anything, will probably lie down to recover from the shock, and if it does so, will very probably not rise from the spot for a considerable time. You have thus an opportunity of getting ahead of your quarry and coming back to the margin of the forest from a direction opposite to that from which it naturally expects danger, and it will thus have to pa.s.s you again in order to get further into the forest, and you will then, as I have known from experience, get another shot. On this occasion it was of great importance to get between the wounded bull and the main forest towards the foot of the Ghauts, and we accordingly resolved to go down the gra.s.s land on the outside of the jungly ravine, enter it a good way down, and lie up to rest for some time, and then look up the wounded bull.

And now I received a lesson that I shall never forget. We had taken our early toast and tea, and had intended returning to breakfast, but we had been decoyed by the sport so far from home, and the weather was so hot, that we could not face the task of toiling back in the heat of the sun, and besides, we had our wounded bull to look up. The prospect of remaining all day without food was not pleasant, but luckily I had a few small biscuits in my pocket. Then we were afraid to drink the water, as at that season it is not considered to be wholesome. "Ah," said my friend, after fumbling in his pocket, "we are all right. I have got one peppermint lozenge. We will divide it into four parts, and it will last the day."

This was my first introduction to the great practical value of the peppermint lozenge in taking away the sensation of thirst, and in hot climates I now never go without them. But they should be made at a good chemist's, as the peppermint then has none of that nauseous, or, at any rate, very disagreeable, smell which accompanies ordinary peppermint lozenges. They are also very useful in travelling, and in India I always carry them, as, if kept out longer in the morning than usual, they at once banish hunger and thirst, and are, besides, very refreshing, and I feel sure would be invaluable in the case of troops marching in hot weather, and where good water is not to be had. They are also very useful when going out after a tiger, and when news of one is brought in my first order is to put up two peppermint lozenges. Another point of value I may here mention. Always, if there is a chance of your being kept out late, take a lantern and matches. We experienced the evil of the neglect of this precaution when returning home. You may have starlight outside the forest, but darkness within, and a lantern is, of course, a great aid, and it is so even when there is moonlight, as you may be either on the wrong side of a ridge or have to pa.s.s through dark bottoms. But now as to the pursuit of the bull.

After resting for several hours we took our way up the ravine in the direction of the point at which the bull entered it. And here we made a cardinal mistake, for we went together, whereas had one of us remained on the gra.s.s land outside, we should almost certainly have got the bull. We, however, omitted to take this precaution, and proceeded up the ravine to within about fifty yards of the spot where the bull entered, when up he got close to us, but without our being able to see him, and went out of the ravine on to the gra.s.s land and down into the main forest beyond, into which we had neither time, strength, nor inclination to follow him. The preceding will be a good lesson to any young sportsman, firstly, as to the value of not following up a wounded animal at once, and, secondly, as to taking every kind of precaution when you do. How often is sport spoiled from the want of appreciating the truism that a wall is no stronger than its weakest point. The importance of carefully guarding and refusing to be decoyed away from the pa.s.s into the main forest is of such consequence that I proceed to enforce it with another ill.u.s.tration.

One day I found a fine bull grazing on the margin of a piece of detached jungle some five or six acres in extent; I got between him and the main forest, to which he would of course fly, fired at him, and he went at once into the ravine, or rather jungle-clad hollow, in front of him. I then ran to the only pa.s.s from it into the main forest, and told the two people who were with me to follow on the track of the bull, at which I should thus have been able to get another shot in the event of his having strength enough to leave the five or six acres of jungle he had entered. I waited for a considerable time, and at last went up the hill with the view of seeing what my people were about, and called out, to be answered by one man on the top of a hill on the other side, and by another from the top of a tree, who said that the bison had attacked them, and that one of them had run out of the jungle and the other up a tree. I called out to the man on the gra.s.s land to go and fetch a dog and some people from the village, and again returned to my pa.s.s, for had the bull once got down into the main forest-which led to the foot of the Ghauts, we should probably have lost him. After rather a long interval some natives appeared with a dog, and I told them to drive the ravine, and soon there ensued a series of charges, accompanied by the barking of the dog, and a general state of confusion, from, which it was evident that the bison had lots of go in him. Still I clung to the pa.s.s. At last my patience was worn out, and I went to look up the bull in the jungle. Horror of horrors! he made off in the very direction of the pa.s.s into the main forest, and had it not been for the dog we should probably have lost him, but I at once set on the dog, and this had the desired effect of making the bull turn, when he came towards us, looking for some one to charge. When he was a few yards from me I gave him a shot which turned him aside, and as he deflected he presented a good shot, and was soon killed.

The jumping, or rather bounding power of the bison is wonderful, and I was accidentally caused to ascertain it in this way. One evening, just at sundown, I found a bull in a very unexpected place, high up on a mountain, with very precipitous sides. He was on the edge of a piece of jungly, swampy land, about half an acre in extent, and when I fired at him he went into this, and I sent my second gun man round to drive him out. He soon appeared, took one look at me at a distance of about fifty yards, and then charged with wonderful suddenness. I was young and active then, and ran sideways to the only tree--a small one on the open land--but I had just time to save myself, for the bull, having struck or grazed the tree with his shoulder, fell at my feet, and as he rose, his horn caught my coat about the armpit and tore a hole in it. He galloped towards me with his nose up, but lowered his head as he approached me, evidently to clear me away. He, of course, was up again in a second, and disappeared over the crest of the hill. The ground I was standing on sloped only slightly upward towards the point at which the bison emerged, there being at the spot a length of about eighty yards of comparatively flat land, which, of course, accounted for the swampy ground, which, by the way, had been partly created by the natives having at some remote time formed a small tank there. Well, the following morning I went to the spot with an English sporting companion, and said, "This is the place where I was charged."

"But," he said, and so said the natives with him, "there has never been a bison here at all," and as there had been some rain the day before, the tracks would, of course, have been plainly visible. As it turned out, we happened to be standing between the tracks, and on measuring the distance between them, we found that the bull had covered twenty-one feet from hind-foot to hind-foot, and that, too, on ground which, as we have seen, sloped but very slightly.

I cannot conclude this chapter without urging sportsmen to use every means in their power which can aid in the preservation of these harmless and interesting animals; and I trust that every effort may be made not only to obtain a Game Preservation Act for India, but to have a special clause inserted in it with reference to cow bisons, and the imposition of a heavy line for killing one of them. Is not the intelligent preservation of game one of the most prominent signs of advancing civilization?

FOOTNOTES:

[24] In Jerdon's "Mammals of India," Roorkee, 1867, p. 304, however, I find that it is stated that the bison do ravage the fields of the ryots, but Mr. Sanderson has no mention of their doing so, and he had the best opportunities for observation.

CHAPTER VII.

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 const.i.tutes 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 att.i.tude 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 circ.u.mstance 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 G.o.ds 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 a.s.sembled, 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 pa.s.sing 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 quant.i.ty." 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 pa.s.sed 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 quant.i.ty of gold was found to that procured from an equal quant.i.ty 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 a.s.semble 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 peac.o.c.k 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 quant.i.ties 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 quant.i.ties 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 quant.i.ty 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 cla.s.s 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 pa.s.sed 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 Archaeological 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 Archaeological 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 quant.i.ties 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 circ.u.mstances 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 pa.s.sion-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 c.o.c.kroaches, 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 pa.s.sages. 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 b.u.t.ter 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 ill.u.s.trating 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 pa.s.s 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 sc.r.a.ped off the sheets of copper at intervals of about eight hours, and formed into b.a.l.l.s 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.