'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III. PART II: L to Z' [‎97v] (199/988)

717
MAS—MAS
MASHlZ— Lat. 29° 55' N. ; Long. 56° 33' E. ; Elev. '
A town in the Kinnan province, the capital of the Bardsir district. It
lines 41 miles south-west of Kirman city, on the road to Bandar 'Abbas via,
Saidahad in the centre of a fertile valley containing many prosperous vil
lages. It consists of some 200 houses, with an estimated population of
1,000 persons, which are built round the ruins of a mud fort standing on a
mound. There is a considerable amount of cultivation in the neighbour
hood. Ordinary supplies are procurable in abundance, as well as excel
lent drinking water from a spring. A mile short of the town are extensive
ruins of the ancient city, once held by the Azrakites, with an interesting
octagonal-domed shrine, called Plr-i-J asus.
The modern town is the head-quarters of the Kirman Regiment.
Mashiz-i-Kuhneh lies about half a mile to the north, and not to the east,
as shown on the Survey of India map (1897 edition).
The following villages are all within 3 miles of MashTz:—
Gurakan—30 houses, 4 ploughs.
Jushur—12 houses.
Sarmul, Tarabad, Sharfabad, 'Abdulabad, Salburd, Karimabad, Bijard,
' Daranu, Ahmadabad.— (Napier, 1899 — Sykes, 1902.)
Iron ore near Mashtz in Bardsir. —About 17 miles from Mashiz in a range
called Dum-i-Gav, and consisting mainly of limestone, ’gypsum and marl
slate, I found a stratum of grey limestone lodged between strata of marl,
alternating with gypsum. This stratum of limestone carried • hematite in
very thin veins, not thicker than I inch, and in small lumps of the size of a
walnut. The outcrop of the stratum -could be traced along a line of 800
feet length, but nowhere did the iron ore occur in such quantities as to be
of any value.
Some crystals of pyrite of iron were also found, but no value could be
attached to this occurrence.
Old copper mines near Mashiz. —Near the old Imamzadeh of Mashiz,
slag was scattered cover the ground where copper ore had been melted. At
the foot of the Kuh-Bagh-Basm, about 7 miles from the village of Mashiz
and near a garden called Bagh Basm, on the left bank of a small stream,
several heaps of slag may be seen. They are light and contain but little
'copper.
About 1 ^ miles west of the Bagh-Basm there are traces of mining work,
which, judging from the weathering of the rock laid open by the work, must
have been carried on a few centuries ago. A trench 64 feet long and 6 to 8
feet wide had been run to extract the ore. The depth could not be ascer
tained, as the trench was entirely filled up with rubbish and rocks, but it
was scarcely more than 15 or 20 feet. Heaps of rubbish were lying near
this old open mine. They consisted of pieces of basalt, the surface of which
was partially covered with a thin crust of c rbonate of copper. As there
was no calcite or quartzite mixed with the rubbish, it was concluded that
tine copper ore was not found as a vein but as impregnation, filling the
fissures intersecting the basalt. It may, however, be that a \^in was
•extracted and that the output of ore, together with the gang, was carried to
a place where there was enough water for dressing. This opinion was