'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME I' [‎260v] (537/820)

500
MAD—MAD
The inferior cooly breaks the stones brought out of the mine and picks
out the turquoises, which are collected by the Zakit. The establishment
employed on the above three mines at present is:—
On the Zak-i-Vlla mine *—
%
Between
Between
9 a.m. to 3 P.M.
3 and 9 p.m.
Zabita .. ..
3
3
Ustada .. .. ,.
12
12
Coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. .. .. ..
.. 25
Nil
On the Chirdgh Kush mines —
•
Zdbits .. .. ..
3
3
Ustada .. ..
12
12
Coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. .. •
6
Nil
On the GaudaUi-Karboldi Hasan mine —
Between
Between
9 a.m. to 3 P.M.
3 and 9 P.M.
Zdbita ,, ,.
3
3
Ustads .. ,, ..
12
3
Coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory.
6
Nil.
Two ustads make a hole about a foot long in the rock with a sharp tool
and a hammer and then blast it with gunpowder. The stones thus blasted
out are sent out of the mine where they
are broken and
the turquoises
picked out. The smaller pebbles are then sifted and washed,
, and the small
Btones left in them collected, after which
the refuse is thrown away.
All the establishments employed in the
three mines are
under a head
are kept by two mlrzds (clerks) receiving 10 tumdns each per month.
Besides these, two ghuldms (mounted messengers) on 6 tumdns each per
month are employed for carrying, once a week, in a sealed bag, the stones
excavated in six working days (Saturday to Thursday) to the contractor
at Meshed, where they are cut and set into rings for sale.
Fifty soldiers of the Qardl (Turbat-i-Haidaii Battalion) under a Ndib
or Jamaddr are employed as guards on the mines. Th se aro paid by the
contractor at the rate of 7^ krdns each per month and are relieved every
six months.
* To reach it we ascended a very steep path, and had to leave our horses half-way
up. It is nearly at the top and on the precipitous side of the hill, and must be
considerably over 6,000 feet above the sea. At the mouth there is a small kdge
with just sufficient room for half a dozen men to sit on it, and to break the fragments
of rock which are being brought up continually from below. They break these frag
ments with hammers, and when they discover a turquoise they extract it Avith its shell
of rock, and place it on one side. And it is thus sent to Meshed. No one can really
judge whether it will be good or bad till the cutter has subjected it to grinding.
Around the mouth of the mine, perched on other ledges, are numbers of small boys
who sift the earth of soft sandstone which comes up from the mine. The mouth
of the mine is a hollowed out cave, about 12 yards across, with a shaft at the mouth
about 5 yards in diameter, running straight down. Two men sit at the top and turn,
with their feet, a wheel which brings up bags containing the debris, and Avhich are
received, emptied and returned by another man. Forty feet down the shaft others
were at work on a ledge in the same manner, so that the mine cannot be much less
than 100 feet in depth and must be pretty extensh^e. Some of the mines are entered
meiely by a shc.ft down which there is just room for a man to descend.— [Thomson.)
k