The Press., 1912-12-18
QUEER OLD MINES
The Orpiment Workings In the
 Snow Clad Himalayas.
A DAZZLING BLAZE OF COLOR.


 spIendors of the Dismal Mineral Pits
 as They Sparkle In Brilliant Mosaic
 of Gold and Rubies In the Light of
 the Flashing TorOhes.
 High on the Hanks of Tirich Mir, one of the snow clad giant Hfmalayas or Chitral, are the old mines where orp1- ment is found Orpiment is iaky, flexible mineral, a compound of arsenic and sulphur, the basis of certain beau tiful yellow pigments, the auripigmen- tum of the ancients. In Sport and Life In the Farther Himalayas" Major Kennion describes his visit to these workings, the first visit to them, he was told, ever made by European:
 ''The holes through which the mines are entered are in the face of a precipi- tous rock and are reached by narrow, downward sloping ledge. They were about large enough for hyena to walk into without inconvenience.
 "On my arrival five or six men with | bloodshOt eyes and faces covered with yellow dust crawled out Although not injurious to health, the orpiment, was told, affected the hands of the miners | in peculiar way. That was obvious enough. The hands of many of the | men saw were shrunken to the bone, of a dark slaty color and covered with knots and excrescences.
 q told my guide to lead on, and he disappeared into one of the holes. l l followed more deliberately, surprised l at being able to get in at all. After crawling q few yards we found our selves in a small chamber about eight cen feet long, in which man could stand upright. The air was fresher than I had expected, but there was no orpiment in sight. ... ''In the farther corner there was what looked like well, and toward this my guide led me. Following his | example, sat on the floor and let my self down feet foremost into this dark | and narrow hole. The shaft did not go | straight down, and on the whole 1t was easier to descend than factory ch1m- ney, for here and there were projecting lodges on which you could rest your l toes But for any one except a sweep or an orpiment miner 1t was difficult enough.
 After descending some twenty feet I felt my legs swinging in space. a l hand grasped one foot. guided it to a rock and I let myself down on solid earth. was in another chamber. smaller than the first and stufier. But still there was no Orpiment.
 f0 4 downward direction from the farther end of the chamber. and on one side lot of debris had fallen. My guide cheerfully told me that this was the grave of eight men, who had been bur fed under this fall of stone while work ing at the end of the passage.
 "My guide now disappeared into the hole and I had to follow. There was no room to crawEyou had to lie down and work yourself along with your toes The air was foul and full of sulphurous dust. If it had been possible to turn round and retreat think should have done so. After traversing forty feet. which seemed as many miles. in this | painful manner we reached another chamber. in which 1t was possible to sit up.
 Here at last was the orpiment. and it was almost worth the trouble of com ing to see. Except where the roof was blackened by our torches-the miners do their work in the dark for the sake of purer aIr-the walls of the mine seemed dazzling. scintillating mosaic of gold and rubies. The light was thrown back from an infinite number of glittering points, in which every shade of red and yellow. from the deep est ruby to the most brilliant scarlet from old gold to the palest sulphur. was intermingled to form an inde- serbia ble blaze of color.
 After admiring the fascinating gilt ter and gleam and ever changing blaze of beautiful color of this display of sub terranean splendor for awhile and breaking off few specimens of svari- ous hues began to long for the upper air. So we began the ascent from Aver nus. which I was pleased to find con siderably easier than the descent"