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WATER AND FUEL SUPPLY.
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35
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I
need scarcely tell the reader that a good water supply is one of the
most important elements of success in mining in this district. Without
water power, the increase in the cost of driving machinery must
necessarily be very great. Steam engines require fuel, either coal or
wood. Of coal the Wynaad has none; of wood the supply is limited,
except in a few estates. The cost of the latter, too, will surely
increase as consumption goes on.* Hence the value of a sufficient and
constant water supply can scarcely be over-estimated.
There
are said to be twelve streams that take their rise in and flow through
the South Indian property. And though not one of them in itself has
sufficient volume to be of any service for motive-power, yet in
combination—and they combine just before crossing the boundary at the
head of the G-lenrock Valley—they form what I may fairly call a little
river with a rapid fall.f
The
site of the reduction works is reached from the head of this race by a
scramble over boulders of rock and fallen trees, the river dashing in a
series
*
Fortunately in Glenrock we have about 1800 acres of grand forest, which
will become more and more valuable every year. It is no exaggeration to
say that its value may equal the whole cost of the estate.
■
It will be seen how important it is that the two companies should be
worked together. Each is dependent upon the other, and a separation of
interest, or even divergence in the system of working, would lead to
difficulty, and necessitate vastly increased expenditure by both mines.
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