A´I´N 37.
ON MATCHLOCKS, &c.

These are in particular favour with His Majesty, who stands unrivalled in their manufacture, and as a markman. Matchlocks are now made so strong, that they do not burst, though let off when filled to the top. Formerly they could not fill them to more than a quarter. Besides, they made them with the hammer and the anvil by flattening pieces of iron, and joining the flattened edges of both sides. Some left them, from foresight, on one edge open; but numerous accidents were the result, especially in the former kind. His Majesty has invented an excellent method of construction. They flatten iron, and twist it round obliquely in form of a roll, so that the folds get longer at every twist; then they join the folds, not edge to edge, but so as to allow them to lie one over the other, and heat them gradually in the fire. They also take cylindrical pieces of iron, and pierce them when hot with an iron pin. Three or four of such pieces make one gun; or, in the case of smaller ones, two. Guns are often made of a length of two yards; those of a smaller kind are one and a quarter yards long, and go by the name of Damának. The gunstocks are differently made. From the practical knowledge of His Majesty, guns are now made in such a manner that they can be fired off, without a match, by a slight movement of the cock. Bullets are also made, so as to cut like a sword. Through the assistance of the inventive genius of His Majesty, there are now many masters to be found among gunmakers; e. g., Ustád Kabír, and Husain.

Iron, when heated, loses about one-half of its volume.

When a barrel is completed lengthways, before the transverse bot­tom piece is fixed to it, they engrave on it the quantity of its iron and the length, both being expressed in numerals. A barrel thus far finished, is called Daul. In this imperfect state they are sent to His Majesty, and delivered, in proper order, at the Harem, to which place they are also brought for….* At the same time, the weight of the ball is fixed, and the order is given for the transverse section of the matchlock. For long guns the weight of a ball does not exceed twenty-five tánks, and for smaller ones, fifteen. But balls of the former weight no one but His Majesty* would dare to fire. When the barrels are polished, they are again sent to the Harem, and preserved in proper order. They are afterwards taken out, and closed by the order of His Majesty with a transverse bottom piece. Having been put to an old stock, they are filled to one-third of the barrel with powder, and fired off. If no taráwish* takes place, and the trial is satisfactory, they take the barrels again to His Majesty, who gives the order to finish the mouth piece of the barrel. After this the gun is again placed on the stock, and subjected to a trial. If the ball issues in a crooked line, the barrel is heated, and straightened by means of a rod introduced into it, and, in the presence of His Majesty, handed over to a filer. He adorns the outside of the barrel in various ways, according to orders, when it is taken to the Harem. The wood and the shape of the stock are then determined on. Several things are marked on every matchlock, viz., the weight of the raw and the manufactured iron, the former marks being now removed; the place where the iron is taken from; the workman; the place where the gun is made; the date; its number. Sometimes without reference to a proper order, one of the unfinished barrels is selected, and completed at His Majesty's command. It is then entered in another place; the transverse bottom piece is fixed; and the order is given to make the cock, the ramrod, the pargaz,* &c. As soon as all these things have been completed, a new trial is ordered; and when it succeeds, they send in the gun, and deliver it a third time at the Harem. In this state the gun is called sádah (plain). Five bullets are sent along with it. His Majesty, after trying it in the manner above described, returns it with the fifth bullet. The order for the colour of the barrel and the stock is now given; one of the nine kinds of colour is selected for the stock. Guns also differ in the quantity of inlaid gold and enamel; the colour of the barrel is uniform. A gun thus far completed is called rangín (coloured). It is now, as before, handed over together with five bullets; His Majesty makes four trials, and returns it with the last ball. When ten of such guns are ready, His Majesty orders to inlay the mouth of the barrel and the butt end with gold. They are then again sent for trial into the Harem, and whenever ten are quite complete, they are handed over to the slaves.