The reader will see by a glance at the map that the auriferous tracts of Mysore (to which I shall presently more particularly allude) are of great extent, and, judging from the report of the geological surveyor employed by the Government, and especially from the existence of numerous old native workings, there is no reason why prizes even greater than the best of those already obtained should not exist. Now one of the greatest obstacles in the way of rapid progress lies in the fact that before mining can be got fairly under weigh much preliminary work has to be done, and the shareholders have therefore a long time to wait before any paying return can be obtained. But if the preliminary work, such as the providing of water, the collection of building materials, and the making of roads, etc., were carried out before a company was formed, mining could be begun at once, and results rapidly arrived at, and the frittering away of money, both in England and India, that at present necessarily occurs, would be averted. Now the country has already been largely explored, and the Government is therefore in a position to know the places where favourable results will probably be obtained, and as the State, besides the other advantages I have previously pointed out, gets a royalty on the gold, it has a natural interest in doing its utmost to select the most favourable sites for new mining operations. Such sites then should, with the aid of experienced mining advisers, be selected by the Government, which itself should execute the preliminary works previously specified, and then advertise the blocks, so selected and prepared, for sale in the London market. For such prepared blocks purchasers could readily be found, and if the price they paid merely covered the bare cost of the preliminary works, the expenditure of capital that would thus be stimulated, with all its consequent direct and indirect advantages to the province, would amply repay the Government for its trouble and outlay. But the State may give yet another stimulus to mining, which, I feel sure, would prove of great advantage to the State. The present royalty is five per cent. on the value of the gold produced, and from this source the Government last year received 5 lakhs and 18,000 rupees. Now the prosperous companies which are paying good dividends do not feel this to be a very serious burden, but it is a serious burden--every shilling of expenditure indeed is--to a company which has not begun to pay dividends, and I would suggest that, till a company is able to pay dividends, one-half of the royalty, or, better still, the whole of it, might be remitted. This sum would by no means be lost to the State, for does not the milk that is left in the cow go to the calf?