Undercover - In China - Book 7

Part 49 - Drilling for Natural Gas

The tower supported two wheels, mounted on a common axle, each about four metres in diameter. The whole contraption was made out of bamboo poles neatly lashed together. One of the wheels was a giant spool for a cable, made out of braided bamboo strips, which disappeared through a hole in the roof of the shed. A small waterfall cascaded down the face of the cliff near the other wheel so we guessed it was a waterwheel, although it was not turning. 

 Denny explained that Lu Bu was drilling a well in hope of finding a source of natural gas or salty water. If he was lucky, and the local mandarins didn't levy too much tax, he would boil the water off and sell the salt for a good profit. 

 Inside the shed, Lu Bu finished off an intricate splice attaching the cable to the end of a solid bar of cast iron about ten centimetres diameter and two metres long. Denny explained that this was the drill bit and, with a sly grin, asked us to pick it up. Miguel and I tried to lift it, but it was far too heavy. Lu Bu laughed and pulled down on an overhead lever, lifting the bar easily until it dangled vertically from the end of the cable. 

 Denny explained that when the drill bit was lowered to the bottom of the hole, he or Lu Bu raised it by stepping onto the end of a lever. He then stepped off quickly so that the drill bit dropped and smashed into the bottom of the hole, pulverizing the rock. Periodically the drill bit was removed from the hole, using the water wheel to wind up the cable, and the crushed rock and water at the bottom of the hole was removed with a weighted bamboo tube having a flap valve at the bottom end. He directed Miguel and me to swing the drill bit over a neat hole in the stone floor and he slowly lowered the drill bit into it. It would take some time, he said, because the well hole was already hundreds of metres deep and he had to inspect the cable as the drill bit descended. We left Licia controlling the speed of the winding drum by hanging onto a brake lever and everyone else went outside to look at the broken rudder pintle.

We watched while Denny and Lu Bu heated a metal bar in a charcoal fire before hammering it into shape and rivetted it to the rudder. They didn't drill the holes in the rudder they simply used the hot rivets to burn their own holes through the wood and then quenched the rivet and the burning wood with water. We were admiring the repair when Denny and Lu Bu went back into the hut to check up on Licia. Soon afterward, the sound of a horse made us look up. 'Houston, we have a problem,' Miguel whispered.

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