MINERAL COALS. 4g3 



the following letter from the commander of the ship we have 

 the results obtained : — 



" H.M.S. Buzzard, at Barbados, 

 "January 6, 1859. 



" I have the honour to inform you that the coals I took on 

 board the Buzzard at Trinidad were fairly tried in one furnace 

 on board this ship. The opinion of Mr. Gilham, the chief 

 engineer, and my own also, is, they are far superior to what we 

 expected. 



" The small quantity that I had to burn had been so long 

 exposed to the air, rain, and heat of climate, that they were 

 very much deteriorated. 



" The coals give a very bright flame, with great heat and 

 little smoke, but burnt so fiercely that we expended at the rate 

 of seventy-two tons per diem. 



■ ( I certainly am of opinion, and also Mr. Gilham, that if 

 coals were dug deeper in the vein they would prove of great use 

 to steamers with tubular boilers. 



" I have the honour, etc., 



(Signed) " Francis Peel, 



" Commander." 



The same vessel having visited Trinidad a few weeks later, 

 the residue of the coal was taken on board and tried in the Gulf. 

 The particulars ascertained were that "whilst the steam was 

 raised and retained at the requisite pressure with equal or greater 

 facility than with the ordinary fuels used, the consumption was, 

 however, much more rapid than in the case of the English, 

 Scotch, or Welsh coals." 



With such facts before me, I repeat what I have already 

 stated, that it is a matter for regret that Messrs. Wall and Saw- 

 kins were not encouraged and assisted in completing their survey 

 of the coal district. They might have come upon seams at such 

 localities wherefrom the transport of the coals would have been 

 easy and unexpensive. But when we look to the report of the 

 surveyors, to the opinion of Sir Roderick Murchison, to the trial 

 made on board the Buzzard, I believe I only express a reason- 

 able opinion when I say that it is highly desirable that the local 

 Government should put our mineral fuels to a fair test ; and 



