22 Whale's Head and SoutJi Cape. 



Hard anthracite . • ^ inches. 



Coal 6 ditto. 



Black shale 8 ditto. 



The coal which it yields is highly carbonaceous ; much 

 of it has a porous coj^e-like aspect, and it contains iron 

 pyrites to such an extent, that it is disagreeable and in- 

 convenient to breathe the fumes of sulphurous acid gas 

 extricated during its combustion, even when at the 

 distance of some feet from the fire, and in the open air : 

 it is therefore a coal inadmissible for domestic purposes. 



A low and nearly horizontal drift was carried into this 

 seam by the Southport Coal Company some years ago ; 

 and the roof and sides are still perfect from the entrance 

 inwards. 



The coal is not very difficult of ignition : it burns 

 without flame, yielding a strong heat. It has been 

 approved, it is said, for furnaces, or rather for black- 

 smiths' forge-work, — a thing not unlikely, as it partakes 

 a good deal of the nature of coke, which, next to wood- 

 charcoal, is our most valuable heating fuel. 



From a careful examination on the spot, it did not 

 appear to me that the seam would yield more than two 

 feet of useful coal. 



This, taken together with the fact of its being destitute 

 of bitumen, and placed in a situation to preclude the 

 possibility of shipment, except after land carriage to 

 Recherche Bay — a distance of six miles — must, for an 

 indefinite period, shut it out of consideration as an 

 article of statistical value to the Colony. 



]Vo vessel or boat could, even in moderate weather, 

 approach with safety the rocky and iron-bound shores 

 near it. 



It is notwithstanding desirable that the situation, rela- 

 tions, and facilities for obtaining this coal, as well as the 

 value of it when acquired, should be known and recorded, 



