Coal-Seanis of Van Diemen's Land. 137 



Coal at a very small expense, — it being very near the snr- 

 face. On the River Don the Coal is seen cropping in two 

 places, and here Messrs. Dean and Denny's works are situ- 

 ated ; the seam is from 2 feet 2 inches to 2 feet 4 inches 

 thick, and the Coal in quality is by far the best I have seen 

 in Van Diemen's Land, the per-centage of incombustible 

 matter being 22 per cent, less than any other. Three shafts 

 have been sunk on this seam; the first was sunk within a 

 few yards of where the seam is seen cropping in the river, 

 and in close proximity to a large fault which completely 

 cuts it off. 



In this shaft the Coal was soon, as miners term it, " run 

 out/' and the shaft abandoned; another shaft was then sunk 

 about 30 or 40 yards distant from the first, directly on the 

 strike of the seam, and was carried 80 ? feet through fossili- 

 ferous grey shales without meeting with any indication of Coal, 

 thus proving the existence between the two shafts of the 

 fault above-mentioned. 



The other two shafts are both on the strike of the seam, 

 close to the banks of the river, and about a quarter of a 

 mile apart. 



The one sunk some time since when the Coal was first 

 discovered I could not examine, it being full of water : the 

 Coal was cut in it about 20 feet from the surface, and some 

 six or eight tons raised, which now lies on the bank. 



The other shaft, which had just been completed at the 

 period of my visit, I examined, and obtained the following 

 section : — 



Feet. Indies. 



Mould.. 3 6 



Yellow Clay 2 6 



Grey Sandstone 1 6 



Blue Bind or Shale 2 5 



s 



