THE COAL OP ASSAM. 11 



gradually dies out in the plains south of Suddya. TheTerap coal region 

 lies on the flank of the main hills to the south of this little rang-e^ from 

 which it is separated by the valley of the Upper Deehing. 



There is thus at the outset a manifestly great advantage in favor of 



the Jaipoor localities and others in the same 



Geographical advant- t j i i i i i i > 



ages of the Jaipoor Zone ; uu'ect and level roads can be run almost 



to the pit's mouth ; in the rains_, boats of the 

 largest size and even steamers can come into the immediate vicinity, 

 and boats of moderate burden can do so throughout the greater part 

 of the year. The Terap field is much further from a market ; unless 

 from Suddya no direct road could be made to it without crossing the 

 Tippum range ; the only water carriage to it is by the Deehing, and this 

 river above Jaipoor passes through a course of rocky banks and strong 

 rapids impassable for steamers or the larger class of native boats. It is, 

 however, fortunate that this valuable coal-field is not quite cut off from 

 this cheapest mode of carriage ; the Mohurrir at the Terap mines told 

 me that boats of 300 maunds' burden can make two trips during the 

 flood season to and from the Dikhoo Mookh. 



At present, however, the great superiority of the coal from the 



Terap over that extracted at Jaipoor more than 



Superiority of the 



Terap field as at present outweighs the geographical advantage of the 



known. 



latter field. All the coal brought to the Bramah- 

 pootra for steam purposes is from the Terap. The Jaipoor coal is used 

 almost exclusively for such purposes as brick and lime burning. A 

 more positive fact of general importance is, that the Terap coal is now 

 delivered at all the stations of Upper Assam at a much cheaper rate than 

 coal brought from Bengal, the latter being probably reduced to a mini- 

 mum cost, while the former is as yet worked under every disadvantage^ 

 at a premium rate, by a thriftless native contractor, under abnormal con- 

 ditions of the labor-market. We may then come to the consideration 

 of the intrinsic conditions of the Terap coal-field. I give it precedence, 

 because it must as yet be looked upon as the coal-field of Assam; and a 



( 397 ) 



