26 THE COAL Oi' ASSAM. 



-every way ; and on this account alone it would he most desirable that 

 some -change should be speedily made in the present system of working- 

 "the coal deposits. The native contractor,, whose interest in the mines is 

 of the most temporary nature^ seems to pay little attention to this im- 

 portant matter; there were numerous complaints at the Terap of 

 ihe labourers being constantly in arrears of pay. 



Assam has not escaped the usual fate of newly opened regions, of 



having its " mineral resources^^ spoken of in the 

 Mineral resources. 



most extravagant and unrounded manner ; it may, 



therefore, be expected that I should offer some remarkson the same sub- 

 ject. With the exception of coal, of which the province seems to have a 

 fair share, its mineral resources, as far as I can judge, approximate to 

 a minimum. Even some of the commonest substances of extensive and 

 necessaiy demand ure unusually deficient. The whole of Upper and 

 Middle Assam is supplied Avith lime from stones 

 picked up in the beds of torrents north-east of 

 Suddya, at a distance, in many case^;, of several hundred miles. Such a 

 source is necessarily limited, the process of boulder production and dis- 

 tribution being slow, and would soon perceptibly decrease if the demand 

 were at all active; but the inhabitants, settlers included, for the most 

 part content themselves with buildings of wood or of mud, and the 

 public works are as yet imperceptible. If the eoal-measur«s are of the 

 -age I suppose them to be, it is to be regretted that the limestone, which 

 accompanies them in the Cossyah Hills, sheuld not continue ; but even 

 there its presence is capricious ; if it has any representative in Assam, it 

 must be very subordinate. The only symptom of limestone I obtained in 

 this position was one small piece (of a light gray, veined variety) in the 

 Makoom River ; I could not say whence it came. I was surprised to 

 see that no use seems to be made of the bed of limestone at the Namba 

 Falls ; its existence has long since been made known by that indefatig^e 

 explorer and collector, Mr, Masters, of Golaghat. The free stones of 

 ( 412 ) 



