GEOLOGY OP SIND. 13 



Extracts from report on the Coal or Lifjnite of Tjij-nyan or Lynali, and the neiyh- 



hourJiood, in Zotver Sind. 



So much iuformatlon upon the coal of Lynyan (Lyneah, or Lynah, &c.), near Kotree 

 in Lower Sind, has already heen comprised in previous Reports, especially in those by 

 Mr. Blackwell (dated 30th April 1858), and by the Committee under Major Malcolm (dated 

 22nd February 1861), that it is quite unnecessary for me to describe either the coal itself 

 or the place where it is found in any detail, and my remarks need only he brief, since, after 

 a careful examination of the locality, I have arrived at conclusions similar to those formed 

 by the gentlemen who preceded me. 

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After staying for two days at the old colliery, and examining the neighbourhood in 

 several directions, I went on to Eunnee-ki-kot (about 30 miles north-west of Lynyan), in the 

 hills. His Excellency the Governor had directed my attention to the spot as probably 

 affording sections of the same beds as those associated with the coal at Lynyan. This I 

 found to be the case, and I was enabled to examine the formation at much greater advantage 

 from the excellent manner in which the strata were exposed on the banks of a stream tra- 

 versing the hills. 



At Lynyan I descended the old shaft, and succeeded in penetrating a few feet into the 

 workings. They had, however, fallen in to so great an extent that I could do little more 

 than enter them. 



The practical value of any coal formation may be considered to depend, provided it Is 

 easily accessible, upon three principal points : — 



1st. — The quality of tbe coal in the seam or seams discovered. 



2nd. — The quantity, that is, the thickness and extent, of those seams. 



3rd. — The existence of other workable seams of coal overlying or underlying that 

 known to occur. 



1st. — The Eeport of Major Malcolm's Committee deals so fully with the quality of the 

 coal which was formerly obtained from the Lynyan colUery that I could have added but little 

 even had my means of judging been equal to those possessed by the members of the Com- 

 mittee, which they were not, in consequence of the mine having been abandoned for some 

 years. I cannot help believing, however, that practice on the part of the Engineers in the 

 river steamers and of others burning the coal, with some simple modifications of the fire 

 grates used, might have overcome some of the difficulties attending its employment. The 

 most serious objection was the large quantity of iron pyrites, and its consequent excessive 

 liability to spontaneous combustion. 



2nd.— The seam, where opened out by Mr. Liman, was 5 feet 9 inches thick. In the well 

 sunk by the Beloochees, in which the coal was first discovered, it is said to have been 7 feet 

 thick, but this appears rather doubtful, for in the plans prepared by Mr. Brunton the under- 

 ground workings are shown to have been stopped near the well (which lies to the eastward 

 of Mr. Liman's shaft), in consequence of the coal thinning out. It is also shown in 

 Mr. Bruutou's plans, and stated in his letter, that the workings were stopped on the north 



