6 HUGHES. — KARANPtJRA COAL-FIELDS. 



the plain. They are for the greater part made up of metamorphic 

 strata, but some are capped by unaltered sandstones and shales, and by 

 laterite. 



These rocks invariably betray their presence by the flat appearance 

 of the hill upon which they occur, and the contrast between these and 

 the picturesque ragg-ed-peaked, and sharp-ridged metamorphic hills is 

 strikingly seen in the same range. 



Owing to the situation of the field, so near to the head of the 



Damuda valley, most of its drainage channels 

 Drainage. . . . . . 



take their rise, either Within the area of the 



sedimentary rocks, or at a short distance beyond their boundaries. . 



The only river of any dimension is the Damuda. It enters the 



field near Mahlan, but it is no longer the broad 



open river which passes by Kaniganj, but a small 



stream scarce 50 yards in width. Its channel increases in size as it 



goes eastward, and when it leaves the south Karanpura field opposite 



Changarha it is of considerable breadth. 



Nowhere does the Damuda present any special beauty of scenery, 

 and the same remark holds good whenever it passes through the sedi- 

 mentary rocks of the other coal-fields. 



When gneissose and other metamorphic strata form its bed, it 

 exhibits some diversity of appearance ; but, as a whole, the Damuda 

 is a river devoid of any scenic attractions. Throughout its course, 

 as far as I have traced it, from Raniganj to near the base of the 

 Chota-Nagpur table-land, I know of only one locality that deserves 

 mention and that is, where the Bera nadl meets the Damuda, near the 

 eastern boundary of the Ramgarh coal-field. Here, the combination 

 of rock, wood-land, and water scenery, is well worthy of admiration, 

 and my colleague, Mr. Ball, has graphically described the beauty of the 



spot. 



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