COAL AND IRON OF CUTTACK. 9 



Upon examination* however, this coal proved to be, according to Mr. 

 Piddington, wholly shale and what i^ called " Top Coal, that is, coal from 

 the upper and generally inferior beds of a mine." Of the coal itself 

 much was composed of layers, in which there were " about equal layers 

 " of shale of a dull black, and of good bright bituminous coal/' Even 

 this coal, separated from its accompanying shale, yielded no less than 

 32'25 per cent, of ash ! 



A picked specimen of the bituminous coal gave 8 per cent, of ash. 

 Mr. Piddington justly stated that' such " coal" would not be worth send- 

 ing to Calcutta for trial on a large scale, and advised a " shaft to be 

 sunk for a good vein." 



It did not, however, appear from Mr. Samuells' accoimt, or from any 

 previous observations, that there was the least ground for estimating, 

 in any way, either the extent or the thickness of the coal-bearing rocks. 

 A haphazard attempt at a shaft would have been wild in the extreme.-|- 



Such was the full amount of available knowledge (up to the year 1855) 



„^ ^ „. , ^. . regarding the coal of the district of Talcheer, in 

 state of infonnation m ° ° ' 



^^^^- the Tributary Mehals. It will be obvious, that no 



attempt whatever had been made to trace out the extent of area occupied 

 by the field, to ascertain the thickness, general character, and relations 

 of the rocks there occurring, or to investigate their connexion with, or 

 their distinctness from, those occurring in other Coal Fields in India. 



The results arrived at, as regarding the quality of the coal, were not 

 very promising, but, at the same time, it was highly desirable to ascer- 



* Journal Asiatic Society, Bengal, No. Ill, 1855, April, p. 240. 



t In 1855 (Joiu-nal Asiatic Society, No. II, 1855) Captain Saxton announced the discovery 

 of beds of coal in the Gangpur Rajah's temtories, some 60 or 60 miles N. W. of the town of 

 Sumbulpore, or about 80 miles N. W. of the N. W. extremity of the field now under descrip- 

 tion. 



Time did not permit of any of the gentlemen of the Geological Survey visiting this district 

 during last season ; but I may add, that Captain Saston, having had the advantage of going 

 over some of the Talcheer country with the Officers of the Survey, stated that this Gangpur 

 coal was not in the least more promising than that of Talcheer. 



C 



