KHASI HILLS. 191 



ticable : and Lieutenant Yule has himself shown that the cost of trans- 

 port by a continuous cart-road, with gradients adopted to the use of or- 

 dinary carts, would be greater than the cost under the present system 

 of coolies, independently of any consideration of the cost of construct- 

 ing such a road, (a) 



In the preceding part of this Report, I have briefly described the 

 mode of occurrence of the coal-bed at Cherra Poonjee, its thickness 

 and its accompanying rocks. I have also alluded to the irregularity of 

 its development, and to the presence of this character at all the points 

 where coal has been observed in the Khasi Hills. It still remains to 

 estimate, as fairly as can be done under these conditions, the quantitv 

 of coal existing in the Cherra ridge. 



The importance of this consideration has been most justly and 

 forcibly alluded to by Lieutenant Yule in his Report. He says — " In de- 

 " aiding on the propriety of executing any work for facilitating the car- 

 " riage of the coal, the first question which arises naturally is, whether 

 "the Cherra seam is sufficiently extensive to justify entering on any 

 " measure of the kind. After having expended many Rupees in 

 " making the coal mine more accessible, it would be awkward to find that 

 " the coal also had been expended in the niean time. I have done as 

 "much to ascertain the extent of the seam, as could be done without 

 " going to a much greater expense than would have been justifiable 

 "without special orders on the subject. And I have connected the 

 " points at which I know coal to exist by a sketch. There is, I think, 

 " no reason to doubt that all these points are portions of an uninter- 

 " rupted bed of coal ; and taking this for granted, I calculate the 

 " quantity of coal in the ridge with an average thickness of five feet, 

 " to be 50,000,000 of cubic feet, or about as many maunds." 



(a) There is a serious objection to this plan, arising from the extremely wet climate. 

 The greater part of such roads should necessarily be paved with stone, to preserve them ; 

 and constant travelliug on such paved roads would very soon knock up any bullocks. 



