560 



EEPOET OF EXPEDITION 



near whicli we had an opportunity of examining one of the 

 beds reported to be coal, and the great salt bed at Jutta. 

 The coal proved to be a subordinate bed of bituminous shale, 

 included between the arenaceous strata of the salt formation 

 and an overlying stratum of fibrous gypsum. Although an 

 anxious search was made both by Dr. Lord and myself, 

 neither of us came upon any organic remains, vegetable or 

 animal, either in the sandstone or in the shale. ^ Neither our 

 time nor the state of the country admitted of our examin- 

 ing the other reputed localities near Khoorpa and Nuryoob ; 

 but as the geological features of the country were exhibited 

 on a great scale, and displayed much uniformity of character 

 throughout, it is probable that no considerable difference 

 could have been found in these. I arrived at the opinion 

 that there are no grounds to believe that any considerable 

 coal deposit exists in the salt range, the specimens dis- 

 covered proving to be either mineral pitch or bituminous 

 shale,^ and that shale containing not a trace of organic 

 remains, or anything resembling a vegetable impression. It 

 appears probable to me that the carboniferous bed discovered 

 by Lieutenant Wood near Kala Bagh is of a relatively 

 modern era, so to speak, compared with any great system of 

 coal measures, and that the mineral does not occur there or 

 at any point in the salt range near the Lidus, of a description 

 and in a quantity fit to be worked for fuel. In connection with 

 this point, I may here add that the ' coal ' of the Sewalik 

 hills, mentioned by Dr. M'Clelland and in the Report of the 

 Coal Committee, as found near Hurdwar, is a tertiary 

 ' lignite,' occurring in thin seams or in detached masses, 

 formed probably by the bituminization of single portions of 

 wood washed into the alluvium during the deposition of the 

 strata ; and after an extensive examination of the Sub- 

 Himalayah Hills, from the Ganges on to the Sutlej, and at 

 several points between that river and the Indus, I am of 

 opinion that there are no grounds to believe that a coal 

 formation anywhere exists along the tract, or that the 

 mineral is to be found in any other state than that of isolated 

 masses or thin seams of lignite. 



7. From Jutta we returned to Kohat, where we had an 

 interview with Sultan Mohamed Khan, who had displayed 

 every inclination to further the objects of our journey to the 

 utmost of his ability. He possesses a certificate from Mr. 



' In a letter to Captain Cautley, how- 

 ever, dated Caslimeer, January 11, 1838, 

 Dr. F. observes : ' I got fossil remains 

 in a limestone near the salt range close 

 toKohat.'— [Ed.] 



* It is a most highly bituminized 



pitch coal, compact and very splendent, 

 and so inflammable as to catch fire in 

 the flame of a candle, and burn freely, 

 caking and leaving a spongy coke. — 

 Letter to Captain Cautley, 1838. — 

 [Ed.] 



