24 RANIGANJ COAL FIELD. [ChAP. II. 



explorations, has richly returned the loan by the assistance which its 

 rocks, read by the light thus discovered elsewhere, have given to the 

 further elucidation of other areas. 



The description of the Geology of the Raniganj basin is given in 

 detail in the following pages. 



Chapter II. — General Topography and Geology. 



The area of. coal-bearing rocks, known as the Damuda or Raniganj 

 field, lies between latitude 23° 35'' and 23° 45' 



Position of field. 



North, and longitude 86° 40' and 87° 15' East, and 

 at a distance of from about 120 to 160 miles North-west of Calcutta. 

 Its greatest linear extent is from W. by N. to E. by S. ; the length of 

 which, from near Gryra dak bungalow, on the Grand Trunk Road, and 

 from Girwa Hill on the West, to the extreme point towards the East at 

 which coal is known to occur, viz. the neighborhood of Harisptir, is 39 

 miles ; but there can be no doubt of a considerable extension further 

 East, although it is concealed by over-lying laterite and alluvium. How 

 far it extends is uncertain ; a careful examination of the surface has 

 only shown that the few rocks seen about Khyrasol, and from thence 

 towards Ukra, are distinct from any beds seen within the area of the 

 field. They are, doubtless, higher, but whether coal-bearing rocks 

 underlie them or not, cannot be positively ascertained by an examination 

 of the surface. 



The greatest breadth on a line at right angles to the above is from 



the neighborhood of the Adjai, north of Chu- 



raly a, Madanpur, Domahani, and Panuri, to Beha- 



rinath Hill, or from Afzalpur to near Giisra and Kastura, a distance 



