Chap. IV. § 2.] lower damuda group. 67 



Not far North-west of Chanch, a mine was worked for a short time 



in 1855 or 1856, by the Bengal Coal Company, 

 Seam near Patlabari. . . ° r J 



in a seam 20 feet thick, near Patlabari. Very 



little coal was taken out. 



To return to the seams cut through in the Jhelia stream, and to 



Mr. Williams's section, Nos. 21, 30, and 43 were 

 Jhelia section. 



only partially explored by Mr. Williams, the pits 



sunk to prove them being stopped by water. All are thicker than the 



amount given, but it is not known how much. The ground where 



their out-crops were discovered is now the bed of a large tank, so that 



nothing can be seen of them. 



No. 53 — 9 feet thick, is described by Mr. Williams* as a coking 

 coal of excellent quality. A Company was formed to work it, and other 

 beds, and a shaft sunk at Kumardhubi. But disputes arose between 

 rival Companies, and the land fell into the hands of the Bengal Coal 

 Company, who abandoned the mine; it is said by their agents, on 

 account of the bad quality of the coal. 



This bad quality, if the statement be correct, may have been 

 due to either of two causes, both of which have frequently been allud- 

 ed to as influencing the seams of the Lower Damtidas. It is not pro- 

 bable that Mr. Williams, who, from long experience in coal mines, was 

 peculiarly capable of forming a correct opinion, was deceived in his esti- 

 mate of the excellence of the coal at the spots where he excavated ; but 

 from the great tendency of the seams of the Lower Damtidas to vary in 

 quality, it is quite possible that, at 50 yards distance, the coal may have 

 been poor.f In this case, however, there is little doubt that the coal near 



Nearly all the details concerning these beds are taken from Mr. Williams's Eeport. He 

 sank small shafts upon the seams, and, consequently, had better means of judging of their 

 quality than the present Survey. 



f It is only fair to state that, in the strong opinion I have expressed throughout as to 

 the inferiority of the seams of coal in the Lower Damudas, I differ from those who have 

 preceded me in the examination of the field. At the same time, I had the advantage of 



