92 BUNDELCUND. 



on which the opinions were founded, except the one — that the shale was 

 like coal. Franklin puts this in the most tangible form : in his notice of 

 the diamond mines he says "in all the glens black bituminous shale 

 crops out from beneath the sandstone. I excavated this shale to the 

 depth of six feet, but the influx of water soon overpowered my operations. 

 I found however that the bituminous qualities of the shale increased — 

 fragments of it throwing out strong shoots of flame ivhen ignited and I 

 was disposed to think that coal was not far distant." I did not excavate, 

 so I cannot give an exact answer to the statement here made, but, for 

 my own part, I am just as satisfied as if I had made a hole. 



On the surface, the stone is quite bleached, but with a small amount of 

 hammering one can obtain a piece which to all appearance is quite un- 

 altered, very nearly jet black and under the lens betraying no symptom 

 of decomposition or loss, its close compact texture is quite unimpaired. 

 I have carefully examined such specimens from various parts of the dis- 

 trict and in none could. I find a trace of volatile matter; the lowest 

 amount of ash was 95 per cent and the combustible element seemed to 

 me to be entirely fixed carbon. The difference cannot be that Franklin 

 hit upon a seam of different material ; I have in many places seen 

 the entire bed exposed and it is every where remarkable for its 

 homogeneous condition; I have also many times seen the complete 

 set of beds in section and there was none more coal-like than what 

 I have described. Within a few feet under it I always found the 

 lower limestone and the Semri sandstone : so that it may be predicated 

 with certainty that any boring attempted on any actual outcrop of this 

 rock would very soon enter these base rocks. The only form the 

 question can take is, whether, further in from the outcrop, this group 

 becomes developed into coal measures : I do not deny the possibility 

 of such a result, but there is not a shadow of sound reason, as far 

 as we now understand these matters, whereon to base an expectation. 

 That carbonized shale is the isolated fact, and it may have been so 



