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  ECONOMIC 
  GEOLOGY. 
  159 
  

  

  Nummulitic 
  strata, 
  but 
  it 
  was 
  immediately 
  abandoned 
  and 
  is 
  full 
  of 
  

   water. 
  No 
  details 
  of 
  the 
  experiment 
  are 
  known; 
  but- 
  my 
  colleague, 
  Mr. 
  

   Blanford, 
  in 
  a 
  memorandum 
  on 
  the 
  subject, 
  says 
  that 
  petroleum 
  certainly 
  

   exists 
  here. 
  A 
  copious 
  evolution 
  of 
  marsh-gas 
  takes 
  place 
  from 
  some 
  

   cracks 
  in 
  the 
  soil 
  in 
  the 
  immediate 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  shaft, 
  but 
  I 
  did 
  not 
  

   detect 
  any 
  traces 
  of 
  petroleum 
  ; 
  but 
  as 
  my 
  visit 
  was 
  immediately 
  after 
  the 
  

   close 
  of 
  the 
  rains, 
  any 
  slight 
  traces 
  would 
  be 
  then 
  less 
  perceptible 
  than 
  

   at 
  other 
  times. 
  

  

  The 
  localities 
  I 
  shall 
  now 
  describe 
  have 
  all 
  been 
  discovered 
  within 
  

   the 
  last 
  few 
  years, 
  and 
  all 
  in 
  a 
  similar 
  way, 
  by 
  the 
  contamination 
  of 
  the 
  

   water 
  in 
  the 
  streams, 
  when 
  at 
  their 
  lowest 
  in 
  the 
  months 
  of 
  March, 
  April 
  

   and 
  May. 
  At 
  such 
  times 
  the 
  running 
  water 
  of 
  the 
  small 
  streams 
  has 
  

   disappeared 
  and 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  pools 
  are 
  left, 
  or 
  a 
  little 
  water 
  is 
  merely 
  

   obtainable 
  by 
  digging 
  in 
  the 
  bed 
  of 
  the 
  stream. 
  Where, 
  therefore, 
  there 
  

   is 
  any 
  petroleum 
  in 
  the 
  rocks 
  through 
  which 
  the 
  streams 
  pass, 
  its 
  flavor 
  

   is 
  communicated 
  to 
  the 
  water, 
  and 
  its 
  presence 
  thereby 
  revealed 
  when 
  

   otherwise 
  it 
  would 
  escape 
  detection. 
  The 
  first 
  locality 
  in 
  Western 
  Prome, 
  

   where 
  a 
  little 
  petroleum 
  was 
  obtained 
  is 
  situated 
  near 
  Padouk-ben, 
  a 
  

   village 
  about 
  seven 
  miles 
  in 
  a 
  straight 
  line 
  West-by-north 
  from 
  Thaiet- 
  

   mio. 
  The 
  rocks 
  here 
  are 
  soft 
  earthy 
  bluish 
  sandstones 
  and 
  shales 
  

   of 
  the 
  newer 
  Tertiary 
  series 
  which 
  here 
  dip 
  at 
  low 
  angles 
  and 
  present 
  

   no 
  appearance 
  which 
  would 
  intimate 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  the 
  oil. 
  Several 
  

   square 
  shafts 
  were 
  sunk 
  at 
  this 
  spot, 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  bed 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  stream, 
  

   through 
  tender 
  sandstone, 
  to 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  some 
  twenty 
  feet, 
  and 
  a 
  small 
  

   quantity 
  of 
  oil 
  was 
  procured, 
  at 
  about 
  twelve 
  feet 
  from 
  the 
  surface, 
  

   which 
  according 
  to 
  my 
  information 
  did 
  not 
  increase 
  as 
  the 
  shafts 
  were 
  

   deepened, 
  and 
  the 
  work 
  has, 
  I 
  believe, 
  been 
  since 
  abandoned. 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  the 
  oil 
  being 
  met 
  with 
  at 
  a 
  depth 
  a 
  little 
  below 
  

   the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  stream 
  (the 
  shaft 
  having 
  been 
  put 
  down 
  

   a 
  little 
  way 
  up 
  the 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  bank), 
  and 
  considering 
  the 
  porous 
  nature 
  

   of 
  the 
  tender 
  sandstone, 
  wherein 
  the 
  shafts 
  were 
  sunk, 
  I 
  am 
  inclined 
  to 
  

  

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