INTRODUCTION. 3 



and that which has been obtained regarding the various iron deposits, will 



probably be considered sufficient to determine 

 Iron orGS* 



the questions as to the projected establishment of 



an iron factory and the selection of the best route for connecting the 



district with the East Indian Railway. 



For reasons that will be given on subsequent pages, the titles Aurunga 



and Hutar have been adopted to indicate in future 

 Titles of fields. , , n ^ i . , • 



these two areas or coal measures ana their associ- 

 ated sedimentary rocks. 



Although it will be necessary to describe each field separately, the 

 Arrangement of sub- preliminary chapters in this account, which refer 

 3®°*^- to previous observers and to the general physical 



features and geological structure of the surrounding country, will be 

 common to both. This is not merely a matter of convenience, but is 

 rendered necessary from the fact that the existence of two distinct 

 fields was not apparently realised by any one who has hitherto written 

 on the subject. Further, the advantage of describing the physical 

 features in one continuous account is sufficiently obvious. For very 

 much the same reasons, the concluding chapter on the economic resources 

 will refer to both fields and also to the surrounding area of crystalline 

 rocks, since it will thus be easier to treat as a whole the comparative 

 and general aspects of the conditions under which the coal, iron and 

 other minerals occur, their value and availability. It is therefore the 

 purely descriptive geology of the fields alone which it will be necessary 

 to submit to separate treatment and description. 



( 3 ) 



