2 BALL : GEOLOGY OF AURUNGA AND HUTAR COAL FIELDS. 



The main canal having been completed, the questions have recently- 

 Proposed branch line arisen, first, whether, by connecting the Palamow 

 of railway. flgj^jg ^[^^\^ j^\^q j^^st Indian Eailway by means of a 



branch line, or by a branch line and canal combined, a considerable saving 

 in the price of coal, as compared with the cost of that carried from 

 Karharbari, could not be secured for north-western stations ; second, 

 whether the Palamow subdivision does not offer facilities for the manu- 

 facture of iron on the European system. 



A definite estimate of the probable amount and the quality of the 

 Preliminary informa- ^^^^ available, and an examination of the circum- 

 tion required. stances under which the iron ores known to exist 



occur, being preliminary data of great importance in this enquiry, it 

 was determined last year that the geological examination of the area 

 should be resumed^ in continuation of Mr. Hughes^ work on the Dalton- 

 ganj field. 



The Palamow subdivision with the adjoining parganah of Toree, 



which geographically and geologically belongs to 

 Area examined. 



it, though it does not do so fiscally, occupies an 



area of about 4,373 square miles. To geologically examine the whole of 

 this tract, with a degree of detail which would be exhaustive and of 

 permanent value, would occupy several working seasons. It was there- 

 fore considered advisable to make the examination of the coal fields the 

 principal object of the season^s work ; while by making long traverses 

 across the main area of metamorphic rocks, the principal iron localities 

 could be visited, and a certain amount of negative, if not of positive, 

 evidence could be obtained regarding the possible existence of hitherto 

 undiscovered basins occupied by sedimentary rocks. 



The result has fully justified this disposition of the available time. 



Existence of two dis- The so-called Upper Coal Field^ has been found to 



tinct fields ascertained. resolve itself into two distinct and separate fields 



which contain very different qualities of coal ; which information, 



^ It is to be hoped that this ambiguous and misleading title will not be again employed 

 by any one who may have to write of these fields. 



( 2 ) 



