COAL. 53 



recommended that the drift should be continued to a length of 300 or 

 400 feet into the hill side. Mr. Tyndall thought he would be able to do 

 this, although progress is not easy with ordinary kulis unaccustomed 

 to mining work. Mr. Blanford states that in the Raniganj field, the 

 coal of the Raniganj group is more regular and of more even quality 

 than that of the Barakars, and the seams have a uniform thickness over 

 considerable areas.* If then, as seems not improbable, the Darjiling 

 beds represent the Raniganj group, it may be inferred with some pro- 

 bability that the seams possess a considerable degree of persistency. 



With respect to the amount of coal existent, I have already alluded 



to the difficulty of determining the number of 



Amount of coal. - . ^ 



actual seams. Ine above list ot out-crops is not a' 



long one, but the time at my disposal only allowed o£ my going up the 



principal streams. An exhaustive search in all the smaller streams 



would undoubtedly increase it considerably. On the other hand, in some 



rivers, like the Tista, where the rocks are fairly exposed, while seams of 



a few inches thick are numerous, not one of importance is visible. 



The crushing to which the coal has been subjected has induced 



„ , , ,.,. „ a flaky structure, which renders it so friable that 

 Crushed condition of J 



coal « it can be crumbled into a flaky powder between 



the fingers with the greatest ease. It was simply dug out of the Tin- 

 dharia drift with kodalis, and a large proportion was extracted in powder, 

 whilst what remained in lumps crumbled down on the application of the 

 least violence ; if handled roughly, or let fall a few inches, the lumps fell to 

 pieces. The coal is not quite homogeneous in this respect ; some samples 

 from the Tindharia drift were a little firmer than others, but the difference 

 was trifling, and the coal at the end of the drift, 40 feet from the original 

 out-crop, was as soft and flaky as at the surface. This proves beyond 

 question that the flakiness is due entirely to crushing and not in any 



* Vol. Ill, pt. l, p. 40. 



( 53 ) 



