Correspondence. 117 



9. I have also observed it on the surface in the basin between the 

 ridge of Saddle-shaped hillocks immediately facing the cantonments, 

 called Prospect Hill, and that called Wood's Lookout ; the latter is a 

 narrow perpendicular wall rising from sixty to a hundred feet, and about 

 a quarter of a mile in length. 



10. These, and tbe previous discoveries in the neighbourhood are 

 sufficient to indicate that coal prevails to a great extent in the 

 northern part of the island of Ramree, and when it is added that 

 Captain Williams, the Senior Assistant Commissioner of the District 

 has forwarded to the Committee a quantity of coal brought to him 

 by the natives from the southern part of the island, and that the 

 conveyance by water is available from most parts of the island, I 

 trust that Government will soon send a qualified geologist to ascer- 

 tain how far these coal beds are capable of being worked with profit. 



11. Colonel Hervey has brought with him to Calcutta a dozen boxes 

 containing specimens of the coal and surrounding soils, which he will be 

 happy to place at the disposal of the Committee.* 



Extract of a letter from Dr. Spry, dated 25th March 1841, regarding the 



Cap Island Coal. 



The first thing I did after landing at the picturesque station of Kyuk 

 Phyu, was to inquire after the progress made in the Coal discovery. 

 I found that the principal locality was not on the island of Ramree itself, 

 but on a rock off the island, about a mile distant, known by the name of 

 "the Cap island," but that minute traces of it had been found at a point 

 of the main island which is nearest in contiguity to this rock. I took 

 an early opportunity of availing myself of the kind offer of Mr. Brown 

 the Marine Assistant of the Commissioner of the Province, and Col. 

 Hervey, to whose exertions this interesting discovery I believe belongs, 

 to visit the Cap island and examine the formation. I found it partaking, 

 as might be expected when the general character of the line of coast is 

 taken into consideration, of all the features which denote active volcanic 

 agency. The rock itself is in great part made up of sandstone, but so 

 distorted are the strata by the upheaving force that in places they 



* Under the impression that the Cap island coal was that long since found by Lieut. Foley, on 

 an island opposite to Kyuk Phyu harbour, and which has been found after repeated trials 

 of inferior quality, we did not analyse it. Dr. Hinton has however since pointed out to us the 

 situation of Lieut. Foley's coal on the East coast, while Colonel Hervey's is on the West coast 

 of Ramree. The specimens presented shall therefore be described, and Colonel Hervey's coal 

 marked as a new locality in the proceedings of the Coal Committee.— Ed. 



