32 Chirr a Punji, fyc. [Jan. 



amidst the wide-spreading confusion, large masses of coal. I took Mr. 

 Cracroft to the spot, and his scientific skill enabled him at once to detect 

 the seam from whence these masses were supplied, and to hazard a confi- 

 dent conjecture that it extended throughout the whole range, and this 

 conjecture has been fully verified by discoveries which have since been 

 made. The specimens which have been sent to Calcutta and proved at 

 the mint, and also by the Secretary of the Physical Class of the Asiatic 

 Society, were taken from the heaps of the material which lay exposed to 

 the air and weather. At the time we thought the specimens excellent, 

 and 1 believe a favorable report was made of them in Calcutta, but we 

 have since ascertained that they are beyond comparison inferior to the 

 coal which has been detached from the seam. This is now in use at 

 Chirra, and is admitted to be of the very finest quality being largely 

 impregnated with bituminous matter, easily converted into coke, and 

 leaving scarcely any ashes or earthy residue : a specimen shall be for- 

 warded to the Society by an early opportunity. This supply which may 

 be wrought with the greatest facility, and which is not more than one 

 mile distant from the Sanatarium, might be estimated to meet the de- 

 mand of ages ; but it is ascertained that the material exists in all parts 

 of the hills in profuse abundance. 



The manner in which the iron ore is obtained and worked is, I believe, 

 fully described in Mr. Cracroft's paper before alluded to ; it therefore 

 only remains for me to state that it may be brought in to any 

 required extent at twenty-five rupees the hundred maunds; tw T o- 

 thirds of this price however may be considered as payment for 

 the conveyance. Any means that can be devised to facilitate this, 

 will proportionally reduce the price. I shall forward to the Society 

 by an early opportunity a few seers of the ore, that its quality may be 

 submitted to experimental proof, and I have reason to believe it will be 

 found of the very finest quality. 



Coke for smelting iron may be made on the spot to any extent, and 

 charcoal for making steel is abundant and cheap, and a little arrange- 

 ment in making it will still farther reduce the price. 



The pipe-clay of Chirra has I believe been already noticed by Mr. 

 Cracroft as a valuable commodity in the manufacture of crucibles, 

 furnaces, and fire-bricks. 



In the neighbourhood of Chirra there are numerous streams that supply 

 sufficient water in the driest seasons, to work overshot mill wheels, but 

 the river which bounds the Sanatarium on the west and south is decid- 

 edly the best that can be selected, from its vicinity to the coal, lime, 

 and charcoal ; also to the bazars, and populous village of Chirra Punji. 

 In the course of this stream* from the village of Chirra to that of Moosmai, 



