40 Progress of the Boring for [Jan. 



VII. — Progress of the Boring for Coal at Jamutra in Cutch. By Capt. 



C. W. Grant, Engineers. 



[Extracted from that Officer's Report to J. Bax, Esq. Sec. to the Bombay Govern- 

 ment, communicated to the Asiatic Society by the Supreme Government, 30th Jan.] 



" On the 3rd instant, I dispatched 125 maunds of coal from the vein 

 at Dujapoor, agreeable to the desire of the Right Honorable the Governor. 



" I continued sinking the bore at Jamutra as mentioned in my 

 letter of the 18th June, until towards the latter end of July, when the 

 rain fell, and the river came down so suddenly, that I had but just time 

 to save the boring apparatus, and it was of course impossible to go on 

 with the work, so long as the monsoon continued. At this time also, the 

 whole of my establishment, my personal servants, and the sepoy guard, 

 were attacked with fever — one man only out of 3 1 escaping it, so that I 

 was obliged to allow them to go into Bhooj, for a few days, for change 

 of air. As soon after the receipt of your letter of the 24th July, as the men 

 had regained sufficient strength to work, I commenced digging out the 

 coal at Dujapoor, and by the beginning of September, had it all ready 

 for shipping to Bombay; since then, we have again been working at the 

 bore at Jamutra, and we have now got down 1 84 feet below the bed of 

 the river, or 190 feet below the general level of the country, principally 

 through the sandstone and slate-clay, with here and there an exceed- 

 ingly hard stratum or band of iron stone, as will be better seen by the 

 enclosed list of the numerous strata passed through. The last 22 feet 

 of white sandstone consists entirely of the finest particles of white 

 quartz, and is evidently the channel of an underground spring; for after 

 sinking through it some feet, the water rcse, and flowed out at the mouth 

 of the hole in large quantities, night and day, without ceasing, as much 

 as could be conveyed away by a seven or eight inch pipe. It is rather 

 brackish, it cannot be otherwise, as it has to pass through 148 feet of 

 very brackish water, which is constantly flowing in from the sides of the 

 hole, before it can reach the surface; but I have no doubt, but that if it came 

 up through pipes, it would be perfectly sweet. I particularly mention 

 this circumstance, as the boring for water is now becoming of great in- 

 terest, and my meeting with a spring 1 90 feet below the level of the 

 plain, shows that success in that line should not be despaired of, even 

 when not found at small depths. The flow of water is constant and uni- 

 form, and runs down the river in a fresh stream, and very much impedes 

 our work; so much so, that added to the great depth of the bore, it 

 renders the work exceeding tedious and difficult. I am only waiting to hear 

 the result of the trial of the coal just sent down, to stop work here, and 

 should the coal be approved of, have it in contemplation to commence a 

 bore at Dujapoor, and see if any other veins lie under the present one. 



