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Report on the Soils brought from Chedooba, by H. M. S. < Childers.' 

 By the Officiating Curator, Mus. As. Sco. 



The box of Soils and Minerals, brought by Capt. Halsted, having 

 been referred to me for report, I take leave to subjoin the following 

 remarks to Captain Halsted's very able notes. He has, most unfortu- 

 nately, omitted to bring us specimens, of the different rocks as well as of 

 the soils. It would have been highly desirable to have had a complete 

 series of these, from the beach lines to the highest point, and in various 

 directions, with as many shells and other organic remains, as could be 

 found, and measurements of elevation ; especially those of the ' old 

 beach lines ' alluded to by Captain Halsted. Such a series if it can be 

 still obtained, would be of the greatest interest, for we have there an 

 active volcano in the centre of an Island, upheavements going on on 

 the Coast within the memory of man, and coal found ; all within the 

 space of a few miles ! I need not say how valuable rocks and organic 

 remains would be to illustrate all this. 



In the absence of any geological data then my remarks must be mostly 

 agronomical, as regards the soils, and mineralogical in regard to the 

 minerals. I take them in the order in which Captain Halsted has 

 numbered them. 



No. 1. Of this little or nothing can be said in addition to Captain 

 Halsted's remarks. The process of natural manuring, to which he 

 alludes is not however, I should think, the sole cause of the fertility of 

 the soils. It will be seen upon close inspection, particularly with a 

 magnifier, that minute particles of carbonaceous matter are dispersed 

 throughout the mass as if they had been originally deposited with the 

 soil, by whatever process this was formed ; the one described by Captain 

 Halsted would scarcely we may suppose have distributed it so evenly, 

 but a more extended examination on the spot, could alone entitle us to 

 argue safely on the subject which is one of much importance. No 15, 

 is a soil of the same kind, and it has also some, though a smaller, mixture 

 of carbonaceous matter dispersed through it : both appear to be surface 

 soils only. 



No. 2 and 3, are more sandy. No. 3, seems to contain some carbo- 

 naceous matter also. 



No. 4. Remarkably assimilates to the tea soils of Assam and China, 

 in appearance ! and like those of Assam this also occupies the higher 

 spots. As the climate and population of Chedooba probably place tea out 



