202 Report of the Coal Committee. [No. 98. 



last report, that can be said to be new, is the delivery of 10,000 

 maunds of Cherra coal at Goalparah, in Assam, at the rate of eight anas 

 per maund,* after the attempt to supply that station during the rainy 

 season with coal at any price from Burdwan had failed. 



Three beds of coal, situated near the foot of the hills, have been 

 brought to notice, but we have no information on the subject to 

 enable us to decide whether these are new discoveries, or merely the 

 bed alluded to in our last reports, as having been brought to notice 

 some twenty-five years ago by Messrs. Jones and Stark. Without 

 going into that question, we shall merely state all we know of the 

 three beds now alluded to. 



The first and most promising, is that of Byrung Poonjie,t situated 

 near a village of that name, within about two miles of water carriage, 

 and the ground such as to allow of the construction of a hackery road. 



We know nothing of the circumstances of the bed, further than 

 is stated by Mr. Landers, a practical gentleman, who has been ap- 

 pointed for the superintendence of coal mines in Sylhet and Assam, 

 and who observes — 



" Byrung coal is of a soft quality, intermixed with stones three feet 

 and a half high and varying in its thickness. The vein runs from 

 east to west, and descends with the hill towards the south : to what 

 extent this field may exist, it is impossible at present to say, the want 

 of proper implements" (these have been since provided) " prevented 

 me from ascertaining ; a trial ought to be made by running galleries 

 into the strata six or eight fathoms, at once to determine both height 

 and quality, and also if it would admit of any outlay." This coal has 

 been tried, and appears to be likely to answer very well for steam, 

 while it has the additional advantage of yielding excellent coke. 



Not far distant from the Byrung bed, there is another at a place 

 called Chiela, or Chaila, which varies from one to three feet in thick- 

 ness. This however is said to be an inferior coal. 



Major Lister, to whom we are indebted for the first and almost 

 the only information we have had regarding the two foregoing coals, 

 states, that Mr. Inglis, of Cuttack, has found a coal bed above Chaila, 

 at a village called Mustuk, about 1,500 or 2,000 feet above the plains, 



* This having been done under the direction of the Marine Board, the Committee 

 have documents on the subject. 



f Communication has heen received from Major Lister since the annexed remarks 

 were written, stating that Mr. Landers has traced the Byrung Poonjie bed for two 

 miles to the westward without finding more on an average than a foot of good coal ; 

 hence Major Lister and Mr. Landers conclude the Byrung bed is not workable. 



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