1838.] Report upon the Coal beds of Assam. $ 53 



tain H ann Ay states in this letter, that since his arrival at Jypoor he 

 discovered several beds of workable coal, and having been directed to for- 

 ward a few hundred maunds upon which to calculate for trial, had already- 

 commenced clearing a large vein about two miles distant. " As I wished 



the open spaces the surface of the ground is covered with clay-shale and coal, well 

 trodden down by herds of deer and elephants. A little farther on in the same 

 direction, you come upon another rivulet, running west, and intersecting a vein of 

 coal which is probably a continuation of the one worked by me, and it is here 

 visible in a mass of eleven feet in height and as many in breadth. My observations 

 on this vein did not extend farther than this, but on proceeding down the nulla, 

 and also in the southerly direction about six furlongs distant, there are several 

 veins of coal trending in a direction of 335°, the line of dip being 280 o , and at an 

 angle of 45°, thus dipping directly into the centre of the hillocks. J could not work 

 on what (in miner's phrase) is termed the face of the mine, without being- at consi- 

 derable expense in removing such a mass of upper soil, for which I had not a suf- 

 ficient number of the requisite implements, and I was consequently obliged to work 

 directly down upon the vein, and from this circumstance, added to the tender nature 

 of some portion of the coal, there was unavoidably a good deal of waste. The 

 annexed sketch will perhaps shew more distinctly the situation of the vein and its 

 accompanying strata. The method I adopted in digging was as follows. Having 

 cleared away the surface soil, I ascertained the exact stratification of the sandstone, 

 and having dug in the direction of the partings to the depth of J6 inches or two feet, 

 I cut with axes to the same depth across the vein, and the blocks thus turned 

 out, I raised by means of wedges, levers, &c. the best way I could. As might have 

 been expected, I did not find the coal of an equally good quality throughout, at 

 least with regard to hardness and compactness of texture, that which was uppermost 

 being much impregnated with ochery earth, whilst under this lay the hardest and 

 finest specimens, the blocks breaking off large, and the fracture exhibiting that 

 beautiful iridescence said to be common in Newcastle slaty coal. Below the last- 

 mentioned description, and as far as I dug down into the vein, which might have been 

 about six feet, the coal was of a softer nature, intermixed however with many lines of 

 hard, thus exhibiting the variety of fracture found in coal, the trapezoidal, and rhom- 

 boidal mixed in the harder with cubical fragments, and the whole exhibiting what is 

 called by miners "bright heads," having the white shaly concretions and rusty 

 scale visible in every fracture. The structure of the whole vein is cubical, but 

 the outer layer of coal to the left is somewhat different from the rest, the texture 

 of it being the same throughout, and its fracture being exactly similar to that 

 of a slice of wood cut from the stem of a tree, and then broken in a contrary 

 direction. It is not so thick as the other layers, and, there is no intervening shale 

 between it and the tough clay which lies upon it. This layer is also much impreg- 

 nated with mineral tar, which has an aromatic odour, and in several of the masses of 

 coal belonging to it I found a rich yellow-coloured fine clay, having the appearance 

 oforpiment. It will be observed by the accompanying sketch, that I had no hard 

 or rocky substance to encounter, which is a great advantage, both with regard 

 to expense and facility in working ; I only worked the coal to the extent of 15 yards 

 in the length of the space, and six feet in depth, and although I found a good deal of 

 ponderous slaty substance, much impregnated with pyrites, on which pick-axes 

 struck fire, still I did not come upon rock ; and to all appearance the vein of coal 

 may extend many yards farther down. The breadth of the vein, including the part- 

 ings, is about 9 feet, and the loss in digging must have been about one-third of the 

 whole quantity excavated. On examining the beds of two small water-courses which 

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