1838.] Mr. Kittoes tour in Orissa. 1061 



their object being to decoy me from the site of the rich lands which I 

 should otherwise have seen ; my companion Mr. B. came by the latter 

 route, while I was completely at the mercy of my guides, having a pal* 

 kee for my only conveyance. I however walked the greater part of the 

 way, and passed several villages, all of which appeared to possess much 

 cattle ; the pasture land is very rich. 



The chain of low and isolated hills to my left (south) came here near- 

 er to the river ; the ground undulated considerably, and in many places 

 I met with extensive beds of shingle containing the debris of rocks, com- 

 mon in the more elevated mountain chains of Hingool y Talcher and 

 Rehrakhol, with which is mixed much jasper, laterite and iron stone 

 conglomerate. 



A great variety of small fish were brought, among which I observed 

 some species quite new to me, of a couple of which I took drawings. 



In the evening I was visited by an intelligent ascetic, from whom I 

 learned much concerning the coal beds in Talcher and its vicinity, 

 particularly one called Hingolai Thakooranee ; indeed I am entirely 

 indebted to this individual for its discovery, no pains being spared to 

 mislead and deter me from going beyond Talcher. 



On the 1 8th I continued my march, and was again led by a round- 

 about path to a small hamlet on the river side called Kumlung, a short 

 distance beyond the village of Mungulpur : it is on the boundary line 

 between Talcher and Dehennul. 



The bed of the river here is about a furlong and a half wide, the 

 water flows under the opposite bank where there are granite rocks ; it 

 is still, and very deep ; I found a great abundance of coal scattered 

 over the sand, which removed the doubts I had hitherto entertained of 

 its existence in this neighbourhood. 



I was informed that the navigation of the river from Talcher to as 

 far as Kurgparsad is considered dangerous for large boats, which are 

 consequently not brought higher up than that place, where the first 

 rocks occur ; therefore should the coal fields ever be worked, it will be 

 necessary to remove these rocks, which might be done without much la- 

 bor or expense, there being few that I should consider really dangerous. 

 19th, Camp Talcher, Patna. Marched this morning at an early hour ; 

 the distance was about five miles over an undulating country with little 

 jungle but much high grass. There were few villages and the cultivation 

 very limited. The soil appears remarkably poor with much gravel mix- 

 ed with it ; the sandstone rock predominates : there are however some 

 huge masses of granite protruding through the soil, having a very 

 curious appearance. 

 6 s 2 



