DETAILED ACCOUNT OF SOME RECENT EXPERIMENTS. 39 



The Agra boring performed during the years 1884 to 1886 

 _ . although it failed entirely to prove the existence 



1 he Agra bonn g. l 



of any artesian supply of drinkable water, is 

 most interesting from a geological point of view, for it is the only 

 one amongst the borings accomplished in the Indo-Gangetic alluvium 

 that has been carried down to the underlying rock. After traversing 

 513 feet of alluvial strata, the boring penetrated 132 feet further 

 into the Vindhyan formation, making the total depth 645 feet. 

 Before the commencement of the work Mr. Medlicott was consulted 

 as to the chances of success. He had already advocated Lucknow 

 as a promising locality, but with respect to Agra, he was careful 

 to state that although the existence of artesian water was possible, 

 yet the proximity of the southern boundary of the alluvium ren- 

 dered success very doubtful: the supply of water from the southern 

 edo-e cannot be great, and the possible supply from the Himalayan 

 border cannot very well be relied upon on account of its great 

 distance. 



Like the other borings through the Ganges alluvium, the Agra 

 well illustrates the great thickness of that formation. The fact that 

 the alluvial formation extends up to a depth of 513 feet so near to 

 the southern border, shows how rapidly the floor of underlying rock 

 must shelve beneath the accumulation of fluviatile deposits. The 

 bottom of the alluvium at Agra is only 5 feet above sea-level. 



The boring was commenced on the 5th of June 1884, and it struck 

 the bottom of the alluvium in May 1885. There remained very 

 little chance of finding a supply of water when once the floor of 

 older rock had been struck, and on the 7th June 1885 the boring 

 was discontinued, agreeably to Mr. Medlicott's recommendation. 

 It was subsequently decided by the Municipality, with the authori- 

 zation of the Collector and Commissioner, to continue the experi- 

 ment, and work was resumed on the 21st August of the same year, 

 and the boring continued through rock up to the depth of 645' j" 

 which was reached in July 1886. It was then considered useless to 



( 39 ) 



