1848.] Coal Beds in the Namsang Nago Hills. 491 



From pieces of coal and traces observed of excavation made by Mr. San- 

 ders in 1842, 1 am of opinion that there are other beds of coal at various 

 depths under the one at present exposed to view, which is at the point 

 of now being worked, about 10 feet below the surface of the soil. "With 

 a dip of 36° it must increase in depth rapidly, but this renders it not im- 

 probable that coal may be found at a lower elevation in some other part 

 of the valley. 



5. The present Contractor, Muneeram Dewan, has never visited the 

 coal beds, and has shown their capacity by returning 200 rupees of the 

 advance he received. The difficulty of supplying coal from the Nam- 

 sang hills is great, but not in my opinion insurmountable. A respecta- 

 ble man, Roodram Hensoa Boowah,proceeded with me to the coal beds, 

 and after due examination he is willing to contract for the supply of 

 coal at Gowahatty at the rate of 8 annas per maund. I would therefore 

 beg the favor of your permitting an advance to be made to him of 

 Co.'s Rs. 250 on proper security, and sanctioning an outlay of Co.'s 

 Rs. 250 for the clearance of the road from the foot of the hills to the 

 coal beds, a distance of 6^ miles. I am in hopes that by opening 

 the road and making a proper search in the several mountain streams 

 of the low hills, other beds of coal may be discovered more accessible 

 than those at present under notice. 



6. I have not fo warded any specimen of the coal because the pre- 

 sent contractor has furnished several maunds of it to the Steam Agent 

 at Gowahatty. Besides this, the Coal Committee know the quality of 

 the coal from Mr. Sanders' reports and specimens. Mr. Mornay, 

 Superintendent of Assam Company, accompanied me to the coal beds. 

 He has been employed for some time at the Bengal Collieries and his 

 opinion is that the Namsang coal is far superior to any obtained from 

 the Damoodah and Adji coal mines. 



I have, &c. 

 (Signed) John Thornton, 

 Sub-Assistant Commissioner in charge. 

 Seeb-Saugor Commissioner's Office, "I 

 the 9th March, 1848. / 



3 x 



