1845.] On the Course of the River Nerbudda. 355 



a renewal of obstructions. For the river is too large to be retained for 

 any distance by banks or walls across it, so that if the inclination 

 should here and there be moderate, as from Nursing-poor to Hoshunga- 

 bad, Hoshungabad to Hindia, at Mundlaiser, &c., the descents would 

 be still more precipitous at other places, between hills and rocks 

 towering above one thousand feet on either side. 



The country where these obstacles present themselves is mountainous, 

 so that canals could not be cut from any given point above, so as to lead 

 back into the river to a navigable part below, for the descent to the sea 

 is, as it were, in steps. The possibility of making the river navigable of 

 course exists, but the expense would be such as to prevent any attempt 

 being made by the Government ; nor do I think that the outlay could 

 ever be made good. At Hoshungabad, the river is from 700 to 900 

 yards (and even more) wide ; it often in the rains overflows its banks, 

 which are at that place from 50 to 70 feet in height. What command 

 could be hoped for, over such a body of water, running at the rate of 

 six or seven 'miles an hour, only, increasing in size as it flows to the 

 west, where the chief obstacles exist ; at Dhardree vast trees are preci- 

 pitated into the depths below, often coming up shattered into many 

 pieces. 



The native Surveyor in speaking of the rocks, said they were iron- 

 stone, alluding merely to their hardness. He mentioned the kindness of 

 the Bheels who attended his party along the river, in carrying some of 

 the sepoys and others taken ill, procuring supplies and game, but seem- 

 ed to think the river could not be rendered available for navigation. 

 His map was written in Nagree on a large scale, and from that I reduc- 

 ed it, and sent it in the rough, as I had not time from my other duties 

 to do it more carefully. The chief coal discoveries were subsequently 

 made in the tours of the Division that I undertook annually, and dis- 

 closed mineral resources that are unbounded. 



The coal found at Benar, in my opinion, must be that used for rail- 

 way communication ; it cokes, as the Welch coal does when piled in heaps 

 of any length, about five or six feet in height, and nine or ten feet base, 

 forming an angle, covering it with dust, and allowing it to burn slow- 

 ly from end to end. The coal was tried on the Indus Steamer at Bom- 

 bay, 100 maunds did what 183 of the best Glasgow coal was required 



