94 SMITH : GEOLOGY OF MIK1R HILLS IN ASSAM. 



character to that mentioned above. Analyses of two specimens of 

 this seam, one near the top and one near the base, give the follow- 

 ing results :— 



Coal 



Coal. 



near top 



near base 



of seam. 



of seam. 



5'3<3 



3'83 



49-96 



57'52 



25*32 



2540 



19*36 



13-20 



1 oo*oo 



IOO'OO 



Moisture 



Volatile matter % 

 Fixed carbon • 



Ash— sinters slightly 



It will be seen that the coal is of very poor quality, with a low 

 percentage of fixed carbon and a high one of ash. Longloi hill is 

 in the centre of the south Mikir hills, and though not far from Lumding 

 —12 miles as the crow flies — it is somewhat inaccessible, as the 

 country between them is covered with dense jungle and cut up by 

 steep nalas. Longloi is some miles nearer to the Jamuna river, but 

 there is no track leading to it, and the Jamuna is only a small stream, 

 on which nothing larger than a * dug-out ' canoe can be navigated. 

 These considerations are probably sufficient to make the coal value- 

 less, at present, to the Assam-Bengal railway. 



The Nambor coal, six miles west-north-west of Borpathar, is the 

 most accessible, but its quality seems the 

 Nambor Coal. poorest of any in the Mikir hills. The large 

 percentage of ash stamps it at once as useless. 



The following three analyses are of the 7-foot seam on the Nambor. 



The first one was made years ago and published in Mallett's 



Memoir already referred to ; the second and third are from the 



bottom and middle of the seam, respectively :— 



Base Middle 

 Mallet. ofseam . of seam. 



Moisture • 



• • 



IO'O 



3*14 



9-40 



Volatile matter 



• • 



29-2 



29*00 



34*42 



Fixed carbon 



• • 



28-6 



1524 



26-32 



Ash — does not cake . 



• 



32-2 



52-62 



29*86 



iOOO IOO'OO IOO'OO 



( 94 ) 



