1853.] Report on the Geological Structure of the Salt Range, 341 



Baghanwalla is a small village on the south side of the Salt Eange, 

 about ten miles west of Jelalpoor, and about eight miles from the 

 right bank of the Jhelum. The coal seam occurs in a ravine about 

 three miles north-east of the village among the hills and at an eleva- 

 tion of about one thousand feet above the plain. The access to it is by 

 a narrow path, rather difficult and steep, but over which bullocks can 

 travel, if moderately loaded. The nummulite limestone at this point 

 rests on the upper red sandstone formation, and a burnt clay sand- 

 stone passing into a baked white quartzose sandstone of a few inches 

 in thickness, marks the base of the deposit. Beds of greenish yellow 

 marl, about a foot thick, follow, which gradually pass into sandy bitu- 

 minous shales eighteen feet thick inclosing the lignite seam, on 

 which rests a grey nummulite limestone seventy-five feet thick, the 

 lower strata of which are marly, of a yellow colour and full of shells 

 of a species of Ostrea and nummulites. On this limestone a thick 

 series of iniocene grey sandstone grits and red clays reposes conform- 

 ably, all the strata dipping to the JS". JS". W. at an angle of from 40 

 to 45.° (See section No. 5.) 



The coal seam though it may be traced on either side of the ravine 

 where the above section was taken, for about a mile, does not pre- 

 sent an uniform thickness as exposed on its out crop. On digging 

 into the seam to the depth of several feet, we obtained about three 

 feet of good coal, and about two feet of coal alternating with films 

 of sandy shale which latter in many places seems developed at the 

 expense of the coal which is extremely brittle, so much so that fully 

 one-eighth falls to powder in extracting it. It loses this character, 

 however, to some extent on digging into the seam, but we fear at 

 whatever depth it might be mined, it never would have the solidity 

 of genuine coal. 



In a few hours two or three coolies turned out eight or ten 

 maunds of fair coal, which bore carriage on bullocks over the hills 

 to Baghanwalla pretty well ; a camel load of it was subsequently 

 forwarded to Lahore. 



That several thousand maunds of a good fuel could be obtained 

 from this locality at a moderate cost, I entertain no doubt, but the 

 question as to its yielding a supply for any length of time can only 

 be decided by sinking an experimental shaft or gallery into the 



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