1855.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 249 



ed me that coal was unknown. I was particularly anxious to discover 

 where this coal came from, because we tried it in camp and found it 

 remarkably good ; unfortunately relying upon procuring more next day, in 

 which I failed, we burnt all that I had picked up. The coal bed I explor- 

 ed near the Talcheer Eaja's, was the same which Messrs. Beetson and 

 Kittoe had examined at different times. It is situated in the bed of the 

 Bilyejore at the village of Moalpal about two miles above the Eaja's resi- 

 dence, a coarse sand stone is the prevailing stone throughout the neigh- 

 bourhood. The spot where Messrs. Beetson and Kittoe had dug, was 

 pointed out to me, but I preferred breaking new ground and choosing a 

 spot several hundred yards further up, I dug down from the top of the 

 bank, some 12 or 14 feet high, upon the bed. We found first about a foot of 

 peaty substance-like coal, but so soft that you could thrust a stick through 

 it, then coal shale below, which was indifferent coal much mixed up with 

 shale ; about 8 or 10 inches below which was a hard slaty rock. The 

 whole bed 5 or 6 feet in thickness, I left a man to bore through the slate 

 and he came to a few inches of coal (specimen No. 10), and below that 

 slate again. The coal is visible on the left hand bank of the nullah for 

 about half a mile, and it might be worth while to sink a shaft at some 

 little distance back from the nullah, when better coal than that obtainable 

 so close to the water, might be procured. If coal exists here of good 

 quality, it would pay well to work it, as there is water carriage down the 

 Brahminee to Point Palmyras ; and the Dhamrah river, if the outer chan- 

 nel is properly buoyed off, is accessible to steamers and vessels of 500 or 

 600 tons. G-opalpersad is from 16 to 20 miles inland from Talcheer, that 

 is inland from the Brahminee river. It stands on a wide torrent, called 

 the Sengra which never has much water, and is usually dry. For several 

 miles above Gopalpersad and about a mile below it the right bank presents 

 a succession of stratified coal cliffs, which have an exceedingly curious 

 appearance ; the jungle in rear of these cliffs in many places, presents the 

 appearance of a coal-field such as one is accustomed to see in Durham or 

 Northumberland the whole ground being covered for considerable distances 

 with coal shale and dust. I saw Beetson and Kittoe's excavations, but 

 dug further back and deeper than either of them. The appearance of the 

 coal about six feet back from the river and two or three feet below its 

 bed was excellent ; hard, sparkling and much less laminated than the more 

 exposed coal on the cliffs. I marked out a place in the jungle also about 

 100 yards from the river above the village, when I ordered a pit to be 

 sunk, but going away myself to the village of Kunkerei to see the iron 

 works there, the coolies, to save themselves trouble, commenced on one of 



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