THE DRILLED WELLS. 201 



which will have to be tested in future, is extremely difficult, if not 

 altogether impossible, for heavy machinery. There are no roads 

 worth speaking of, except such as may be passed by mules, and 

 even such parts as are comparatively close to the river, like the 

 northern continuation of the Yenangyoung anticline, are so abso- 

 lutely destitute of water that the question of water supply for the 

 boiler would involve either enormous expense, or wouldcripple the 

 experiment before it has actually been started. 



Number and depth of drilled wells. — Although the first 

 drilled well was not commenced earlier than 1887, there is already 

 some difficulty in ascertaining the total number of wells drilled. Some 

 of them were dry holes, therefore.abandoned, and no further traces 

 can be discovered of their location ; there are at least five of these 

 wells, to which has been recently added a sixth one, the location of 

 which however is known and the boring record is preserved. Of 

 the others the location and boring record of the pioneer well, so 

 to speak, is known to me, although it is entirely abandoned now ; 

 I gave this well the distinguishing letter A ; two more wells were 

 drilled, if I am not mistaken in 1888, both of which have been aban- 

 doned ; another couple of dry holes were drilled in 1889, their 

 location is unknown, as well as the record of the strata met with ; 

 another well was drilled inside one of the pit wells (Government 

 well No. 131) ; it hardly yielded any oil and the piping was with- 

 drawn and boring register unknown. Well No. 64 yielded no oil, 

 luckily its position and boring register, which is extremely valuable 

 from a geological point of view, have been preserved ; but the rig has 

 been removed and another No. 64 has been just finished west of 

 well No. 21 ; I numbered it No. 64A. 



The Minlindoung wells drilled by the Burma oil syndicate, 1890 

 to 1892, in blocks S. 1 and S. 2 south of Berne have been abandoned, 

 and their traces will be entirely obliterated after another rainy 

 season. There are therefore at least 14 drilled wells which have 

 entirely disappeared, and if of the majority the boring record and 

 location is known, some of them have left no traces behind. As there 



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