26 ANiaVEESABT ADDRESS. 



Besides ttese data as to the amount of coal in India may be 

 mentioned the Jherrhia field, 170 miles from Calcutta, with 

 465,000,000 of tons ; and Bokaro with 1,500,000,000. The upper 

 or E-ajmahal Hills turned out 657,827 tons in 1858-9-60 ; and 

 the Khasi Hills 1,917,000 tons. 



No time is left to me for any reference to the great iron beds 

 in various parts of India ; but there remain some pressing 

 considerations which will induce me to trespass a little longer on 

 your patience, in regard to our own coal prospects. I may ask, 

 perhaps, first of all, — is not it very probable that the coal trade 

 now carried on with Indian ports will be soon cut short, when 

 the cost of transport from the mines of India will be reduced to 

 an equality with, or to a level, and perhaps below the cost of the 

 importation of Australian coal ? Some may suppose that the 

 superiority of the latter will always carry a market. But that 

 superiority is not so apparent. Some of the Indian coal (though 

 much is inferior) rivals the Australian ; and some of the Aus- 

 tralian is as good, for certain purposes, as British. It is quite 

 true that this year the Admiralty contracts for the Eastern 

 depots are for Australian, to the extent of 11,000 tons, and not 

 for English coal ; and, in the West, the Colonial coals of Cape 

 Breton are to be firstly employed with American instead of 

 British. But this arises from the difference in price when the 

 contracts were made ; since then, Australian coal has risen, and 

 the saving calculated on by the Admiralty of £23,000 per annum 

 will have to be diminished by the difference between the old 

 prices and the new of our Australian coal. 



Australian coal will, perhaps, before many years, be as little 

 needed in China or India as British will be wanted in the United 

 States. 



(4). But in case of necessity, what is the actual known amount 

 of our Australian coal ? Whatever may be wanted for ourselves, 

 we are not likely to get any from Victoria ; for although upwards 

 of one hundi'ed thousand pounds have been expended by the 

 Government in geological surveys and mining operations* 

 * See Appendix B. 



