GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA. 273 



Dr. King's executive work closed with his boring experiences in 

 the Chattisgarh coal fields, one tract in which, near Korba, yielded 

 workable coal of good quality. The credit of the find was due to 

 Sub-assistant Hira Lai. Mr. Hacket continued his researches in 

 Rajputana, and Mr. Middlemiss steadily and energetically pursued 

 his proper work in the lower Himalayas about British Garhwal and 

 Kumaun, the results of which are given in a series of papers in the 

 " Records." 



On the application of the Kashmir Government for a geologist to 

 report on the sapphires in Zanskar, Mr. La Touche was detached 

 from his recess work in Assam. He was able to work for a month 

 at the spot which lies just below the snow line, and took the 

 advantage to examine the Jammu coal, originally discovered by 

 Mr. Medlicott, on which he was inclined to look hopefully. Mr. E. 

 J. Jones was fully occupied until the end of the season in examining 

 the principal coal fields in Upper Burma as well as the metalliferous 

 mines in the Shan hills, reports on which appeared in the " Records." 

 Another work by Mr. Jones claiming notice was the 24th volume of 

 the memoirs " Southern Coal Fields of the Satpura Gondwana 

 basin." Mr. R. Lydekker's description of the " Eocene Chelonia 

 from the " Salt range "* was issued during the year, as well as 

 Mr. Mallet's Part IV. 3 " Mineralogy," of the " Manual of the 

 Geology of India," a very fitting complement of that important 

 and useful work. 



The Madras gold-bearing rocks occupied Mr. Foote during the 

 whole of 1888, and his observations thereon were published in the 

 " Records " with a map showing the localities of gold occurrence in the 

 presidency. The area over which these bands of transition rocks 

 occur in Southern India is enormous, extending JST.N.Yv 7 ". and S.S.E. 

 over 192 miles, while the number of spots in this huge tract which 

 have been mined in past times by a so far unknown people is very 

 remarkable. The story of the struggles and ultimate success of the 

 Kolar mines, which occur in the easternmost part of the Dharwar 

 rocks, is well known, and Dr. King favours the conclusion that other 

 gold fields of equal, if not superior, richness to these are still lying 

 fallow. The Singareni coal field was successfully exploited by 

 Mr. Hughes ; the area proved greater than that of the Umaria estate 

 and the Karharbari field ; the coal was good steam coal with little 



* In Series X., Vol. IV., Part III., of the " Palaeontologia Indiea." 

 i Y 20321. S 



