1868.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 177 



" Notes on some stone implements found in the district of Singbhoom. 

 by Captain Beeching," communicated by V. Ball, Esq. 



When in September last, I laid before the Society an account of a 

 chipped celt which was found in Manbhoom, I ventured to predict that 

 an examination of the adjoining district of Singbhoom, which is at 

 present inhabited by several aboriginal races, would probably result in 

 the discovery of traces of the stone age. The chert flakes and knives 

 now exhibited, were found in the early part of the present year by 

 Captain Beeching when, in command of a Company of the 10th 

 Madras N. I., he marched from Ranchi to Chaibassa for the pur- 

 pose of quelling the disturbances in the tributary state of Keonjur. 

 While awaiting orders at Chaibassa he was so fortunate as to make 

 the discovery, described in the following note : 



" The accompanying chippings were found principally at Chaibassa 

 in the Singbhoom district and also at Chuckerdherpore, a town about 

 sixteen miles off. They were generally to be seen on or near the banks 

 of the river, and attracted the eye at once by the striking difference 

 they presented to the other stones lying near them. Some were 

 lying loose in gravel, others in the sandy depressions and ravines near 

 the river, and in one instance ' the chips' appeared to radiate from a 

 small rocky mound, becoming more numerous as one approached the 

 central point, until at last there was hardly a square foot of earth 

 which did not contain several of them." 



Chert of various degrees of purity is the material of which these 

 flakes are made. In several parts of Manbhoom there is a bed of 

 highly vitrified quartzite with conchoidal fracture. A similar one 

 in Singbhoom doubtless furnishes the cherts. 



In point of manufacture, these flakes are inferior to those from the 

 Jubbulpore district, the chert not yielding such sharp edges as the 

 agates and flints of which the latter are made. 



The reading of the following papers was deferred until the next 

 meeting. 



Notes on the Keriahs, an aboriginal race, living in the hill tract of 

 Manbhoom, by V. Ball, Esq. 



Dr. Mingay, on Malay animals. 



Dr. King, on Birds of Goonah. 



