86 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [May, 



like coal. Below this mud comes sand ; to what depth it is impossible 

 to say, without sinking a well, or the aid of a boring instrument. 

 In some of these wells water is reached close to the surface ; in 

 others below the black mud, which, however, is always found in a 

 damp soft state — on the high banks on both sides of the swamp, water 

 and sand are found close to the surface. That the mud is a species of 

 fuel there can be no doubt, and I have ascertained that it is met with 

 in other swamps in this district. Mr. Taylor, Locomotive Foreman at 

 Cawnpore tried 2 \ maunds of fuel against 2 maunds of wood. From 

 the fuel he got 40 lbs. of steam for 1 h. 10 min., and from the wood 

 40 lbs. of steam for 1 h. 18 min. He gave it as his opinion, that the 

 fuel would do very well for the use of Locomotives. An Engine 

 Driver on the line said, he thought the fuel superior to wood. In bulk I 

 should think that two maunds of fuel would go to one maund of wood. 

 The cost would not I think be more than 8 annas a maund, but, this 

 can only be determined by working on a large scale. I extracted from 

 the fuel what I fancy must be coal tar, and I tried some of the fuel 

 charred in a native blacksmith's furnace, and found that it heated iron 

 sufficiently for beating out, but not for welding. The fuel leaves 

 much ash, just like mud, and it strikes me that this might be useful 

 for manure. In the centre of the fuel I have found bits of decayed 

 wood, and in one a bit of bone. Some of the fuel is much freer from 

 mud than other portions of it, but the carbon and the mud appear to be 

 so completely intermixed, that I fear no amount of charring would eve r 

 separate them. Four-fifths of the weight of the fuel is lost in the 

 mere process of drying in the sun. I forward specimens of the fuel 

 sun-dried, charred by the native process for making charcoal, and of 

 the oil extracted from the fuel, which I have called Coal Tar," 



The following is Mr. Tween's report. 



Dated, March 20th, 1865. 



u In the absence from Calcutta of Mr. T. Oldham, the Superin- 

 tendent, Geological Survey of India, I am instructed to acknowledge 

 the receipt of your demi-official letter without date, and of the speci- 

 mens referred to therein, with Capt. Ouseley's letter relating to them. 



" The specimens forwarded are of an impure and imperfect peat, which 

 appears to have resulted from the continued deposition of vegetable 

 matter mixed with mud, at the bottom of a jheel or marsh : the presence 



