IN THE INDO GANGETIC MOUNTAINS. 405 



of the experiment, only 1,45 grain was lost, though exposed to a very consi- 

 derable heat : the original quantity being one hundred grains. The retort 

 broke at this period, and leisure was wanting for the repetition of the experi- 

 ment. From the appearance of the products, which consisted of water, car- 

 buretted hydrogen, and an oily looking dark colored fluid, I should infer its 

 resemblance to the Bovey Coal of England, from which, however, in external 

 appearance, and in specific gravity, it differs sufficiently. The more resinous- 

 looking varieties from this locality, in which the ligneous structure has dis- 

 appeared, have a specific gravity of 1,386, a higher lustre, and are more 

 inflammable. 4. In the same Pass, about half a mile from the preceding 

 locality, my assistant, Captain Manson, discovered several other small veins, 

 the Coal of which has a high lustre and conchoidal fracture. 



The fifth locality, and the one best worthy of notice, is on the ascent 

 from Bhimauri to Bhim Tal, in the bed of the Balia, close by the bridge over 

 that stream. This vein was shown me by a Native, who also furnished me 

 with a specimen, the half of which was Pyrites. The rock is sand-stone, and, 

 as remarked of that in the Kheri Pass, is much discolored in the neighbour- 

 hood of the vein. The vein is about four inches in thickness, (that is, the 

 largest, for there are several) and the Coal has a high lustre, and occasionally a 

 perfect conchoidal fracture. No traces of organic structure are visible, the 

 composition being impalpable. It is remarkable, as indeed are all the varieties, 

 for its extreme brittleness, which is such, that no specimen of any size is ob- 

 tainable. Were it not for this defect, many of them might be used as substi- 

 tutes for jet, to which frequently they bear no inconsiderable resemblance. 

 The present variety has, however, the aspect rather of Cannel Coal, and like 

 that, when cut with a sharp knife, the surface is left full of small conchoidal 

 depressions, which give it very much the appearance of a spongiform structure. 

 This Coal burns with the most brilliant flante of any : occasionally being in- 

 crusted with sulphur, it developes the odour of that substance in combustion. 



