On the Manganese of the Mergui Province. By Captain G. B. 

 Tremenheere. Plate ii. 



\i During my stay at the Tenasserim coal basin, a piece of man- 

 ganese ore, (black wad) of good quality, was brought to me by a Ka- 

 reen, who stated, that it had been found accidentally in the bank of a 

 stream called the Thuggoo, which enters the Great Tenasserim, seven- 

 teen miles below the coal site. Subsequently, several other pieces of 

 the same ore were brought by Mr. T. A. Corbin, Assistant to the 

 Commissioner from the Therabuen river, five miles above the Thug- 

 goo, and from an intermediate spot, the locality of which had been 

 previously known, and had been, I believe, originally pointed out by 

 Lieutenant Glover of the Madras Army. 



2. In proceeding down the river, I visited these spots, and found 

 at each, that a valuable bed of manganese ore existed close to the 

 surface of the country. It had been apparently cut through by the 

 action of the stream and river before mentioned, leaving a section of 

 the bed of ore in their banks, covered only by the debris of the banks 

 themselves. Large quantities might have been carried away, but a 

 few hand specimens only were taken, which sufficiently shew the 

 nature of the deposit, and are fair samples of what might be easily 

 collected. 



3. The best Specimens, Nos. 1 and 2, are from the Thuggoo river 

 and the bank of the Great Tenasserim. That of the Therabuen did 

 not appear to be at the surface of so pure a quality, but the exist- 

 ence of the bed being known, it is perhaps premature to pronounce 

 it an inferior ore from the examination of specimens taken from a 

 hole extending not two feet into the bank. No. 5, is a portion of 

 manganese rock projecting into the Great Tenasserim river, near the 

 mouth of the Therabuen stream. 



4. For the localities above mentioned, I must refer to the sketch 

 accompanying my Report on the tin of this province, recently 

 forwarded. 



5. Of the extent of these manganese beds it is difficult to pro- 

 nounce. The face of the country in which they are situated is flat, 

 thickly overspread with soil, and with the densest jungle. It is not, as 

 far I could perceive, intersected by many streams which would afford 



