BUCKMAN — SEARCH FOR COAL. 



133 



then discovered, it acted as a stimulus to the proprietor, and the din and 

 bustle of a mining district were begun in real earnest, upsetting, by vain 

 expectations, the usual quiet of the village. A slight shaft was then 

 made, from which the borings went on to the depth of 100 yards, at 

 which point the proprietor was advised by a friend to consult a 

 geologist, and I was chosen to undertake the inquiry. I accordingly 

 went to the spot, and shall now state the structure of the strata in the 

 neighbourhood. 



On the estate where the works were then proceeding, I soon found 

 that all the higher points presented the thin beds of clay limestones of 

 the lower Lias rock, which were beautifully shown in the next field to 

 the one in which the shaft was made. It at once then became obvious 

 that, supposing coal to be here in its usual position — namely, below the 

 New Red Sandstones, that we had the whole of the Keuper Marls, the 

 Sandstones, the Magnesian Limestones, the Lower Kew Red, and the un- 

 productive upper beds of the coal measures, to penetrate — which would 

 amount, I should conceive, at a low estimate, to nearly 1,000 yards; 

 80 that, at all events, I could not delay advising the abandonment of the 

 boring, as it would be quite impossible to continue it to a depth suffi- 

 cient to prove the existence of the coal. 



It may now be as well, in completing the sketch of these opera- 

 tions, to inquire whether the practical miner had here any grounds 

 for his conclusions ; and it is but justice to him to express a belief that 

 he really thought he had. His reasoning — which was, after all, but a 

 bit of mistaken Geology^ — was much as follows: — **As we have the 

 red rock on the one side, and the blue rock on the other, between 

 these it would be safe to seek for coal." Now the red rock, the New 

 Red Sandstone, cropped out to the west ; and the blue limestones (Lias 

 limestones and shales) formed elevations to the east of the position 

 of the shaft, as may be seen from the accompanying diagram : — 



Section 2. 



W. Red Rock. Blue Rock. E. 



i 2 - 3 



1. New Red Sandstone. 2. Keuper Mads. 3. Lias, Limestones, and Shales. 



