362 



Report of the Coal Committee. 



[April 



Assam, or other remote provinces, would be entirely superseded in the 

 Bengal market by^ any new discoveries of good beds of coal that might 

 be made in the Sylhet district. It is for this reason that we have laid 

 peculiar stress on the importance of a thorough investigation of the coal 

 measures along the base of the Kasyah and Garrow hills, since upon 

 this, and the manner in which it is conducted, must depend in some 

 measure the prudence of investing capital in more distant coal districts. 



Surdah is within a few miles of Bogvvangola, one of the greatest 

 marts in Bengal for grains of every kind, goor, oil, ghee, and the chief 

 articles of native consumption. Being situated in the centre of Bengal, 

 near the junction of all the principal rivers, as the Bhangarutty, the 

 Ganges, and Bramputra, it is naturally the centre of internal commerce, 

 and consequently the greatest mart for boats in Bengvil. Surdah, or 

 some situation in that neighbourhood, appears therefore to be the situa- 

 tion at which a General Depot ought to be formed. We have consulted 

 J. W. Grant, Esq. of the Civil Service, who had been long commercial 

 resident at Maldah, and Major Carter, who has been for a large portion 

 of his life in the Bengal Commissariat, and the experience of both these 

 gentlemen goes to prove that at Bogwangola and Jellinghee, boats for 

 the transmission of coal from Surdah to any part of Bengal or the 

 Upper Provinces may be had to any amount of tonnage likely to be 

 required. 



The distance from Cherra Poonjie to Calcutta by water, is about the 

 same as to Surdah; while the latter is one hundred and fifty miles 

 nearer toRajmehal, and other depots to the eastward. 



Major Carter states that the voyage from Calcutta to Cuttack in an 

 empty boat should not take above 24 days, and returning laden, about 

 the same period, as the stream would be favourable to Dacca, and from 

 thence in the tide way. " Assuming however, two months as the time 

 necessary to complete a voyage, including loading and unloading, it 

 strikes me," says Major Carter, *' 2| annas per maund should nearly 

 cover the carriage, and below I give the grounds of my opinion. A 

 thousand maund boat can be hired at 



per Mensem 30 0 0 



« .10 Dandies at 3 Rupees each, 30 0 0 



** 1 Manji at 4 Rupees, 4 0 0 



64 0 0 

 2 



128 0 0 



