314 



On the Geology of CutcJi. 



[Oct. 



covered in the bank of a river near the city of Bhooj, forming a bed 

 about 18 inches thick, and associated with strata of sandstone and blue 

 clay, the dip being, to the eastward, one foot in twenty. This bed was 

 worked for some time, and considerable quantities of its produce were 

 sent to Bombay, but the quality was bad, being very slaty, and con- 

 taining a large proportion of incombustible matter. Attempts were 

 afterwards made to discover coal in other parts of the province ; and 

 although various beds were met with, they were too thin to be of any 

 value. This search was carried on principally to the south of the 

 Charwar range, a few miles from the town and fort of Seesaghud. One 

 bed was found of a very good quality, but only 9 inches thick. It con- 

 sisted of masses composed of small cubical pieces, which soiled the 

 fingers very much, had not the slightest appearance of a lignite, and 

 Ignited quickly, burning with a brighW-flame, and leaving a small resi- 

 duum, but it would not cake. It was found on trial to get up the steam 

 of an engine-boiler very well and quickly, but a much larger quantity 

 "was required than of English coal, owing, partly, to its breaking into so 

 small fragments as to fall through the bars of the grate. 



Borings for Coal. — A boring for coal was made near this bed ; and 

 although 270 feet of sandstone and blue clay were penetrated, no coal 

 was found. A similar attempt was made six miles further to the east- 

 ward, and to the depth of 191 feet, but with no better success; and simi- 

 lar researches were made in one or two other places. The second trial 

 passed through a regularly alternating series of sandstone and blue clay. 

 Some of the sandstones were so extremely hard (being composed of 

 quartzose particles cemented by ferruginous matter) as to be almost im- 

 penetrable. A jumper, worked by a lever-bar, making eighteen strokes 

 in a minute, penetrated, after eight hours' work only, from 1| to 2 inches. 

 Other specimens of sandstone varied both in hardness and quality ; and 

 at a depth of 190 feet, a bed of white, pure quartzose sand was entered, 

 when water immediately rushed to the surface, and continued to flow in 

 such quantities as to stop the work. The shale was of a very dark blue 

 when first brought up, but it lost the greater part of its colour after ex- 

 posure to the sun. Iron ore and iron pyrites were found. All the banks 

 of the rivers in the neighbourhood present strata of sandstone and slate- 

 clay, with bands of ironstone, and, in places, thin beds of coal. The ge- 

 neral dip is, to the south-west, about one foot in twenty ; but the strata 

 are greatly shattered and dislocated by dykes, slips, and hitches. 



Vegetable Impressions. — The slate-clay, and, in some cases, the 

 sandstone, contained numerous impressions of ferns and reeds, occa- 



