30 
BALL AND SIMPSON: COALFIELDS OF INDIA. 
Lakadong. — The coalfield of Lakadong is situated near the sonth- 
ern edge of the Jaintia hills, about 7 miles from the plains at 
Burghat on the Harri river and at an elevation of about 2,200 
feet above them. 
The coal seam is of Tertiary (eocene) age, and is found out- 
cropping round the edges and near the top of several small plateaus. 
As in the case of the Cherrapunji deposits, the coal seam and its 
accompanying beds were evidently at one time continuous over a 
large area, the intervening portions having been subsequently 
removed by denudation. The thickness of the seam varies from nothing 
up to 10 feet but the average thickness is not more than 2 feet. 
The two most important coal-bearing areas are the Umlotodo 
and Umat plateaus, which on the line of the outcrop of the oeam 
have a combined area of rather more than half a square mile. 
In 1852 Dr. Oldham,^ after an examination of the coalfield, 
estimated the total quantity of coal in the Umlotodo plateau to be 
l"! million tons. In a more recent and detailed report LaTouche ^ 
calculates that the total amount of coal in the two plateaus is 
1,164,000 tons. As described by the latter the coal is bright and 
of good quality, but is traversed by numerous small joints which 
cause it to split into small cuboidal fragments. 
Owing to its position near the top of the plateaus the depth of 
the coal below the surface is not more than from 10 to 20 feet 
and thus its extraction by small pits and adits is rendered simple. 
Worl^ings have been carried on intermittently for more than 50 
years, but the total amount of coal extracted appears to be small. 
In 1889 the exploitation of the field was contemplated by certain 
Calcutta firms, but they appear to have taken no practical steps 
to that end. Some distance to the north of Lakadong, the occur- 
rence of coal has been recorded by LaTouche.^ The localities are 
near the villages of Nokhara and Satunga ; and the seams are said 
to be one foot and one foot nine inches, respectively, in thickness. 
Sylhet and Cachar. — So far as is known there is no workable coal 
in either Sylhet or Cachar, the Lower Tertiary and Cretaceous rocks 
being covered up by newer deposits. In the North Cachar hills a 
» iMcm., O.S J., Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 14.5 (1858). 
2 E^c, G.S.I., Vol. XXIII, pt. J, p. 14 (1890). 
3 Rec, G.8.I., Vo). XV'I, pt. 4, pp. 200-20 1 (1883). 
