DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF THE RESPECTIVE COALFIELDS. ^7 
From tin- following analysis by Mr. James Prinsep the quality of 
the coal appears to be excellent : — 
I'tT cent. 
Volatile matter ....... 37*1 
Carbon 62-0 
Ash 0-9 
Captain James found that the coal yielded 10,200 cubic feet of 
gas of 15 candle power per ton, leaving 58 per cent, of coke. He 
states that the coal is hard, has an irregular fractui'e and would 
make an excellent steam coal. 
LaTouche,^ who examined the field in 1889, estimates that 
it contains nearly 1,200,000 tons of coal. He points out a clerical 
error in Dr. Oldham's previous estimate ^ of from 387,000 to 
417,000 tons, which accounts for the discrepancy between the two 
estimates. 
Tn former times the coal was worked on a small scale, but owing 
to the cost of transport to markets the mining operations were not 
commercially successful. During 1904 prospecting was taken up by 
the Maolong Lime and Coal Company, Limited, but so far they are 
said to have met with indifferent success, the coal seam being 
very irregular at the point of trial. 
Lairangao. — This field lies about 7 miles north of Cherrapunji, 
and is of the same age as the Cherra coalfield ; the two having 
been separated from one another by denuding a^gencies. The dip 
of the measures is to the south at a slight angle, and the average 
thickness of the seam is about 3 feet. According to LaTouche* 
this thickness prevails over an ai'ea of about half a square mile, 
and the total quantity available is about one million tons. The 
same author does not consider the coal to be of such good quality 
as the Cherra coal, but pronounces it to be a useful fuel which 
might be taken into Shillong at a cheaper rate than the Maobehlar- 
kar coal. 
Maosandrarn. — This little field lies on the ridge between the 
Bogopani and Um Gni streams, and is about 1| miles north of 
Maosandrarn and 12 miles west of Chela. 
1 Rec, Q.S.I. , XXII, p. l()9 (1889). 
2 Mem., G.S.I., I, p. 192 (18.58). 
^ Colliery Guardian, Ind. and Col. Suppl., I, 20 (1904). 
* Mec, G.S.I., XXIII, p. 120 (1890). 
