DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF THE RESPECTIVE COALFIELDS. io;j 
eroded and projecting from the mass. Simihar deposits were met 
with at Vorkully (Warkilly), 15 miles south of Quilon, in the banks 
of the Tutalla river, in South Malabar and between Palghat and 
Calicut. The bed at Quilon, wliich liad a lenticular shape, was 
stated by General Cullen to be included in latcrite which rests on 
gneiss. This locality was subsequently examined by Dr. King,^ 
who found that the lignite occurs with Tertiary sandstones and 
alum shales, which he thought are probably of the same age as the 
Cuddalore sandstones. There appears to be no prospect of these 
deposits yielding a large amount of fuel. 
Mysore. — Dr. Hunter," Superintendent of the School of Art, 
Madras, described as coal a substance received from Dr. Orr of 
Bangalore, which he said was from shaly stuff, and which burnt feebly, 
emitting a bituminous smell, but did not catch fire ; it was in thin 
layers not more than from half an inch to three-fourths of an inch 
thick. It was coloured green with chlorite, and the fact of its being 
in very small pieces and associated with what is called a ' ' true 
transition conglomerate," very rich both in iron and manganese, 
was apparently considered to be a good "indication." This coal 
does not appear to have attracted so much notice as some of the 
other " discoveries ' ' noted below. 
Pondicherry. — In 1883 a discovery of "lignite" was made in 
French territory, under the alluvial flat between Pondicherry 
and Cuddalore. An account of the occurrence was published 
by Dr. King in the Records of the Geological Survey ^ but no officer of 
the Department appears to have examined the deposit. Borings 
were put down at Bavur (Bahour), Aranganur (2 miles north- 
north-east of Bavur) and Koniakovil (5 miles north-east by north 
ot Bavur), and a seam of carbonaceous material varying from 27 
to 50 feet in thickness proved at /^.epths of from 203 to 330 
feet. The average assay of seven sana^les analysed in Paris gave 
8-35 per cent, of ash and 91 '65 per cent, of volatile matter. On the 
strength of these flattering results a company was formed with the 
object of mining the deposits and compressing the fuel into bri- 
quettes. Nothing, however, was done and although, according to A. 
P. de Closet,* the hitch was purely a financial one, the inference 
1 Rec, G. S. I., Vol. XV, 87-102, (1882). 
^ Indian Econom'-si, II, p. 210. 
^ Bee, G. S. /., Vol. XVll, 194, (18S4). 
* Indian Engineering, IX, 290^ (1891). 
