BUCKMAN SEARCH FOR COAL. 
185 
arrived at, but, in reality, those engaged had been bought off by some 
propiietors in the Eristol coal-field, for fear the new district coal should 
come in competition with theirs."* But, besides evidence of this kind, 
about two pounds of Lignite was submitted to my inspection, with the 
assurance that it burnt like good coal ; and the argument founded upon 
this pseudo-coal was as follows : — " This coal is about two inches thick 
at about 20 feet from the surface ; how thick, therefore, may we not 
expect it at a hundred yards ?" But for fear this should not be deemed 
conclusive, a bill of sale of some land in the district, many years before 
the date of this examination, was produced, on which was the statement 
that "Mining rights were reserved." But I should state that upon 
inquiry it was found that the said land belonged to the Crown, and I 
believe that in all Crown lands there is a reservation made of mining 
rights ; thus this, it will be perceived, was no evidence whatever of the 
presence of mineral matter. These, then, were the foundations upon 
which the burgesses relied ; now for the geological examination. 
Upon going to the site of the old workings I soon found that they 
had been commenced in the Oxford Clay, and, upon examining as much 
of the contents of the shaft as I found exposed, I became convinced that 
the opening, of nearly 100 feet deep, as stated by my guide, had not 
gone through that deposit. 
We had, therefore, even less hope of attaining coal than in the 
previous case, inasmuch as in all probability we should have not merely 
one, but three thick formations to penetrate before arriving at its 
usual position — namely, the Lower Oolites, the Lias, and the New Red 
Sandstone formations. In this instance, then, it became evident that it 
would have been rash in the extreme to have recommended any operation 
in search of coal, as, even if it were proved to exist below the formations 
cited, we could have no evidence of its quantity or value. Still the 
case itself may serve to show an advance in the opinion entertained of 
the value of science — the first mining having been commenced under 
the auspices of a practical miner, while, a century later, all hope and 
efforts were abandoned at the recommendation of a practical geologist. 
« Tliis is the most common way for accounting for the abandonment of futile 
coal workings. Sir R. Murchison says :— " Amid all their failures, I never met 
with an individual who was really disheartened ; a frequeut exclamation being, 
' Ah ! if our squires were only men of spirit, we should have as fine coal as any in 
the world.' "Silurian System, p. 328. 
E 
