1032 
ME. PENG-ELLT ON THE LIGNITES AND 
Though in the pit section No. 1 the 6th is the highest, and the 72nd the lowest 
bed of lignite, it would manifestly be unsafe to conclude that no higher or lower 
beds exist; and indeed Mr. Divett, in a letter on this point, says, “In a shaft srurk 
135 fathoms south of the pit” (^. e. in the direction of the dip of the beds) “ I had, in 
99 feet sinking, some good beds of coal. When we ceased to sink we had, I beheve, 
some six or seven fathoms between us and the top of the uppermost bed of lignite 
in your sections.” This estimate, as to the depth at which the “ 5th” bed would have 
been cut, is fully borne out by the dip of the beds and the distance of the shaft, if we 
assume that no “ fault” exists in the interval and the dip remains constant. On both 
these points we have direct confirmatory evidence for the distance of sixty-three fathoms 
south of the pit, as subterranean workings have been carried so far, “ by driving dovm 
the dip,” and show that the beds exist in unbroken continuity and uniform inclination ; 
that is, the beds have been followed to a depth of 80 feet below the bottom of the 
“ Coal-pit.” 
Though the workmen have named the 72nd the “ last bed,” it is no more than an 
expression of the fact that it is the last or lowest they work. That there are still lower 
beds is certain, since Mr. Divett says, “ I sank a shaft about 13 feet” (below the bottom 
of the pit) “ and cut two tolerable beds of coal.” The workmen speak of still earlier and 
deeper borings, and state that thin layers, or “ shells,” of lignite were found separated 
by thick beds of “ muddy clay.” Omitting these traditions, however, we are now in 
possession of the following figures. The 72nd, or “last” bed is, at the western end of 
the pit, about 100 feet vertically below the surface of the plain; or, measured at right 
angles to the plane of stratification, we have, to the base of this bed, a thickness for the 
deposit of 125 feet^; the pit beds have been followed 80 feet lower, and lignite has 
been cut 13 feet below the so-called “last” bed; giving an aggregate of 218 feet, 
inclusive of the “Head,” or upwards of 35 fathoms for the true Bovey deposit ; exclusive 
of the beds mentioned by Mr. Divett as occurring in his shaft 135 fathoms south of the 
pit, and irrespective of the facts that the bottom has certainly not been reached, and that 
there are sufficient reasons for believing, as I shall now proceed to show, that denudation 
has swept away very much of the superior portion of the formation. 
Though no trace of a “ fault ” exists at the pit, one has been detected a short distance 
east of it. “ It runs,” says Mr. Divett, “ about N.E. and S.W., crossing close to the 
old engine-shaft” (56 fathoms east of the pit). “I drove towards it in many places, 
and always found the ‘coal’ fail and replaced by hard and wet ‘deady’ clay. At one 
place I drove further and cut into a bank of sand full of water, which ran into the shaft 
and ‘ starved ’ the pump for some time. I never got through the sand, and had great 
difficulty in keeping it out of the shaft. This was at about 80 feet from the surface. 
The section of the beds in the” (old engine-) “ shaft is identical with those in the pit.” 
The accompanying diagram (fig. 2) may serve to illustrate the foregoing facts. Let the 
surface of the paper represent a horizontal plane, on the level of the bottom of the coal- 
* See Section 1, page 1024. 
