212 
lic'cords of the (ieoloyical Survey oj liidta. 
[vOL. XI. 
the irregulai’ calcareous nodules and nodular masses which are so generally 
characteristic of the beds in Ramri. I have never observed any appearance of 
either calcareous or carbonaceous matter amongst them. The shales are gray, 
brittle, sometimes slightly unctuous, often more or less arenaceous ; they are fre¬ 
quently somewhat clunchy. The sandstone is generally gray or greenish-gray and 
tolerably fine gi’ained, and is interbanded with the shale. The strike of the rocks 
is extremely regular, often running in a straight line for miles, and indeed vary¬ 
ing little from end to end of the islands. The strata are thrown up at high in¬ 
clinations, generally dipping at angles between 60 and 90 degrees. I am inclined 
to believe that the calcareous and lignitiferous rocks are rolled uji with the above, 
and that it is from the former that the oil is originally derived in the Barangas 
as well as in Ramri. It is true that they do not appear in any part of the 
Barangas that I have visited, but my acquaintance with the islands is very 
limited,! and it is not impossible that, owing to less capability of withstanding 
denudation, they occupy the submarine areas between the islands. The similar¬ 
ity of the rocks in the three Barangas, and the observed dips, lend some little 
support to the idea that the Phadu and Chengdamma channels may mai'k the 
position of anticlinal bends with a- synclinal between in the position of the middle 
island. 
The digging of oil wells appears to have been carried on by the inhabitants 
of Ramri and Cheduba for a long time past, and at the present time such wells 
are worked in numerous localities. None of them, however, have been sunk to 
any great depth, and the scale on which the industry is conducted is compara¬ 
tively trifling. It does not appear to be in the hands of any special class. About 
the end of December, or early in January, when the rice crop has been harvested, 
and the villagers have -spare time on their hands, some of them take to well-dig¬ 
ging as a means of adding to their income. The oil season lasts from that time 
till the rains, when the wells, which are most frequently sunk in, or close to, the 
bed of some nulla, get tilled with water, and are often choked up entirely by 
debris washed into them. 
The wells are of two classes—those which appear to be in communication 
with a natural reservoir, from which the oil, generally accompanied by large 
quantities of gas, rises with considerable rapidity, and those sunk in rock more 
or less soaked with petroleum from which the oil slowly exfiltrates into the well. 
The latter case imitates on a small scale the process which has been going on 
for ages on a large one in the case of the natural subterranean fissures. 
To the former class would appear to belong the wells at Letaung near the 
western coast of Ramri. One of these is about 25 feet deep and 4 feet square. 
It is lined with wood throughout, so that the rock cannot be seen. At the 
bottom is water covered by a stratum of oil, through which a rather large 
quantity of gas bubbles up, chiefly from one corner of the well. The oil is 
drawn morning and evening, and the yield is said to be 15 bottles each time: 
much reliance, however, c.annot be placed on figures supplied by the owners or 
lessees of the wells. Another well of the same kind, about 200 yards nortli- 
* It is said that lignite has been found on the Eastern Baranga, but the exact locality is 
unknown. 
