Fakt 3.] K'uig: Progress of the Gohl ImUslry in fpyndd. 237 
of veins almost always inci’cases witli the depth; but it is almost certain that 
displacement and non-continuity of reefs must he expected in so much of the country- 
rock as is exposed to atmospheric influences, and these defects would of themselves 
be sufficient to prevent steady and successful mining being carried on to any g-reat 
extent at all near the surface. Local displacement can of course, as a general rule> 
only have taken place near the surface; but as this surface in Wynad is a very 
uneven one, such breaks must be expected in most of the ridges and knolls of 
the Dayvallah country, and to a much greater extent on the great slopes of 
the Grhats. There is even a case in point in the Prince of Wales’ Company’s claim, 
where, on the east side of the ridge north of the Alpha works, a tunnel was driven 
with the expectation of cutting the northern course of the Skull reef on the 
prevalent eastward dip, but without success. It was then conjectured, from an 
outcrop of quartz on the south slope of this ridge, that the reef dipped quite in 
the opposite direction or westward, and a new tunnel w'as proposed. ^ The reef 
shows very well on the top of the ridge, lying at a very low angle to the eastward, 
but it has a tendency to resume the higher normal dip (25° to 30°) lower down 
the slope. From aU I could see, the very low dip on the summit of the hill appeared 
to be due to a sinking down of the reef on the weathered and denuded foot-wall, 
while the abnormal lie of the outcrops of quartz on the low'er slopes is most likely 
attributable to local displacement of the country-rock, very large and old slides 
of decomposed gneiss being not at all unfrequent in this part of the country. 
It has been found that the reefs continue to the deep so far as workings have 
been carried out; but as these are of little depth, the country itself can only be 
looked to for evidence of any value on this point. Certainly many of the reefs 
can, on the upland, be seen to run deeper than the Skull reef; while outcrops are 
known to exist far down in the deep Ghat valleys, w'hich to aU appearance are 
the continuations of reefs on the upland; and it seems hardly probable that reefs 
which are traceable for miles in their strike can be so very limited in depth. 
There must, no doubt, be cases of thinning out, and it may be so in the case 
in question to some extent; but the evidence is against this, for some part 
of the reef (slippied or in siiu) has been struck in the last attempt to reach 
it; though, even if it had not been struck, there would have been no clear proof of 
its entire absence, consideiung that the tunnel has such a small section, and that 
reefs are often capricious within small ranges. But it is a most common expe¬ 
rience in this pari of Wynad to find the reef outcrops much tumbled and slipped 
at various points among the ridges in the upland; and seeing that here, well up 
the sides of the hiU in question, there are large outcrops of quartz in untoward 
* This was at the time of my visit in August last; hut it appears that no further attempt was 
then made to strike the reef, all efforts having been directed to the raising of stone from another 
more accessible part of tho Skull reef. In the last report of this Company it is stated that 
another endeavour was made at the Prince of Wales’ reef so late as the Isc of January 1878; but 
that as the old workings had completely fallen in, it was necessary to begin a fresh tunnel, and 
that the reef was only struck ten days before their lease evpircd. The length of the tunnel is 
given as 132 feet from entrance and about SO feet in depth from surface ; but there are no further 
details as to direction or position. 
