PART 2 .] 
Medllcott: Coal in the Garo Hills. 
59 
be given: the deposit was indeed the same as at Siju, and move favorably circumstanced for 
working, the measures being quite horizontal, and close to the surface ; hut the seam con¬ 
tained only a few irregular little strings of coal in a thick bed of clay, resting almost 
directly upon a platform of gneissic rocks. The only apparent prospect of useful coal 
there lay in the possible development of the deposit on the same horizon to the deep of tho 
formation in its main basin, on the south of the barrier of crystalline rocks ; and I sug¬ 
gested that this point might be determined by a boring in the neighbourhood of Harigaon. 
The present revival of the question has been as stated above. 
The Daha.vogiri coal-field. The coal .—The sample of the newly found coal, sent 
for opinion, could at once be recognised as the cretaceous coal of this geological province: 
the same as that known at Siju, and as that of the tiny field at Maobilarkar on the Shillong 
plateau from which the supply for the station is obtained. It is a very peculiar coal, having 
less the appearance of ordinary coal than the younger mtmmulitie coal of the same region ; 
it has a decided brown colour when crushed, and gives a wooden sound when struck: it is 
moreover impregnated throughout by small nests or minute specks of a resinous amber-like 
substance. It is thus, of course, a light coal, but a very excellent fuel as shown by its com¬ 
position— 
Fixed carbon 
Volatile 
(Moisture) 
Ash 
477 
44-6 
(11-5) 
7-7 
The position .—Viewed from the south, the main range of the Garo hills is continuous 
with the face of the Kasia hills to the east, although the aspect is different. Instead of the 
bare mural precipices of massive sandstone, there is the steep rugged slope formed on con¬ 
torted crystalline rocks, and thickly wooded throughout. The chief orographical difference, 
however, is that whereas from the scarp of the Kasia range the ground still rises for some 
distance, passing into the elevated plateau of Shillong, the western range is only a narrow- 
crested ridge, descending rapidly, though much less precipitously than on the south, to a 
broad region of steeply undulating hills of much less elevation. The Sumesary river, the 
Semsang of the Garos, passes through tho main range by a deep gorge just above Siju. 
At the head of this gorge thei'e is a fine waterfall, close to Jankaray; and half a mile 
further on, just above the confluence of the Rengehi, the river crosses the south boundary 
of the Darangglri coal-field, which thus at present lies in a true rock-basin, passing below the 
main drainage level. The elevation here may not bo more than 300 to 400 feet above Siju. 
The Sumesary flows for six miles through the coal-basin, the north boundary being about 
one mile below the village of Dobakhol. For the greater part of this length, the river is 
here the boundary, as recently laid down, between the Garo and Kasia hill districts. The 
range of the field to the east has not been determined. To the west it extends at least four 
miles from the lower reach of the Semsang, up to and beyond Daranggiri. 
Outcrops .—Several fine outcrops are freely exposed; the one originally reported being 
by no means the most conspicuous. It occurs in the Garigitliem stream, a furlong or so 
above the confluence with the Semsang. It is 6 to 8 feet thick, with a steady southerly dip 
of about 4°, the floor of gneissic rock appearing at a short distance higher up the stream. 
In the main river, about half a mile above the same confluence, the seam appears again in 
equal force, with a low easterly dip. The correct infei'ence, that the seam would be found 
continuous through the intervening spur, led to the original announcement of the discovery 
as of “ a mountain of coal." It was close to Daranggiri village that 1 observed the finest 
outcrop; it is well exposed for many score yards at the base of the cliff along the right 
bank of the stream, almost horizontal, and with a thickness of full 7 feet throughout, 
