146 
Records of the Geological Survey of India. 
[vol. VII. 
Commissioner, Captain W. M. Lane, by Sirdar Jamal Khan, chief of the Lagari tribe. Speci¬ 
mens were forwarded by the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab to the Geological Survey 
for report. The examination shewed that most of the specimens occurred free in situ; the 
fracture conclioidal; structure obscurely woody—one specimen splintery with a black 
streak, the other tough with a brown streak. Specific gravity 1'46. Water 13 p. c. 
Composition— 
Carbon 
... 44-0 
Volatile 
... 50'5 
Ash 
... 55 
100-0 
Traces of sulphur were observed. 
The locality whence this coal had been brought was visited subsequently by the Deputy 
Commissioner of Dera Ghazi Khan,* who wrote—“ The best specimens were found in the 
Mithanwan pass, near Chota Bala, but even here the seams are so small that they would 
never repay tho labour of working them. The seams of coal lie embedded in the rock chiefly 
of the sandstone formation.” 
After much labour for a whole day about 10 seers of coal was obtained “ The largest 
veins are not more than 6 inches long and about 2 inches in depth.” It was justly concluded 
that the deposit was not worth working. The above-mentioned coal from the outer (eastern) 
flanking hills of the main axis of the Suliman range was, up to the year 1870, the only 
known example of the occurrence of the mineral in that latitude, although both to the north 
and south at Kalabag and at Lynah, in Sind, coal has been known to exist in limited quan¬ 
tities for a long time. 
In 1870, the present Deputy Commissioner Captain E. Sandeman reported the receipt 
from some Biluchis of specimens of coal from a quite new locality situated in a range of hills 
ninety miles from the British frontier. The account given by the Biluchis represented the 
coal to be in considerable abundance, and as the assay of specimens which were forwarded 
at that time indicated a good coal,f it seemed probable that an important and valuable disco¬ 
very had been made. 
Accordingly, in the present year, a favorable opportunity occurring, Captain Sandeman 
paid the principal locality in the Chamarlang valley a visit, when, in a short time, 50 camel¬ 
loads of coal were collected by the Biluchis, and the impression formed from the appearances 
presented by the seam was that the coal existed in sufficient quantity to be of economic 
value. The coal collected on this occasion was forwarded to Lahore, where it was tried 
in a locomotive, and gave fairly promising results. At this stage it was determined that the 
locality should be visited and reported upon by an officer of the Geological Survey, and the 
following account embodies the results of the examination: — 
Route .—Before proceeding to the detailed account of the rocks, I shall give a short 
sketch of the route traversed on the road to the coal. 
* Letter to Secretary to Government, Punjab, Public Works Department, dated 26th November 1863. 
t The composition of these specimens was as follows:— 
Carbon ... 
... 630 
Volatile ... 
... 344 
Ash ... 
... 2'6 
lOO'O 
