part 4 .] Ball: Diamonds and Gold of Hie Sambalpwr District. 
191 
In the Ebe, below Tahood, I saw a party of gold-washers encamped on the sand. The 
Gold washed for within places where they were actually washing- were within the area 
Talchir boundary. occupied by rocks of Talchir age ; but whether the gold was proxi- 
mately derived from the Talchirs or had been brought down by the river, as is possible, from 
the metamorphic rocks, a short distance higher up, I am unable to say. 
There is of corn-se no primA facie improbability in the Talchir rocks containing gold. On 
the contrary, the boulder bed, including, as it does, such a large proportion of matei-ials 
directly derived from the metamorphic rocks, might naturally be expected to contain gold. 
In the original description of the Talchir coal-field the following passage occurs:—“ Gold is 
occasionally washed in the Tikaria Eiver, and was also a few years since obtained from the 
sands of the Ouli.” The latter case is rather interesting, since the localities are in a sandstone 
country, through which the Ouli mainly flows.* * * § In this connection it may be mentioned that 
in Australia, quite recently, a conglomerate bed of carboniferous age has been found to be 
auriferous.f 
As to the methods employed by, and the earnings of, the gold-washers, the remarks 
„ „ , . , made in a paper by me on the gold of Singbhumt apply equally 
to Sambalpur, and need not be repeated here. 
Lead Ores. 
Galena at Jhunan .—On the occasion of my first visit to Sambalpur in 1874, Captain 
Bowie, at that time Deputy Commissioner of the district, shewed me some specimens of 
galena which had remained in the possession of the Tehsildar and other residents since 
before the occupation of the district in 1850. The history of this galena appeared to be as 
follows:— 
First discovery. 
It was discovered in tlie bed of the Mahanadi at Jhunan, 10 miles west of Sambalpur, in 
the Rajah’s time, and was at first extracted to a small extent by the 
people and used as a substitute for Surma or antimony for anointing 
the eyes. Suddenly, however, the Rajah, Narain Singh, becoming afraid that the discovery 
might attract the notice of Europeans, ordered the excavation to be stopped and the lode to be 
covered up and concealed. 
During the 25 years or so which had elapsed since that time, the river has somewhat 
shifted its channel, and sand and clay had been deposited against the bank where, according to 
the villager’s recollection, the lode was originally exposed. By Captain Bowie s orders, a party 
of these villagers were set to re-discover the position, and on the 
27th December we visited the spot and found that several trenches 
had been dug in the sand ; these, owing to the influx of water and a shifting layer of quicksand, 
had failed to lay bare the face of rock, but from the fragments of stone brought up it was 
apparent that the lode had not been struck. The rocks seen in the bed of the river consist 
chiefly of a coarse granular-looking granitic gneiss, which strikes from about north-west to 
south-east. Observing some small veins of quartz to run with the strike, it seemed probable 
that the lode would do so too, and I accordingly laid out aline for a new trench, which resulted 
a few days later in the re-discovery of the deposit. 
Among the first specimens of galena brought into Sambalpur was one weighing 
1 mannd 6 seers 4 chittacks, of which about one-half consisted of galena, the remainder 
being made up of portions of the quartz gangue and sides of the lode.§ In some of these 
* Mem., G. 8.1., Vol. I, p. 88. 
t Vide Geol. Mag., 1877, p. 286. 
J Records, Vol. II, p. 11. 
§ This fine sample is now in the Geological Museum. 
