112 
Records of the Geological Survey of India. 
[vol. VIII. 
in the bed of the river, while the hills on either side were of the upper sandstones. Frag¬ 
ments of coal were still to be seen at the furthest point reached; but from the abundance 
of gneiss and jasper-conglomerate pebbles, the metamorphic rocks cannot be very far 
distant. The jasper may not very improbably be derived from Talckir beds. 
The Pelma-Milupara valley is one of several along this frontier where denudation has 
removed the upper sandstones, thus forming avast amphitheatre in which Barakars form the 
floor. A considerable accumulation of alluvium occurs in this valley ; it is much cut up by 
ravines, and consequently difficult to traverse. As it was impossible to take the camp beyond 
Milupara, much time was wasted in going to and fro. To draw a satisfactory boundary at 
the foot of the bills would require close and very detailed examination. 
Bendia Ritee Section. —In the portion of this river not previously examined,* between 
Kornkel and Jaujgbir, for the first three miles the rocks are much covered, after which there 
are coarse sandstones with a succession of seams containing coal in bands of from 2' to 3'. 
None of these seams are well exposed, as they are for the most part flat, and it is impossible to 
speak decidedly of their value. It is not, however, at all improbable that good coal in workable 
quantity may exist. At Janjghir the Barakars abut against gneiss, and are in places covered 
by upper sandstones which cross the boundary. In some cases the bottom beds resting on 
the gneiss in the Janjghir valley may be Barakars; but the cases are doubtful. To the 
west of the village a pebble conglomerate bed can be traced from off the metamorphics on to 
undoubted Barakars upon which it appears to rest unconformably, but the section is not 
quite clear. In one place in the river it is seen distinctly overlying a coal seam with associ¬ 
ated Barakar sandstones. This seam measures— 
Ft. Inc. 
Coal, about ... ... ... 0 8 
Parting ... ... ... ... 0 3 
Coal ... ... ... ... 1 0 
I think the conglomerate must be referred to the upper series. 
In the bed of the stream on the hill side, at the head of this valley, I found some 
fragments of black shale, which appear to have come from the upper beds. As will be 
noticed further on, a similar case occurs to the east, in the valley of the Bendia. 
From the preceding it will be seen that there are no data sufficient for forming an 
opinion as to the total thickness of the Barakars, but that there is strong evidence of great 
irregularity of deposit. 
On the prospects of coal being found in useful amount, I shall speak in the section on 
economic resources. 
IV.— TJppek Sandstones, oe Hingir Geoup. 
Resting upon the Barakar rocks is a group of beds differing from them in their litholo¬ 
gical characters, and containing certain fossil plants which have in no part of the country 
been found to occur in rocks of the Barakar horizon. 
With rare, and perhaps even somewhat doubtful exceptions, this group does not include 
any carbonaceous deposits. In the fossil plants the carbon has been all removed and 
replaced by iron. 
In some of the sections described on previous pages evidence is given of the extensive 
scale in which the Barakars have been overlapped by these younger rocks, At many places 
along the southern boundary of the field, as, for instance, at Singapur and Borkhol (vide p. 108) 
the area occupied by the Barakars is reduced to very narrow limits. Again, near the Kurket 
* Vide Records, 1871, pp. 105-6. 
