70 
Records of the Geological Survey of India. 
[vol. III. 
already known ; and it may be hoped that the measures will rapidly assume a steady low 
dip, conformable to that observed in the overlying Mahadevas. I have urgently recom¬ 
mended that the seam at the foot of this shaft be followed out southwards, and any fault- 
ground be thoroughly explored. Machinery is being put up to drain the shaft. The diffi¬ 
culty of unwatering mines in this position is one that must be anticipated : at the base of a 
bigli ridge, having a trough-shaped arrangement of the strata, a heavy discharge of water 
seems inevitable ; it is possible that the excessive discharge in this particular shaft may he 
increased by the proximity of a deep pool in the river just above. 
The same indications applicable to other localities .—The indications I have here given 
to guide in the exploration of the Mohpani field ought to be of service in the search for 
other fields along the margin of the basin : thus, in the gorge south of Futtehpur, near 
Buukheri railway station, the conglomerate laps round the west end of the ridge of metamor- 
phic rocks, the east end of which is at Khairi; a short way up, the river bifurcates; and just 
above this there is a small patch of the Talchir boulder bed, surrounded by the Mahadeva 
conglomerate ; it is possible, though not- very likely, as this is the lowest level, that outcrops 
of the Damudas might he found in the neighbourhood; and similarly elsewhere. It is to 
settle such points that the detailed survey is so much needed; meanwhile the indications 
I have given may he of service to independent explorers. 
I cannot conclude this report without an expression of regret at the obstructions 
that are being raised to the development of the Mohpani coal-field. Several years ago 
mining was commenced with the intention of having the works well opened so as to 
be in a state to turn out a large supply of coal by the time the railway should he 
finished; all prospects of profit being necessarily dependent upon that event. The com¬ 
pletion of the railway was repeatedly postponed year after year, the mining establishment 
and plant being necessarily maintained all the time. And now that the main line is opened, 
and there is a prospect of a return for the outlay on the mines, numerous delays and 
objections are made to the construction of the short branch line, without which the mines 
cannot be worked. Questions are still raised as to the relative quality of the coal; upon 
which point all reasonable doubt has been long since settled ; for it may be safely assorted 
that a large portion of the coal now consumed over the East Indian Railway line is no better 
than the Mohpani coal. For the Jabalpur line, and even so far as Naini junction, the 
Mohpani coal could undersell the Bengal coal, and a considerable saving he made in the 
railway expenditure. Questions of separate accounts and the desire to show profits on one 
side or other ought not to he allowed to lead to the public being heavy losers. 
1st May 1870. 
Note on the lead-ore at Slimanabad, Jabalpur District, Central Provinces, —by 
Tjieo. AV. II. Hughes, P. G. S., Assoc. Roy. School of Mines, Geological Survey 
of India. 
In April last, Mr. Olpherts, Resident Engineer on the Jabalpur line of railway, 
announced in a letter addressed to Mr. A\ T . B. Jones, the Deputy Commissioner of Jabalpur, 
that he had discovered indications of copper ore about three miles north of the Slimanabad 
railway station, and expressed a hope that the matter might he further investigated. 
Discovery of copper and lead. Mr Olplicrts’ attention was first drawn to this subject 
by noticing some Copper stains on the foundation rock of one of the piers for a railway 
bridge. After making kuowu this discovery, be noted the strike of wliat be considered 
flic Iwle, and pursuing bis researches to the west of the line of railway bit upon another 
locality—about two miles from the railway station of Slimanabad, and a little off' the main 
road leading to the town, which yielded an ore of lead (galena). 
I visited this latter spot accompanied by my colleague, Mr. Fedden. 
There was very little to bo seen, merely a small ridge of quartzite rock, about eight feet 
in height, forty feet or so in breadth, and a few yards in length, throughout a narrow band 
of which galena (Pb. S.) was sparsedly distributed, with here and there a little copper pyrites. 
Slcatii/raphical relation- of ridge .—A very important point to determine was the 
stratigraphical relation of this ridge. It did not strike either my colleague or myself that 
it was a lode, but rather a component bed of the geological series which occurs at Slimanabad. 
The ridge is made up of quartzite, and not of vein quartz; and though many of the hand 
