hold duties, often have separate tents; subject to them are female slaves, who act under their orders; they prepare the ordinary food of the family, wash the linen, make up clothes for their husbands and themselves; churn and make the coagulated milk and cheese; bake the bread, and bring the water from the rivulet or fountain; they assist in erecting the tents, in laying down the nummud, and cleaning the floor. They do not cover their faces with that scrupulosity that is practised in Persia; they do not hide their faces except from newly-arrived strangers; their manners are free and unconstrained; their duties compel them to be much exposed to the climate. They are fond of singing and sometimes dance, particularly at marriages. I found them kind in supplying my wants; both the men and the women are much given to pass their time in idleness and listlessness, and require much excitement to rouse them to action. In physical appearance the Torkomans are very muscular, large-bodied men; they have very thick short necks, enormous heads with a broad front; they have scanty beards which seldom exceed a few straggling hairs upon the chin. In their manners they are rude; in their eating dirty and uncleanly; their victuals are often imperfectly dressed by fire; they are fond of animal food; eat goat's flesh, and that of any animal which they can obtain. These notes, (written in 1830,) were kindly placed at my disposal by Mr. Stirling, and are the result of that gentleman's personal observations during his travels in a part of Asia, little known in 1828. He has also obliged me with papers on Bokhara and Kothan, which will appear in their course. Discovery of Coal in a new site. By W. DUNBAR, ESQ. Assistant Surgeon, 5th Irregular Cavalry. Camp Burree, The In marching about a week ago from Dorunda to Hazareebaugh, I halted one day at Bullea, a very considerable village about fourteen miles to the south of the latter station. Having heard reports that there was coal to be found in the vicinity, I requested the Kotwal, a very intelligent and obliging man, to show me where it was, we proceeded a mile up the banks of a considerable nullah, called the Haharoo. soil appeared to be mostly alluvial, containing in some places a good deal of kanker. The greater part was cut into rice khets. On the banks of the Suncheraie, a small nullah running into the Haharoo, I first saw the coal in a bed about three feet in thickness, with a gentle dip or inclination to the west. It was splintery, very black, lying below a friable sandstone, and alluvium containing kanker. The bed seemed to be of great extent, and I have no doubt that any quan. tity of coal can be procured at this place. I brought some specimens with me to my tent, and found that those from near the surface did not burn well; in fact it was with some difficulty I could get them to ignite at all. The others burned very well indeed, without a great deal of smoke, and leaving an inconsiderable quantity of ashes. The coal bed seemed to have been never worked, and I had some trouble in clearing away the grass and bushes, to procure the specimens which I took with me. I have some of these still in my possession, and regret that I have no opportunity of forwarding them to you at present, for the opinion of better judges than myself. At Bullea there are large and very extensive iron works, employing a great many persons, and yet strange to say, though most of the inhabitants are aware of the existence of this extensive coal bed, they never use it for their furnaces; but are at great expense in transporting wood and charcoal from the forest, several miles distant. I endeavored to impress upon some of the workmen how advantageous it would be, and what a saving would accrue to them, were they to use this coal; but by their answers, they evinced their utter indifference to the subject, and their determination to adhere to the customs of their fathers. coal bed is not above a mile distant from the works. The The village of Bullea is very prettily situated, and the view from it in every direction very picturesque. Towards the N. W. and at a distance of three or four miles, is a semicircular range of hills called the Mahoodee Pahar, very much resembling, though scarcely equalling in altitude the Salisbury Crags, at Edinburgh; that is to say, there is a steep talus (formed in a great measure to all appearance from debris, which have fallen from above) of 200 or 300 feet elevation, and then you come on a steep precipice, which it appears impossible to scale. The Haharoo Nuddee winds in beautiful meanderings along the base of this high range. Hilly ranges of considerable altitude surround the plain on which Bullea is situated, and I regretted much that I had no time to examine their formation, or even to visit the Mahoodee Pahar, which was not very far distant from my camp. In a commercial point of view, little or no importance can be attached to the discovery of coal at Bullea, at least in the present day. It is near no navigable river; no public works of any importance are in its vicinity, excepting the iron works above alluded to, and it will require more than persuasion I am afraid, to induce the natives to abandon the use of wood and charcoal, for a cheaper and more useful material. The roads passing over steep and rocky ghauts, are by no means in a good state, though it is to be expected, owing to the exertions of Major Ousely, Governor General's Agent, that they will soon be much improved. [This paper was communicated immediately on its receipt to Government, but having been subsequently mislaid, has not appeared at an early date as it should have done.] Succinct Review of the Observations of the Tides in the Indian Archipelago, made during the year 1839, by order of his Excellency the Governor General, of his Netherlandish Majesty's possessions, 20th October, 1838. No. 3. [This interesting report was transmitted to the Asiatic Society by the Society of Arts at Batavia. It has been translated for the Journal from the original Dutch, by my friend Dr. Roer, the translator of Lassen's Points of History.] The tides have been observed at Pulo Chinco on the West coast of Sumatra to the southward of Padang, from the 10th February 1839 to the first of January 1840, being ten months and three quarters, by the naval lieutenants of the second class, G. J. Fabricius and J. de Hoon. At Muntock on Bornea, from the 15th January 1839 to the first of January 1840, being eleven months and a half, by the naval lieutenant of the second class, P. C. Reuchenius. On the Island Onrust near Batavia, from the 1st January 1839 to the 1st January 1840, being twelve months, by the naval lieutenant of the first class, Director of Onrust, J. Sigtorel. At Fagol, on the north coast of Java, from the 1st January 1839 to the 1st January 1840, being twelve months, by the naval lieutenant of the second class, F. J. E. Van Goreum. At Klampsis, on the north coast of Madura, from the 10th February 1839 to the 1st January 1840, being eleven months and three quarters, by the naval lieutenants of the second class, J. A. K. Van Hasfelt and J. Van Gool. At Filatjap, on the north coast of Java, from the 1st of January 1839 to the 1st January 1840, being twelve months, by the naval lieutenant of the second class, J. A. G. Rictoeld. To these have been added some less complete observations on Amboyna, from the 23rd March 1839 to the 1st January 1840, being nine months and a quarter, by the master, J. Kecutebol, and the naval lieutenants of the second class, J. A. Ricffer and J. A. W. High. At Taparo, from the commencement of May 1839 to the close of December 1839, by the assistant resident of Tapora, Winkelman. Also on the Coriman Islands, from the 18th July 1838 to April 1839, by deputy of the civil service, Michalosske. These two latter observations were forwarded by the favour of the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, which had already previously made (at the request of Prof. Whewell, Trinity College, Cambridge) some communications with regard to the tides in this Archipelago, to the Asiatic Society in Calcutta ; besides these, there were some observations made at Macassar in the year 1840, by the master in the navy, E. Lagto, after they had been finished at the other stations. These observations furnish the following results concerning the respective stations: At Pulo Chinco off Fjinks, West coast of Sumatra. The course of the flood tide and the rise of the water on the coast was observed to run from N. E. to S. W., closely following the direction of the coast. The ebb tide ran in the opposite direction, and though both tides were very trifling, not exceeding a quarter of a mile, yet the force of the ebb generally exceeded that of the flood, though neither were sensibly influenced by the wind. The tides were, however, very regular. The mean duration was about six hours and a quarter, so that as usual, there were two tides in a day. At new and full moon the high water was generally between 5h. 30m. and 6h. 30m. viz. At new moon. A. M. at 6h. 24m. average time about 6-00, and the time of flood tide during the other days, followed the common rule, dependant upon the moon's passing the meridian, according to which, though not always with the same regularity the tide came in every day generally about three quarters of an hour later, or rather in the course of a fortnight the variation amounted to twelve hours. If then six hours be supposed as mean number, it was almost always flood tide when the moon was in the horizon. From the time of high water to the time when it again turns to ebb, as is here noticed, we may be allowed to fix 5h. 30m. as the mean number. |