136 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1890. 



you see the southern portion, extending a short distance inward 

 from the shore of Back Bay, over the quarters of Girgaum 

 and Khetwady, is covered with a dense growth of cocoanut palms, 

 indicating a sandy soil ; while the bare treeless rice-fields, stretching 

 away northward, show that we here have clay, till a patch of sand 

 occurs again in the extreme north, as shown by the cocoanut palm 

 groves that follow the curve of the Bay at Mahim. 



A nearer though still superficial look at the soil in these places 

 will show that the sandy portions are full of remains of sea shells, 

 proving their marine origin ; while remains of vegetation and 

 cstuarine shells in the clay portions show that they are formed of 

 the mud deposited by tidal creeks. 



But before descending to examine the Flats, look right across tho 

 island at the chain of rocky eminences that form its eastern shore 

 towards its northern end. These, though not so high as that on 

 which we stand, nor so unbrokenly continuous, yet seem to partake 

 of its general characteristics. There is the same ridge shape, and 

 the ridges lie in the same general direction, north and south. 

 They also, like the western ridge, are steep on the eastern face, 

 but decline gradually towards the west, and if you cross the island 

 and examine the quarries there, you will find it is for the same 

 reason. You see, too, regarding the eastern line of eminence as a 

 whole, that, like the western, it is, generally speaking, higher 

 towards the north than the south, where, indeed, on the Eastern 

 coast, the rocky shore from Nowroji Hill to Colaba Point is raised 

 very little above the sea. The reason, no doubt, is the same, viz., 

 that the portion most exposed to the sea and weather, especially 

 during the S.-W. monsoon, is most worn away. 



The fact, however, that the lowest part of the eastern ridge at 

 Colaba has been worn so much lower than the lowest part of the western 

 ridge at Malabar Point, while the eastern ridge is neither so con- 

 tinuous nor so high as the western, shows that the rock on the 

 east, though partaking of the same general characteristics as that 

 on the west, is of a texture less suited to resist the action of the 

 weather. This our friends the quarry -men would seem to say, when 

 they tell us that the Sewri stone is good for building, as it can be 

 cut to what form they please ; while the Walkeshwar -lone i 



