2(58 Mr Hardie o?i the Geology of the 



pear to be a very recent de})osit, but rather to belong to an era 

 intermediate between the period which gave birth to our newer 

 marine formations and the deposition of the more ancient al- 

 luvial beds. We shall, therefore, consider the kunkur as a dis- 

 tinct and separate formation, to which the term, " The Kunkur 

 Fonnation,''^ may be applied, till such time as we can accurately 

 determine its real place in the geological scale. We must, at 

 the same time, be careful not to confound the true kunkur beds 

 with diose numerous deposits of calc-tuff which are daily form- 

 ing, or with calcareous soils, containing imbedded portions of 

 nodular kunkur, often in immense quantity. From its loosely 

 adhering nature, the kunkur must have been peculiarly liable to 

 be affected by floods and other denuding agencies ; and hence 

 we are prepared to find vast accumulations of its debris in situa- 

 tions the most remote from its original locality. The great 

 depth at which imbedded portions of this substance are found, 

 may be gathered from a Report (published in the Asiatic Trans- 

 actions, vol. xii.) of Borings for Fresh Water, effected in Cal- 

 cutta, during the year 1814 *. 



In central India the kunkur is constantly observed occupying 

 the beds and banks of nullahs, or forming small rounded swells, 

 or tumuli, generally in low situations. It is also discovered re- 

 posing under the soils of our elevated plains and plateaux, and 

 in several instances I have observed it resting on the summits of 

 the hills, and in situations between 2000 and 3000 feet above 

 the level of the sea f. 



The kunkur beds are not, generally speaking, thick. In this 

 respect, however, they vary in different localities. They include 

 numerous imbedded masses, both spheroidal and angular, of 

 different kinds of rock, and many of these would seem to have 

 been transported from a distance. The imbedded masses vary 

 from the size of a pin's head to that of blocks two or three feet 

 in diameter, 



• From this report it appears, that kunkur was observed at the greatest 

 depth attained by the borers. Solid rock would seem to exist at a depth of 

 about 140 feet below the surface, and kunkur is imbedded in the stratum 

 which immediately overlies this. 



•f A bed of kunkur occurs on the summit of a granite hill at Buneera, m 

 Mewar. Also on the tops of the hills at Nauthwarra, in the same district, 

 and in several other similar situations which I have visited. 



