tftJie Southern Mahraita Country. ,117 



hills, and does not exhibit the. appearance of steps of a stair, 

 which characterizes the trap in other places . ; It is also found in 

 the form of veins traversing granite, in some parts of, the Hydra- 

 bad country. A very large vein of secondary greenstone is found 

 .traversing the granite at the village of Mussaputtun, near Ana- 

 goondy. It is so large as to form a small range of bills, which, 

 being nearly bare, can be recognised at a great distance by their 

 black colour, , ... . ; , 



The most common rocks which occur in this extenave fonna- 

 tion are, a loose greenstone, basalt, and amygdaloid. • The first, 

 which appears to be the most common, has a concentric lamellar 

 structure, the lamellae separating very easily from each other, 

 and becoming harder towards the centre, which contains a hard 

 nucleus. Sometimes this variety has a rhomboidal structure; 

 but, in this case, each rhomboid is found to have the concentric 

 lamellar structure in its interior. This greenstone is almost al- 

 ways weathered to a very great depth . It is, therefore, very dif- 

 ficult to get a fresh specimen. When weathered, it has a grey 

 colour ; when fresh, it is found to be composed of distinct grains 

 of felspar and hornblende. . . 



The compact varieties of greenstone are very much employed 

 in India as building stones. Most of the magnificent mosques 

 and mausolea at Beejapore, which is situated in the midst of the 

 trap formation, are built of it . 



\ found basalt at the village of Baugwarry, twelve or fifteen 

 miles east from Bel gaum. It contains small vesicular cavities, 

 which appear never to have been filled with any substance. 



I have never seen the amygdalmd in situ ; and it does not ap- 

 pear to be common in the Darwar district. Specimens of it have 

 been brought to me from the neighbourhood of Beejapore. They 

 contain zeolites, green earth, and calcareous spar ; and resemble 

 the same rock in Britain. 



Ferruginous Claystone, 

 This is the Laterite of Buchanan. It covers very large tracts, 

 both in India and the neighbouring countries. It extends all 

 along the western coast, from Fort Victoria to the southern 

 extremity of the Peninsula*. It occurs in great abundance in 

 • • Vide Mr Calder's paper in the Asiatic Journal Sbx October 1828. 



