of the Southern Mahratta Country. 101 



The laminae are sometimes straight, but seldom to a great ex* 

 tent; for if traced to a short distance, it will generally he found 

 that they soon lose their straight direction, and become curved. 

 These straight laminae (as might be expected) vary in their <dip, 

 from horizontal to vertical. 



The granite, on one side of a small hill at Shawpore near the 

 Beema, has somewhat the appearance, when seen in a certain 

 direction, from a little distance, of being columnar ; but when 

 it is examined more closely, it becomes evident that this ap- 

 pearance arises from the following circumstance. The laminae 

 of the granite, on that side of the hill, are strmght and vertical, 

 and had formerly made a very rapid curve at the top. By 

 the influence of the weather, the curve had been worn away, 

 and had thus allowed the inferior vertical parts of the laminae 

 to separate a little from each other ; and, accordingly, when seen 

 transversely, they have somewhat of a columnar appearance. 

 This will be better understood from the diagram. Plate IV. 

 Fig. 2. fl, represents the small hill, h the vertical laminae, which 

 make a rapid curve at c; and this curved part of the laminae, 

 represented by the dotted lines, having been removed, the ver- 

 tical portions have lost their support, have separated a little, and 

 thus present, at their edges, the columnar appearance alluded 

 to. 



The laminae of the granite are very often divided by natural 

 joints or seams, which, in some instances, give rise to an obscure 

 prismatic structure. These seams becoming widened by the 

 action of the weather, and many of the separate masses, owing 

 to their more perishable nature, having been disintegrated and 

 removed, many of the peculiai* features of the granite, already 

 described, are thus produced. 



A very interesting variety of these seams is met at Chunder- 

 gooty, on the north-western frontier of the Mysore country. A 

 small range of low undulating hills is composed of the common 

 curved laminar granite ; the laminae of which vary from several 

 feet to a few inches in thickness. Parallel to the direction of 

 the range, viz. south by west, the granite is divided by vertical 

 seams, which maintain the most perfect parallelism throughout 

 their whole extent ; and thus, were we to leave out of considera- 

 tion the laminar structure, they might be said to divide the hill 



