ibO Dr Christie on the Meteorology^ Geology^ S^c, 



forts. These insulated hills are generally met with at the edges 

 of the granite tract, where it is succeeded by the transition 

 rocks ; and being situated in the midst of very extensive plains, 

 when they are seen from .some distance, they have exactly the 

 appearance of rocky islands in the midst of the ocean *. 



The hills have very often a mamillary form ; their sides being 

 bare and smooth, and having generally large detached plates 

 resting upon them, which appear as if they would the next mo- 

 ment slide down the smooth surface into tl>e plain below. 



The valleys are irregular, are strewed over with fragments 

 and immense rolled masses of granite, and sometimes afford the 

 most picturesque scenery. Notwithstanding the barren nature 

 of granitic soil, the country is, in many places, covered with 

 jungle f. 



Upon a superficial examination, the granite of India might be 

 pronounced to have several distinct structures, such as the stra- 

 tified, tabular, columnar, he. ; but all of these may (I am con- 

 vinced, from pretty extensive observation) be referred to the la- 

 minar ; the laminae giving rise, by the infinite variation in their 

 direction, form, thickness, extent, and mode of disintegration, to 

 the different appearances alluded to. The most common variety 

 appears to be the curved laminar ; the laminae varying in their 

 thickness from a few inches to many feet, and almost infinitely 

 in the degree of their curvature. The bare mamillary shaped 

 hills and knolls, which are so common throughout the granitic 

 tracts of India, owe their origin to the curved laminar structure 

 of the granite. They have almost invariably loose angular 

 plates resting on their sides, which have arisen from the most 

 superficial of the laminae having split, and separated from those 

 beneath \. 



• Some of the strongest forts in India are of this description, for instance 

 Chittledroog, Gooty, Copaldroog, Eidgheer, &c. 



•f Several species of custard apple (Annona) grow in great abundance in 

 the jungles of Hydrabad ; and even, in the driest season, their fruits attain 

 great perfection 



X Bellaryhill, some of the hills at Anagoondy, and Moul Alley hill, near 

 Secunderabad, are good examples of these appearances. 



