Geological Society, 287 



the pass of the Sichel hills, near Neermul (lat. 19° 18', long. 79° 33'), 

 and the plains extending from the northern base of that chain to 

 Nagpoor. 



Physical Features of the Country. — The region forms part of the 

 great, elevated plateau which includes all the countries to the south 

 of the Nerbudda (lat. about 22° N.), and connects the provinces 

 watered by the southern branches of the Ganges with the Deccan. It 

 is traversed on the north by the Sichel or Shesha hills, locally called 

 the Neermul range, which extends from the junction of the Wurdah 

 and Godavery rivers (lat. about 18° 48', long. 80°), till lost in the 

 gradual rise of the country near Lonar (lat. 20°, long. 76° 30'). 

 The principal rivers which traverse the region are the Wurdah, the 

 Godaver}% the Kistnah and the Pennar. The first flows north and 

 west of the Sichels, the second south of that chain, till its waters 

 unite with those of the Wurdah. when it takes a south-easterly di- 

 rection to the Indian ocean. The Kistnah flows nearly W. and E., 

 between the parallels of 16° and 17° ; and the Pennar traverses the 

 southern portion of the region (lat. 14° 30'). In the part watered 

 by the last river, a marked feature is presented in the horizontal sum- 

 mits of many of the ranges of hills, which appear to have been once 

 connected, though they are now separated by extensive plains. 



Geological Structure. — The formations consist of granite, gneiss, 

 mica and hornblende slates, trap, argillaceous limestone, red sand- 

 stone, with diamond breccia, and tertiary freshwater strata. The 

 granite forms apparently the base of the country, and the trap pene- 

 trates all the formations, including the granite and the freshwater 

 beds. In addition to these regular deposits are considerable accu- 

 mulations of travertine and kunkur, which are scattered over the 

 whole surface of the country. 



Granite. — This rock is frequently displayed in all the rivers of 

 southern India, and is occasionally visible as the substratum of the 

 other formations. In the table-land of the Mysore it attains an ele- 

 vation of 3000 feet above the sea. In the Deccan, between the 

 Kistnah and the Godavery, it is traversed by greenstone dykes, 

 sometimes porphyritic, and ranging, for the greater part, from S. by 

 E. to N. by W., a direction not very difl^erent from that of several of 

 the basaltic mountains in the northern part of the region ; but on 

 approaching the Godavery, from the south, the granite is penetrated 

 by dykes, which strike N. and S. Beyond Nagpoor the granite has 

 burst through the red sandstone, which is converted into quartz 

 rock; and, still further north, granite veins intersect the argillaceous 

 limestone, which has lost its stratified structure. Granite veins also 

 penetrate the neighbouring hills of gneiss and mica slate. 



Gneiss, Mica and Hornblende Slates. — ^These formations appear 

 to be of limited extent. Hornblende slate was noticed by the au- 

 thor only in the neighbourhood of Deemdoortee, 20 miles E. of 

 Neermul, where it contains the magnetic iron ore used in the manu- 

 facture of Damask steel. Gneiss and mica slate are mentioned only 

 at the locality alluded to above, a few miles N. of Nagpoor. 

 Trap, — Mr. MalcoUnson distinguishes the trap of the dykes from 



