384 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XII. 



could originate, nor would the harbours, of which tradition tells, be restored, 

 and I conclude that in former times the bottom must have been deeper and 

 have been since filled up. 



Again, the Ran is traversed by no rivers ; some of those from the northern 

 side of the mainland reach its edge, and the projecting higher alluvial land 

 in their neighbourhood may be taken to represent their deltas. But the great 

 majority begin and end without reaching it. At the lower end they break 

 up into constantly sub-dividing branches, which dwindle away to nothing. 

 In this latter case all the water which runs even during the heaviest rains is 

 absorbed by the porous soil, and sinks Un before it can reach the Ran ; in 

 the former case the quantity and velocity of the water are too great for this 

 to be entirely effected, and the remaining water spreads out in a broad sheet 

 on the surface, and so helps to flood the Ran. In the higher parts of the Bani 

 and in the alluvial area west of Wagir, there are a number of short nullahs, 

 which begin and end in the middle of a flat surface, and sometimes follow 

 each other in a broken line. They indicate the course of underground 

 streams, the roofs of which have fallen in and exposed them in places. 

 Such an underground course must be due to the original valley being filled 

 in with loose and porous material, into which the water sinks. This it may 

 be actually seen to do with great rapidity. I have known 4 inches of rain 

 to fall in the course of a night, and the rivers to be torrential in the morning, 

 but before evening to be all dry again ; and one can watch the water sinking 

 in on the bottom of their beds. 



The nature and origin of these deposits can also, I think, be determined. 

 With regard to the Bani, as it is separated both from the mainland (except 

 at the two extremities) and from Patcham by an area of Ran, it can hardly 

 be " a bank formed. ..by the discharge of the Cutch streams," while the fine 

 micaceous sUt of which it is composed could scarcely be obtained from thence. 

 Its composition and the power which it has of retaining water indicate 

 rather that it is a relic of the sea-bottom, corresponding perhaps to a higher 

 level of the submerged bed-rocks. The highest part of the alluvial area 

 between Wagir and the mainland lies in the direct line of an anticlinal which 

 passes from one area to the other, and is doubtless continuous. This may 

 have originated the higher level here. 



With these two exceptions, the whole of the features may be put down to 

 the wind and rain. The importance of the former may be argued from the 

 wide sheets of loose sand that lie to the west of Wagir and on the south- 

 western edges of the islands. These are comparatively scarce on the margin 

 of the mainland, and entirely absent along the northern island-coasts ; that is, 

 these sands occur where the prevailing strong winds will be stopped, and are 

 lacking on the lee of high grounds. Moreover, the rivers that reach the 

 Ran on the north side of the mainland (with one exception where there is 

 higher Tertiary ground to the west) are deflected to the west by the accu- 



