146 



aud character as those of Perim. (I may mention that 

 at Gossnath Point the fine sandstone is quarried, of 

 which the magnificent Jain a temples at Palitana are con- 

 structed.) 



The separation may have taken place either through 

 the action of the sea, which is ixnusually severe in the 

 Gulf of Cambay, or else under the influence of one of 

 those terrific earthquakes so frequent in that region. 

 Major Fulljames, in the same notice in which he commu- 

 nicates the discoveries above referred to, concludes by 

 saying — " This fact ascertained {i.e. that the formations 

 of Perim and the main land are identical in appearance 

 and general character), settles the question of whether 

 Perim was originally a part of the continent, and it only 

 remains to prove how the separation has taken place. 

 My opinion is, that it has been effected by the force of 

 the current during the ebb tides and the swell of the 

 monsoon." 



DISCOVERY OF FOSSILS IN PERIM. 



Dr. Lush was the first to discover that fossils existed 

 in Perim Island. He mentions the fact in a short account 

 of the geology of the Northern Konkan, which appeared 

 in the Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society, in 1836 ; at 

 the same time he seems to have been ignorant of the true 

 nature and value of his discoveries, as appears from the 

 following letter from Baron Hiigel, of Bombay, communi- 

 cated to the same Journal. Addressing the secretary, he 

 says — 



" You will receive shortly a few fossil bones from Perim 

 Island, in the Cambay Gulf — Dr. Lush has the merit to 

 have found them, but without exploring them at all. I 

 liad no time to go over from Surat where Dr. Lush shewed 

 me them, I requested him to send thera to you through 

 Mr. Walker. One is an imperfect bone of a Mastodon 



