124 Mr Hardie's Observations on the 



hood is a chalky rock, which occurs about a mile and a half 

 west of Cheetore. It forms gently rising swells in the plain. It 

 is not stratified, and appears to be of a newer formation than 

 any of those which occur near it. It is friable, sectile, adheres 

 to the tongue, and soils the fingers. It effervesces strongly with 

 acids, and is used for cleaning the leather belts of the sepoys. 

 It contains no organic remains, nor do any nodules of flints oc- 

 cur in it. Immediately above it, rests a thin bed of a quartzose 

 rock, also unstratified, of a brownish colour, and containing im- 

 bedded masses of different rocks. This layer varies in thick- 

 ness, from a foot to a foot and a half, and is extremely irregular 

 on its surface. The chalk-bed is several feet in thickness. 

 Numerous veins of quartz traverse its substance, and can be 

 traced to the bed resting upon it. These veins are so numerous 

 in many situations, that they render it perfectly unfit for the 

 purposes to which it is applied. The above formation appears 

 to be of trifling extent ; and I should be inclined to refer it to 

 the limestone formation, which I have described under the name 

 of Kunkur. 



In situations where marshes had existed during the wet sea- 

 son, and also in the dried up beds of rivulets, an efflores- 

 cence, consisting of muriate of soda, and sometimes carbonate 

 of soda (called by the natives Preh), is very frequently met 

 with in this and the neighbouring districts ; and in many situa- 

 tions it is collected for domestic purposes, the latter being used 

 in the manufacture of soap. Muriate of soda is not common in 

 the lakes of Meywar ; but in the wells of the Nusserabad, and 

 in the Sambur lake, lying between the Ajmeer and Jeypore dis- 

 tricts, it is very abundant. From the latter, immense quantities 

 are yearly procured for the purpose of commerce. Many of 

 the wells of Nusserabad, though bored through the rock to the 

 depth of eighty feet, are so salt that they are unfit for ordinary 

 purposes *. 



Mr Hardie mentions, in a postscript to his paper, that, since 

 writing the above, he had an opportunity of hearing some par- 



" It is also mentioned by Renncl that extensive salt mines exist in this 

 quarter of India, Avhich makes it probable that the whole of that tract of coun- 

 try which lies to the west of Meywar, Ajmeer, and Jeypore, is occupied by 

 an extensive formation of new red sandstone. 



