28 Dr. Govan on the Natural History and Physical 



elevations assigned to the northern parts of the plain of Hin- 

 dostan be correct, a rise of 800 or 1000 feet in the ocean's le- 

 vel would insulate nearly the Deccan and Peninsula, bring- 

 in"- the waves to the foot of the mountain barrier of the Him- 



alayah.* 



In cutting a new well 50 feet deep in the cantonment at 

 Rewarrie, where hardly any water can be found, except in 

 one or two places free from salt, the following appearances 

 occurred : 



g Feet. — Of vegetable mould. 



7 Feet. — The alluvial deposit known by the name of Kun- 

 kur all over India, consists of small oblong indurated pieces 

 of limestone, of a dark colour, cemented by a calcareous clay 

 nearly white, both almost entirely soluble in acids. By the ac- 

 tion of air and of rain, some part of this clayey cement is 

 washed away, leaving a hard honey-combed surface not easi- 

 ly separated. 



26 Feet. — A calcareous clayey mixture of light yellowish 

 red, effervescing strongly with acids ; the upper part of the 

 bed contains numerous masses of compact limestone of a flat- 

 tened cylindrical shape, growing larger and less numerous to- 

 wards the lower part of the bed, Avhere they are sometimes 

 eio-ht inches or a foot long, three or four inches in diameter. 

 They seem in general to lie horizontally, the surface honey- 

 combed and covered with the whitish clay, but the ends naked, 

 presenting the internal surface of dark compact limestone as in 

 a fresh fracture ; as these become larger, the quantity of cal- 

 careous matter in the bed seems to diminish as if they were 

 increasing by accretion of calcareous particles at the ends. 

 They are entirely soluble nearly in acids. 



9 Feet. — Becoming more clayey and moist, only slight ef- 



* The analogy in physical characters between the plain of lower Egypt and the 

 districts here described, in alluvial calcareous stratification, sandy plains, and salt 

 lakes, (in the one case the salt is soda, and in the other the muriate,) seems very 

 strong. If the natron of the lakes of Egypt was originally deposited in the state 

 of muriate, whence arises the decomposition in the one case and not in the other ? 



The occurrence of the Asclepias gigantea and Rhamnus lolus with much fre- 

 quency in the African plains is mentioned by Mr. Park. I know not if the 

 Hindostanee Asclepias Syriaca and Zyziphus jujuba, every where almost meeting 

 the eye in the Gangetic plain, have been compared with them. If specifically 

 distinct, they are vegetable forms at least almost the same, and the berries of the 

 llhamnus seem to be formed into bread in Africa as well as in India. 



