( 2 ) 



7. The elevation' above the sea is as shown below for each range separately: 



ARTICLE 3. Underlying Rock and Soil. 



8. We are here situated on the western extremity of the long arm of the Vindhyan 

 basin which extends for 340 miles, with a maximum width of 50 miles, from Saugor on the 

 west to Sasseram in Behar on the east. The rocks of the lower Vindhyans are only visible 

 in the gorges of the Berani Naddi and of its tributaries in the extreme north of the area 

 occupied by the upper or true Vindhyans. For the purpose of geological description, the 

 area of the Damoh district in which the forests of this Division are situated may be con- 

 veniently divided into three portions as follows : 



/. The area lying north of a line drawn from Pondi on the east to Khundairi on the 

 west and including the forests of the Northern Range. This is again conveniently sub- 

 divided by a line drawn from Ghogra on the east to Bari Kanora on the west. In the tract 

 lying to the north of this line Kaimor sandstone and conglomerate are the prevailing rocks, 

 lower Vindhyan sandstones and limestones appearing in the valleys of the Berani Naddi and 

 of its tributaries. Ferruginous bands are seen in the Kaimor rocks near Ghogra, presumably 

 similar to the deposits which are worked for iron by the inhabitants of Kupi and the neigh- 

 bouring villages in native territory. South of the above line Upper Kewah sandstone pre- 

 dominates, the Kaimor rocks covering only a small area along the boundary of the district 

 between Rampura and Semarkachhar. Trap occupies small areas near Sadpur, Khutiyani and 

 Dalpatpura and the Lametas (infra-trappean) surround the trap of Bia-Bareri hill. 



II. The area lying south of a line drawn from Patera on the east to Dhangor on the 

 west and including all the forests of the Central, South-Western and South-Eastern Ranges, 

 with the one exception of Block 19, Umraho Jamunia. Here the prevailing rock is Upper 

 Bhander sandstone. Sirbu shales are frequently found occupying small areas in the valleys 

 and on the lower slopes, especially in the central range, and in the neighbourhood of 

 Singorgarh in the s&uth-eastern range. Trap occurs at Jamunia and Kotatala in the 

 central range, near Tindni in the south-western range and at Kulumar in the south-eastern 

 range. Lametas also appear at the last place in company with trap. At Amghat hill in 

 the south-eastern range a complicated assemblage of rocks is met with. The central 

 plateau consists of Upper Rewah sandstone, the outer slopes being occupied successively by 

 Ganurgarh shales, Bhander limestone, Lower Bhander sandstone and Sirbu shales. 



///. The alluvial belt lying between tracts I and //.Containing, as it does, only 

 one small forest Block No. 19, it needs but a brief description. It will suffice to say that a 

 variety of geological formations, including Trap, Lametas, Sirbu shales, Lower Bhander 

 sandstone, Bhander limestone and Ganurgarh shales, occasionally crop out among the alluvial 

 deposits which, however, occupy by far the greater portion of the area and that the principal 

 formations within the forest area at Umraho- Jamunia are Trap and Lametas. 



9. A brief description will now 

 mentioned above. 



Throughout the Trap area the prevailing rock is as usual some form of dolerite or basalt, 

 and it is generally to be recognised by the occurrence of amygdaloidal basalt with glauconite 

 (green earth) or of porphyry containing large tabular crystals of glassy felspar, white or 

 green in colour. 



The Lametas consist of limestones, sandstones and clays. The limestone is usually rather 

 a calcareous grit, containing an abundance of nodules of segregated chert, some of the small 

 pebbles frequently consisting of red jasper. The sandstone is usually fine-grained, porous 

 and earthy in character and of a greenish colour. The clays are red or green, and are very 

 frequently sandy or marly. 



We now come to the Vindhyan rocks, which cover by far the greater part of the area. 

 The Kaimor conglomerate is everywhere conspicuous through the prominence in it of 

 bright-red jasper pebbles- Regarding the principal sandstones there are general character- 

 istics peculiar to each. The Kaimor rock is fine-grained, greyish, yellowish or reddish-white, 

 sometimes speckled brown. False bedding is frequent and massive beds are abundant; but, on 

 the whole, the bedding is of moderate thickness, becoming sometimes flaggy and even shaly. 



be given of the principal rocks, which have been 



