72 HUGHES : WARDHA VALLEY COAL-FIELD. 



Should any endeavours to prove coal at Mangli be made, a maxi- 

 mum of 700 feet is probably the depth to which the boring would have 

 to be carried. 



Similar sandstones to those at Maugli occur at Thalaigaon, accom- 

 panied by red argillaceous shales with a glazed appearance, and hard, 

 vitreous, blotchy-colored sandstones. 



Eastward of Thalafgaon, at Chichara, Tembarda, Pisdura, and Mho- 

 wara, the blotchy sandstones are very strongly de- 

 veloped ; and at Bhatara they rise into low, irre- 

 gular-shaped hills overlooking the valley of the Sir nala. Many of 

 the harder beds of the Bhatara hills are quarried for millstones. Bands 

 of conglomerates are very common. 



Around "Warora most of the country is covered by alluvium, but 

 near Kanji there is a small outlier, and in the Dehwal stream to the 

 west there is another. 



The largest and most uninterrupted area of Kamthis, in the Chanda 

 district, commences at Pauni and Bhandak, and extends to Khirmiri on the 

 Wardha, covering more than 600 square miles of country, Throughout 

 this tract every variety of rock composing the series is seen ; but the 

 fine argillaceous"sandstone, although occurring here and there, appears to 

 be less abundant and less characteristic south-east of Chanda than to the 

 north. 



The lower sandstones of the series — the porous open variety — are in 

 full force in the vicinity of Bhandak, and rest directly upon Talehirs. 

 They constitute some portion of the Deolwara 

 and Wijhasan hills, on which occur the well- 

 known cave temples alluded to and described in the Central Provinces 

 Gazetteer. 



From Bhandak to the eastern boundary there is a general easterly 

 dip, but not at high angles, and over many miles 

 oun aiy. ^ rocks are nearly horizontal. Where the river 



( 72 ) 



