76 HUGHES : WARDHA VALLEY COAL-FIELD. 



portions of the beds are extracted, and then ground into fine powder, 

 which is used to ornament the persons of the natives and their repre- 

 sentations of their gods. Some of the iron bands yield as much as 

 35 per cent, of iron. 



The dip of the beds near Sirpur is not more than 8° to south-west ; 



but near the boundary of the Vindhyan limestones 

 Sirpur. ... 



the angle of inclination increases to 18° and 23°, 



and even higher. This evidence of disturbance, combined with the fact 



that none of the lower formations are exposed along the border of the 



field, renders it highly probable that the western boundary is a faulted one. 



South of Sirpfir are the Malagarh hills, whose highest summit is 

 one of the most elevated points to which the 

 stone. nganifer ° US Sand ' Kamthis ris e within the Wun division of the field. 

 They are composed of fine granular sandstones 

 of varying colors, sub-vitreous variegated sandstones, pint argillaceous 

 shales, and a few conglomerate bands. Some of the sandstones are slight- 

 ly manganiferous of a dark color. General direction of dip, south-west. 

 The main hill is nearly 2 miles across, and presents a moderately steep 

 face on all sides. The sandstones to the west, which are in contact with 

 the Vindhyan limestones, are, as has been previously explained, a portion 

 of that series, and not of the Kamthis. 



The manganese ore to which I drew attention in the records of our 



survey occurs in red clays at the base of Malagarh 

 Manganese ore. . 



Hill, on its east side. These clays alternating with 



others, and occasional calcareous and ordinary sandstones, extend down 



to the Kawarsa stream, in whose banks they are well exposed. The 



ore is most abundant near the hill, but throughout the entire series of 



these clays, it is present in limited quantity ; sometimes in concretionary 



lumps of moderate richness, but more generally sparsely distributed in 



strings and irregular lamina? that appear to bind the clay into masses of 



indefinite shape. 



( 76 ) 



