Chap, 9.] w. blanford^ westeun india. 53 



Before entering into this subject^ a word or two is necessary as to 



the rocks colored as Mahadeva upon the present map. 



These are found exposed whenever the traps have been cut through 



• J -u -nir by denudation to the west and south-west of 

 Area occupied by Ma- '' 



liadevas in present map. Baitool. They extend for a considerable distance 

 down the deep gorge cut by the Taptee, and are found in several valleys 

 to the north of that river. A sharp southwardly dip of the traps takes the 

 base of that series far beneath the surface south of the Taptee^ but along 

 the south scarp of the Gawilgurh hills the traps turn up again^ and a 

 considerable thickness of sandstone is exposed beneath them on the flank 

 of the hills north-west of Ellichpoor. 



The beds thus exposed consist near Ellichpoor at the top of calca- 

 reous grits and conglomerates or gritty Hmestones, 

 Beds near Ellichpoor. . . 



of a grey colour abounding m chert^ and precisely 



similar in all respects to the uppermost beds of the cretaceous rocks of 

 Bagh and Alleerajpoor. Beneath these are coarse gritty sandstones, 

 white or brownish in colour, occasionally conglomeritic, and very massive. 

 Ferruginous bands are common, and also beds of argillaceous sandstone, 

 white, lilac, and sometimes deep red in colour. 



Further to the north, in the Taptee valley and near Baitool, the bed 

 Near Baitool. beneath the trap is more frequently a conglo- 



merate, precisely similar to that met with in the Dhar forest. But occa- 

 sionally sandstones and clays similar to those of Ellichpoor are met 

 with. 



At the time that the survey was made the whole of these sandstones, 

 conglomerates, &c., were supposed to belong to one 



Some of the Elhchpoor o -> J- -i <=> 



beds prohably older. system, and were all classed as Mahadevas. But 



a subsequent examination of the country around Nagpoor has shown that 



the rocks there occurring and hitherto supposed to be Damudas differ 



greatly from the true Damudas in mineral character, and at the same 



time resemble the beds of Ellichpoor. It is therefore highly probable 



that near Ellichpoor, only the calcareous beds immediately below the traps 



(215 ) 



