Sec. 3.] detailed descriptions. 89 



Half a mile west of the village of Bhirakhul there is a better expo- 



„.. ^, . sure of the Biiawurs than usual. ' The silicious 



Bijawurs near Bhira- -J 



^^"^- limestone is first seen with a variable dip. At 



one spot it dips south-west at 35°, at another, a little further on, the 

 dip is south-35°-east at 45°. Associated with it, in masses which appear 

 to have a somewhat similar strike, is a purplish quartzite, which 

 frequently encloses angular fragments of the limestone of various sizes ; 

 presenting much the appearance that an igneous rock might produce 

 if injected amongst crushed strata. Of course the quartzite can 

 scarcely be igneous in its origin. Even if it could be fused, its co- 

 existence in the fluid state with carbonate of lime, without chemical 

 change, would be incredible. It is a case, and a very remarkable 

 one, of breceiation, of which so many instances occur amongst these 

 beds. 



The limestone stretches for a long distance, and rests upon an opaque 

 quartzite resembling vein-quartz : then follow thin grey grits all with the 

 same dip of cleavage-lamination as the limestone. The next bed is a 

 broad band of breccia, a magnificent rock for ornamental purposes, consist- 

 ing of angular fragments of milk-white quartz in a matrix of red 

 jaspery hornstone (a). 



The fragments of quartzite are at times irregularly intermixed, 

 at others in perfect order, stratum by stratum, but between every 

 little band, and in numerous cracks separating the angular fragments 

 of which the strata are formed, occurs the red hornstone as if injected. 

 The appearance is remarkable, and not easy of explanation, unless it 

 be supposed that the quartzite was crushed and the hornstone then 

 deposited between the fragments. But the distance of the fragments 

 of quartzite from each other is too great for this hypothesis to be 

 satisfactory. 



(a). This appears to resemble tlie Tirhowan breccia desci-ibed by Mr. H. B. Medlicott, 

 . in M. G. S. I. Vol. II. 



M " ( 251 ) 



