268 MIDNAPORE, ORISSA, &C. 



The flats of the Dalkissur now intervene, and south of this stream, 

 laterite again shews, forming similar long low swelling ridges of broken 

 ground, and covering the greater portion of the district, extending from 

 Bancoorah, south of Bishenpur to Buniapokur, and so passing into the 

 district of Midnapur. 



There are two or three points of interest connected with the mode of 



occurrence of this " laterite" which deserve a 

 Points of interest. n • -w 



brief notice. In every case, within Bancoorahj 



where it has been seen, it is detrital ; that is, it contains pebbles of quartz 



and often of other rocks also, but chiefly of quartz. Not unfrequently 



these imbedded pebbles, and fragments increase in number, until the 



rock becomes a coarse ferruginous conglomerate. This, however, in 



most cases, occurs under circumstances which lead to the supposition 



that it is only the re-aggregation of the surface debris of laterite i-ocks, 



and other matters ; and that it is, therefore, of a more recent formation 



than the great mass of the laterite itself. This conglomerate has a 



peculiar aspect from the fact that the imbedded quartz fragments are 



generally of clear glassy quartz, the peculiar lustre and transparency of 



which contrast strongly with the deep dull red of the ferruginous 



matrix. Layers of sandstone frequently occur with this conglomerate, 



irregular in their development and arrangement. 



Apparently associated with these laterite deposits, there are seen in 



Bancoorah in one or two places, thinly bedded sandy shaly layers of an 



ochrey tint and earthy texture, some feet in thickness here and there, but 



having apparently no extension. These are well seen at the east end of 



the great tank near Bishenpoor, and further to the east on the road 



between that and Baniapokur. At first sight these would be taken for 



small remaining portions of a more widely extended series of beds, 



different from the laterite, but they seem rather to be instances of the 



local occurrence of a more earthy, and regular deposit in the midst of the 



generally gravel-like laterite around. 



