GNEISSIC ROCKS. 



55 



Associated with the schistose members of the gneissic series are beds 



of crystalline limestones ; they are rare, having 

 Crystalline limestones. ^^^^ ^^^ ^.^^ .^ ^^^^ ^^^^ p^^^^^^ 



The greatest development of crystalline limestone, in this case a 

 dolomite or magnesian limestone, was noted on 

 ° °™^ ^' the western slope of the ghats immediately south 



of the extreme southern point of the great Deccan Trap area. The 

 dolomite here occurs underlying a series of flaggy, micaceous schists of 

 rather soft and friable character. The dolomite which is much harder 

 and occurs in bed of great thickness, remains standing out in bold rocky 

 masses, some of them many hundred feet high, forming the most striking 

 features of the beautiful landscape they help to form. 



One of the most conspicuous of the masses is that on which stands 

 the old Mahratta hill fort, the Bhimgarh, east of Goa. As seen from 

 the north side of the great ravine of the Mahadayi (Maadwee) river, 

 looking over the scarp formed by the edge of the trap area, the 

 Bhimgarh, with an adjacent limestone peak and several huge masses 

 which have slipped down into the valley, forms one of the wildest and 

 most beautiful pieces of rock and forest scenery on a large scale that 

 I have had the good fortune to see. My visit was unfortunately made 

 about two in the afternoon, and the heat-mists were rising so rapidly 

 that it was hopeless to attempt a sketch of this noble scene. The 

 •dolomite beds extend southward from the Bhimgarh across the Taliwari 

 or Kell Ghat, and up the northern slope of the great Darshin Dongar, the 

 highest mountain on the edge of the ghats in this part. The annexed 

 view (Plate III), photographically reduced from a large and very care- 

 ful sketch made from the village of Bhimgarh, conveys a good idea of 

 the noble forms into which the dolomite beds have there been carved by 

 erosive forces. 



The dolomite shows under the ghat laterite a little way down the 

 slope on the north-east side of the Darshin Dongar about half or three- 



( 55 ) ■ 



