68 rooTE : south maheatta country. 



veiusj which are so disposed as to give the quartz a very strongly brec« 

 elated appearance in parts. Another reef^ containing specular iron^ but 

 in much smaller quantity, occurs at Sultanpur, 3 miles south-east of 

 Govur (Gohoor) in the Raichur Taluq. At the southern end of the hills, 

 occurring in the Maski (Mooski) schistose band, and about 6 miles 

 north of that place, is a small quartz reef which runs due north and south, 

 and has been mined by the natives for some mineral or other, but what 

 I could not ascertain either by inspection of the reef or by enquiry of 

 the people, who said the inclined passage, which penetrates some 30 or 

 40 feet, was of such great antiquity that nothing was known of its 

 origin. The bottom of the passage was full of water and was said to 

 form a perennial stream. The place would seem to be held sacred (or 

 uncanny ?), for the people seemed annoyed at my having been there, and 

 most unwilling to answer my inquiries regarding it. 



The only minerals I could find in the quartz were small strings and 

 coatings of earthy limonite, and a yellowish grey sparry mineral, like 

 spathic iron, but hardly affected by acids. This mineral occurred in 

 small quantity in nodular and stringy masses. There were no indica- 

 tions of any sulphides. 



The great quartz reef forming the Mallapur Trigonometrical Sta- 

 tion hill, a very conspicuous red ridge 8 miles north-north-west of 

 E-aichur, is described by Mr. King as a fault-rock, a brecciated dark- 

 red, brown, and yellow jaspideous rock, much stringed with white quartz. 

 It appears to be bedded, and to have a low dip to the north-west, while 

 the strike is about north-east. The rock is much fissured or jointed, 

 the joints being vertical or having a dip of 70° to 80° south-east. No 

 traces of any iron ore were seen, except the occasional ferruginous stain- 

 ing already adverted to. A large and conspicuous reef was mapped by 

 Mr. King near Urkaree (Urkera), about 8 miles north-west of Yadgir 

 (Yeedageery) . This reef, which crosses the Great Indian Peninsula 

 Railway at Kanhalli, is really a triple one, measuring altogether about 



( 68 ) 



