266 f OOTE : SOUTH MAHEATTA COUNTRY. 



of Sheet 58) and Bazuna Kolur have been used for the construction o£ 

 a o-roup of very fine and well-preserved dolmens a little to the south- 

 west of the last-named village. One fine top slab measured 11' by 7' 

 by 1' 2." All the dolmens had been violated by openings efiected between 



the upright stones. .»^^ 



The Deeoan Trap. 



The various trap-flows furnish little or nothing but building or 

 road materials; the latter is excellent, but the former is generally 

 of inferior quality, because of the great difficulty of shaping the rough 

 stone. Though but little used now in the South Mahratta country, 

 the value of the basaltic rocks for ordinary and decorative building 

 purposes may be well studied in the immensely extensive and frequently 

 grand ruins of Bijapur. 



At Bijapur well-selected stones ha.v6 worn well, and many still retain 

 much of their original sharpness. Beautiful carvings, chiefly arabesques 

 and traceries, may be seen in the Ibrahim Roza, the Mehtri Mahal, and 

 Jamma Masjid, not to mention many other less important examples in 

 the many mausolea scattered about in every direction. The whole of 

 the immense walls surrounding the city, together with Turweh, are built 

 of well-tooled basaltic rock. 



Beautifully carved tracery is also to be seen in the great Durga and 

 cloister surrounding the grave of Ibrahim Adil Shah, King of Bija- 

 pur, at Gogi in the Surapur Taluq. 



Ued bole has been successfully used as a paint, but, I believe, only 



in an experimental way. It should be cheap as it could be obtained easily 



in many places. 



The Decean Iron-clay (Laterite). 



The iron-clay is but little used now, except as road metalling or 

 for very unimportant structures ; but in olden times it was largely used 

 in great works, — for example, the great fort of Belgaum and the hill forts 

 of Kalanandigarh, Samangarh, Wallabgarh, Paizargarh (or Pawitrigarh) , 

 and various pagodas, such as those at Chandgarh, Kun Kumbeh, and 

 Kodali (Kohada of Sheet 41). 



( 266 ) 



