104 FOOTE : GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OP THE EASTERN COAST. 



of the discovery of the further occurrence of the ore in any really valuable 

 quantity ; and the past experience of copper-mining in Nellore district 

 is so extremely unf avourable, that it is hard to anticipate that any valu- 

 able lode or pocket is likely to be found. Several natives were said to 

 be prospecting in that neighbourhood at the time of my visit (in 1875). 

 I fear they would be most grievously disappointed. 



Garnet sand is collected by the natives and sold in the bazaars as a 

 substitute for emery, but they seem unacquainted 

 rolite substitutes for with the fact that staurolite, of which an immense 

 8mery " quantity is to be had in and near the Chundi 



hills for the mere trouble of picking it up, is a material of superior hard- 

 ness to common garnet. Even in the European markets the value of 

 staurolite in that respect appears to be unknown, probably because 

 hitherto untried. 



The supply of lime is abundant, most of it being obtained from 



burnt kankar, except on the coast, where recent 

 Lime. 



and sub-fossil shells are collected : the natives do 



not appear to have had recourse as yet to any of the crystalline limestones. 



The selenite occurring in the marine beds along the new canal might 

 be worth collecting, as there is an increasing 



demand for plaster-of-paris in Madras, and the 

 specimens of it sent me by Lieutenant- Colonel Hasted, R.E., are cer- 

 tainly far larger and purer than those dug from corresponding marine 

 clays in the neighbourhood of Madras. 



The architectural inclinations of the Telugu people being very small 



as compared with those of the Tamil people, there 



Building stones. . . i-ju i< t. 



are very tew tine buildings or any kind by wnich 



to judge of the beauty or adaptability of the various rock varieties 



for building or decorative purposes. Most of the stone buildings 



to be seen are coarse and rude in their construction : this remark 



applies emphatically to nearly every modern structure. Good carving 



„ .. ■ I . and elegance of design is to be seen in the few 



Native carving at Am- => => 



ravati. remains of Jain or Buddhist architecture to be 



( 104 ) 



