THE LAKI RANGE, ETC. 147 



border of the Ranikot group, but below the scarp of Khirthar limestone 

 which surrounds the Ranikot area. The rock of which the second outlier 

 \a composed is a calcareous grit, with grains of pale blue quartz. It 

 contains broken fragments of Balanus, a few Alveolince, and some other 

 Foraminifera, amongst them Patellina ; one large Balanus was also found, 

 and some worn spines of Ec/dnodermata. 



This grit is rather thick, and rests upon a small amount of ferru- 

 ginous lateritic rock, beneath which again is soft yellow marl, with 

 Eurhodia morrisi and other Ranikot fossils. There is an appearance 

 of unconformity between the grit and the Ranikot beds, and the char- 

 acter of the former is peculiar. One bed of the grit is flaggy, and 

 bears some resemblance to a rock occurring in the Nari group ; another 

 is a grey harsh siliceous sandstone, false-bedded, and quite unlike any 

 Khirthar or Ranikot bed. No similar beds are seen in the neighbouring 

 scarp, where upper Ranikot beds underlie Khirthar limestones, and 

 where the beds of the outlier should be continuous if they belong to 

 either of these groups. The outlier has been mapped as Gaj, but its real 

 position is uncertain. Of course if it be of later age than Khirthar, the 

 Alveolina and other eocene Foraminifera found in it may be derived 

 from older beds. 



The uppermost Ranikot beds in the neighbourhood of the last named 

 Fossils in Eanikot beds outlier are as highly f ossilif erous as they are near 

 north-east of Petiani. Lainyan. A very large number of Echinodermata 



and corals were procured in this neighbourhood, and amongst the former, 

 besides the common Eurhodia morrisi, were species of Echinolampas, 

 Conoclypeus , Toxobrissus, Prenaster, Phymosoma, and one if not more forms 

 of true Salenia, approaching very closely in character to cretaceous 

 species. 



No Gaj beds are seen east of the large Manchhar area forming the 

 Southern extremity of southern extension of the Vera plain, nor along 

 Vera plain. ^ e sou thern extremity of the plain west of Met- 



ing railway station, but there are patches along the western boundary of 

 the Manchhars, near the foot of the Surjano hills and around the Man- 



( 147 ) 



