154 BLANFORD : GEOLOGY OF WESTERN SIND. 



is found abundantly together with AlveoUna ovoidea, Nummulites biarit? 

 zensis, Nerita schmideliana and species of Natica, Rostellaria, Cassis, 

 Ovulum, and Folnta. These beds are undoubtedly Ranikot; the overly- 

 ing" AlveoUna limestone has been classed as Khirthar, but some of the 

 upper Ranikot beds seen west of Jhirak appear to have thinned out; 

 and it is possible that some of the AlveoUna limestones of Makli hill 

 represent beds that have been classed in the Ranikot group farther 

 north on account of marly and sandy beds being found above them. 



To the west of Makli Hill there are several small scattered rises in 

 the alluvium ; all, except one, which is Khirthar, composed of Nari 

 beds. Farther west, and again to the south-west, there are some 

 detached rocky rises of peculiar formation, ascribed to the Gaj group. 

 Some of these are beyond the limit of the accompanying map. These 

 outlying patches will be noticed in the next Chapter in connection with 

 the similar rock found near Jungshahi. 



The isolated limestone hills of Hyderabad and Ganja, east of the 



Hyderabad and Ganja Mus > have not been noticed in connection with 

 nills - the rocks near Kotri, because the most important 



beds of the latter are those belonging to the Ranikot group, and it was 

 desirable to describe the beds of this formation, as far as practicable, con- 

 secutively. The Hyderabad and Ganja hills, the former the northern, 

 the latter the southern of the two limestone tracts, are flat-topped ele- 

 vations, escarped in general on every side, and especially to the south- 

 ward, where they rise about '200 feet above the alluvial plain. The slope 

 of the beds is to the eastward, at a low angle, from 2° to 4°. 



The uppermost rock is a rather thick bed of white, more or less 

 chalky, limestone, in which very few fossils are seen. Beneath this lime- 

 stone is a band of pale buff plastic clay, largely dug and sold in the bazars 

 for washing. Mines are sunk through the limestone in places, in the 

 eastern portion of the Ganja plateau, for the purpose of extracting 

 the clay. At the base of the scarp at the southern end of Ganja Hill, 

 some nodular marls, on which salt effloresces, are exposed. A few fossil ~ 

 were obtained from the limestone, the principal being Chama bri- 

 ( 154 ) 



