NERBUDDA DISTRICT. 245 



in the rock; commonly however the material of which the enclosed 

 fragments are composed is so similar to the matrix in which they are 

 embedded," that it is often difficult to detect their presence. Sometimes 

 a slight difference in color, or texture, between the two, suggests the true 

 state of the case. Just below Bhera ghat on the Nerbudda, a good exam- 

 ple of this occurs ; and the rock here presents a somewhat striking 

 aspect. The matrix is brick red, and the enclosed pebbles and frag- 

 ments are white vein-quartz ; the mass weathers with a brown red 

 color all over, but on a fresh fracture the colored and uncolored portions 

 contrast strongly. And there can be no doubt that a rock of white 

 quartz was crushed to pieces and had its fragments re-cemented by a 

 substance very similar to the original rock, but colored by some ferru- 

 ginous impurity. Pages might be filled with descriptions of the many li- 

 thological peculiarities of this breccia but although this is of course unne- 

 cessary there is one so generally characteristic of the rock, in almost every 

 place where it appears, as to require special mention. I allude to the occur- 

 rence of pseudomorphous cavities in the flinty matrix. They are the 

 hollows left by irregular nests of flat tabular crystals, but are never 

 sufficiently well defined to shew certainly to what individual mineral 

 they are due.* 



The extreme hardness and toughness of the breccia have protected it 

 from the effects of denudation, and it forms almost always, the summit 

 of all the minor hills which rise from the flat ground of the Nerbudda 

 valley, and may in many places be traced at the surface protruding 

 through the black soil. Although the above description will be found 

 of pretty general application, yet the rock we are considering is by no 

 means constant to the characters indicated ; on the contrary its varieties 

 are very numerous. Sometimes indeed the enclosed fragments are not 

 only distinct from the matrix, but differ among themselves and may be 



* A similar rock is widelj- spread in different parts of India, See Talcheer Report 

 Mem, Geol. Surv, of India, Vol. I, page 72. &c. 



