﻿Chapter 
  II. 
  — 
  Previous 
  Observers 
  and 
  Publications. 
  

   Very 
  little 
  had 
  been 
  recorded 
  about 
  the 
  geological 
  structure 
  of 
  the 
  

   country 
  around 
  Madras 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  time 
  when 
  it 
  was 
  taken 
  up 
  by 
  

  

  the 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  India. 
  The 
  earliest 
  

   Dr. 
  Heyne. 
  

  

  , 
  observations 
  published 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  those 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  in 
  Dr. 
  Heyne's 
  Tracts 
  on 
  India.* 
  

  

  In 
  Tract 
  No. 
  I, 
  (p. 
  2,) 
  speaking 
  of 
  the 
  soil 
  of 
  the 
  Carnatic, 
  he 
  espe- 
  

   cially 
  dwells 
  on 
  the 
  sterility 
  caused 
  by 
  saline 
  impregnations. 
  The 
  

   occurrence 
  of 
  marine 
  shells 
  at 
  different 
  places 
  some 
  distance 
  inland 
  at 
  

   varying 
  depths 
  below 
  the 
  surface 
  is 
  also 
  mentioned. 
  

  

  In 
  Tract 
  XXI, 
  entitled 
  " 
  Remarks 
  on 
  Mahavellypooram," 
  (or 
  

   Mahamalaipuram) 
  , 
  the 
  rocks 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  famous 
  temples 
  of 
  that 
  place 
  

   (better 
  known 
  to 
  Europeans 
  as 
  the 
  " 
  Seven 
  Pagodas") 
  are 
  carved, 
  

   are 
  described 
  as 
  all 
  granite. 
  Dr. 
  Heyne 
  speculates 
  in 
  this 
  tract 
  on 
  the 
  

   question 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  at 
  this 
  place 
  in 
  former 
  ages 
  of 
  an 
  important 
  

   city, 
  alleged 
  by 
  Hindu 
  legends 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  engulfed 
  in 
  the 
  sea. 
  

   He 
  regards 
  this 
  legend 
  as 
  an 
  unfounded 
  myth, 
  although 
  the 
  geologi- 
  

   cal 
  evidence 
  of 
  continuous 
  encroachment 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  all 
  along 
  the 
  Coro- 
  

   mandel 
  Coast 
  favors 
  the 
  credibility 
  of 
  the 
  legend 
  in 
  question. 
  f 
  

  

  In 
  his 
  " 
  remarks 
  on 
  the 
  geology 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  between 
  Tellicherry 
  

  

  and 
  Madras" 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  transactions 
  of 
  the 
  

   Babington, 
  1819. 
  «,.,«. 
  

  

  U-eological 
  Society 
  of 
  London 
  (Vol. 
  V, 
  p. 
  329,) 
  

   Mr. 
  Babington 
  propounded 
  very 
  briefly 
  the 
  hypothesis 
  of 
  the 
  submer- 
  

   gence 
  of 
  the 
  plains 
  of 
  the 
  Carnatic 
  below 
  the 
  sea 
  at 
  some 
  former 
  geolo- 
  

   gical 
  epoch, 
  and 
  in 
  support 
  quoted 
  the 
  occurrence 
  in 
  a 
  well 
  section 
  at 
  

   Madras 
  of 
  recent 
  marine 
  shells 
  in 
  clay 
  at 
  a 
  considerable 
  depth 
  below 
  the 
  

   surface. 
  This 
  paper 
  was 
  read 
  on 
  the 
  15th 
  January 
  1819. 
  

  

  * 
  See 
  " 
  Tracts, 
  Historical 
  and 
  Statistical, 
  on 
  India," 
  by 
  Benjamin 
  Heyne, 
  M. 
  D„ 
  

   F. 
  L. 
  S., 
  London 
  : 
  1814. 
  

  

  f 
  This 
  question 
  will 
  be 
  again 
  referred 
  to 
  when 
  considering 
  the 
  coast 
  alluvium. 
  

  

  ( 
  ^ 
  ) 
  

  

  