SUPERFICIAL DEPOSITS. 51 



meet with any ore of iron equal in quality to tlie Neturhat stone. So 

 far as I know, none is worked. The only inhabitants on the slopes are 

 semi-wild Korewahs^ whose very extensive hill clearances have laid low 

 considerable tracts of forests. 



Mailampdt. — This plateau^ which has a considerable extent of flat 

 ground on the top, has not as yet had its trap-laterite cap measured. 

 Other well-known plateaux of considerable extent, but situated beyond 

 our present limits, are those known as Jamira and Main pats. 



The important part played by these laterite caps as reservoirs for 

 water from which a perennial supply finds its way 

 ter reservoir.'^^*"'^^ ^^' ^^*^ *^® valleys cannot be over-estimated. On 

 Neturhat, as stated above, the quantity is sufficient 

 to form a running" stream, which traverses the centre of the basin. 

 On Gulgulpat there is a spring coincident with the boulders of trap 

 abovementioned, or 170 feet below the summit. It is not improbable 

 that it marks the line of junction between the permeable laterite and 

 impermeable trap. 



The occurrence of water on these pslts will give them great 

 value as sites for tea plantations when the country is opened up and 

 becomes more accessible. 



Section 8. — Superficial Deposits. 



On the accompanying maps the positions of the principal deposits of 

 alluvial character, which conceal the underlying rocks, have been 

 indicated in writing. The thickness of these deposits in the basin of the 

 Koel is inconsiderable, but in the vicinity of the Kunhur there are 

 deposits of some magnitude, both as regards their vertical and 

 horizontal dimensions. 



Kunkur occurs abundantly in a few localities, which are principally, 



though not exclusively, on, or in close proximity 



to, rocks of Talchir age. But the amount available 



cannot be compared in abundance to the extraordinary rich deposits 



( 51 ) 



