HISLOP AND HUNTER NAGPUR. 349 



endogenous leaf, and an abundant kind of seed, all of which he libe- 

 rally handed over to us, proceeded along with Dr. Jerdon, the Indian 

 ornithologist, in the direction of Butara and the Mahadewa Hills*, 

 whence they returned with several new fossils belonging to our 

 Eastern Coal-formation, and excellent specimens of the shells pre- 

 viously collected by Dr. Miller, agreeing in general with those of 

 this neighbourhood. In a portion of the Butara rock which they 

 kindly gave me, I was struck with the appearance of a diminutive 

 creature, which proved to be a second genus of the Entomostraca. 

 Ere the first anniversary of the discovery of our earliest Physa had 

 come round, several other localities had been ascertained for both the 

 freshwater and sandstone fossils, and observations had been made on 

 the remains of quadrupeds and shells imbedded in comparatively 

 recent deposits. Since that, on our annual Mission tours we have 

 become acquainted with a productive site for sandstone organisms at 

 Mangali, sixty miles south of Nagpur, which has afforded a few 

 unusual vegetable remains, a species of Estheria^ scales and jaws 

 of Fish, and the entire head of a Saurian ; we have passed through 

 districts abounding in laterite and iron-ore, and have increased our 

 knowledge of the geological structure of the country generally. 



General Geology of the District. — From the rapid survey which we 

 have taken in the preceding historical introduction of the fossils that 

 have been brought to light within our area, it is obvious that its palae- 

 ontology, contrary to the common idea of Indian formations, is both 

 varied and important ; but, even in a lithological point of view, there 

 are few tracts of equal extent that are worthy of more attention, and of 

 all the portions of that interesting area, there is none for interest that 

 can be compared with the vicinity of Nagpur, — its centre at once poli- 

 tical, historical, and geological. We have only to take a few steps 

 from our house and we reach the summit of Sitabaldi Hill, — the 

 scene of as heroic a conflict as ever our countrymen gained in the 

 East. The spot on which we stand consists of nodular trap (fig. 1). 

 At the distance of a few yards from our feet, just under the brow of the 

 hill, is a narrow stripe of green or yellow calcareous indurated clay, 

 which, on close inspection, is found to contain a number of decaying 

 casts of freshwater shells. Under this we perceive a bluish-green 

 friable rock, which hardens first into a tough amygdaloid, and then, 

 a little above the level of the plain, down to which it is scarped by 

 the quarrymen, into a compact greenstone. Cropping out from 

 under the foot of the hill may be seen a bed of soft variegated sand- 

 stone, and then, according as we look east or west, the prevailing 

 rock covering the plain beyond is either gneiss or trap. 



But let us extend the prospect to the horizon. As we stand with 

 our faces to the north, the first glance that we cast on the distant 

 hills shows that there is a marked difference among them. Behind 

 us, on our left, and in front we follow a long sweep of flattened 

 summits, with here and there a valley to break the uniformity ; but 

 no sooner do we look towards the right than we descry a series of 

 round-topped hills rising up at intervals in massive strength. These 

 * Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. x. p. 55. 



