HISLOP AND HUNTER NAGPUR. 373 



the south of the Mahtidewa Hills there is the same green shale as 

 here and at Tadat^i ; and at Kota, according to a private letter with 

 which I was favoured by (the late) Dr. Bell, red clay, of greater 

 thickness than any stratum that was passed through, underlies the 

 other shales which he has enumerated in his sections* : and in 

 localities farther south, Malcolmson states f that the shales on which 

 the sandstone rests are blue, red, green, or pure white ; by which 

 last-mentioned rather rare colour we are brought in mind of some of 

 the strata at Mundipar. And as we are told by Newbold J, the sand- 

 stone of the Eastern Ghats frequently "passes into red and green 

 argillaceous and siliceous slates and laminated marls." I think then, 

 that, though inferring the identity of Nagpur sandstone with that of 

 Southern India from the occurrence of diamonds at Weiraga^, Mal- 

 colmson' s statement was wrong as to its grounds, yet it was perfectly 

 correct as to its matter. The position of the shale in reference to the 

 limestone seems to vary. At Korhadi it is the superior rock. Such 

 also is its position at Bangnapilli according to Malcolmson §, and 

 generally according to Newbold. In a section, however, of the Pass 

 at Mudalaity, given by the latter writer, we have the following order : 

 " compact light-coloured sandstone, 120 feet; limestone, 310 feet; 

 shales, 50 feet ; laminar and massive sandstone ; — whereas by the 

 section obtained by Dr. Bell|l we find sandstone, from 50 to 500 feet, 

 — argillaceous limestone, 9 feet, — and, after various unimportant 

 argillaceous, bituminous, and calcareous strata, in all 4 feet, limestone, 

 1 ft. 9 in., laminated sandstone and shale, 8 feet, and argillaceous &c. 

 strata as before, 1 1 feet 8 inches, we come to limestone, 23 feet, then 

 argillaceous and calcareous beds, 25 feet, red clay, 27 feet, and lime- 

 stone." Here it would appear that shale, sandstone, and limestone 

 are interstratified. 



Though there is no great development of carbonaceous beds in 

 the district which is the more immediate subject of this paper, yet 

 I should regard the communication as incomplete without some 

 notice of the position of the Indian coal in reference to our sandstone 

 strata. Bhuvvan, in the north-west of our area, at the foot of the 

 Mahadewa Hills, furnishes us with a common term of comparison. 



[In the foregoing observations on the so-called Jurassic (or plant- 

 bearing) formation of the Nagpur territory the authors recognize 

 four members in the following descending order : — a. Thick-bedded, 

 coarse, ferruginous sandstone, with a few stems of trees, b. Lami- 

 nated sandstone, exceedingly rich in vegetable remains, c. Clay 

 shales of various colours, and bearing worm-tracks and foot-marks. 

 D. Limestone, generally altered and crystalline. At the time when 

 this memoir was written, the authors thought it probable that the 

 Bengal coal-deposits might be referable to the shales (c) of this 

 series ; but, having since had further opportunities of personal in- 



* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. viii. p. 232. 



t Trans. Geol. Soc. 2nd ser. vol. v. p. 543. 



X Journ. As. Society, vol. viii, p. 167. 



§ Malcolmson ut supra, p. 541. 



II See also Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. x. p. 374, and note. 



