1878.] W. T. Blanford— 0;2 tie Geology of Sind. 5 



The only other place in Sind where beds inferior to the nummulitic 

 limestone were found to be exposed is in the nameless range of hills run- 

 ning south from Sehwan. This range is sometimes spoken of as the Laki 

 range, from the village of Laki, near the northern extremity. It appears 

 to be part of the Hala range of Vicary and others, but the Hala range of 

 the old maps included the Khirthar and several other ranges, and no dis- 

 tinct chain of hills is known by any such name in the country. There 

 is however an unimportant pass in the Laki range known as Hala Lak 

 (Lak = pass). Each separate peak of this range has its own name, no general 

 term being applied to the whole. In this Laki range, however, beneath the 

 nummulitic limestone, the lower eocene and cretaceous beds just noticed 

 are well exposed. 



In the south-western portion of the province the well-marked breaks 

 between the different subdivisions of the tertiary series can no longer be 

 traced. The massive nummulitic limestone, so conspicuous to the north- 

 ward, becomes broken up into thinner beds intercalated with clays and sands, 

 and finally disappears, and the higher tertiary groups all tend to pass into 

 each other. 



The lowest bed seen in the province, the Hippuritic Limestone, has only 

 been found in one spot, and there the outcrop does not occupy much more 

 than about half a mile in length. The only recognizable fossil found was 

 a Hippurite. It is probable that this limestone is identical with the cre- 

 taceous limestone, which occupies a large area in Persia, and which has been 

 traced at intervals from south-east of Karman to the neighbourhood of 

 Tehran. If so, this is the first time that the formation has been recognized 

 in India, except in the Himalayas. The bed consists of pale-coloured hard 

 limestone, very gritty and sandy above, purer beneath. 



Above the limestone there is a considerable thickness of dark-coloured 

 sandstones, often of a purplish tint and frequently rather calcareous. These 

 beds are not very fossiliferous, but towards the top they contain oysters 

 and a few bones, apparently reptilian. 



The next beds in ascending order consist of olive clays, shales and sand- 

 stone, frequently abounding in fossils, the most important being a pecu- 

 liarly globose Cardita, C. Beaumonti, two or three species of Nautili and 

 corals. The Cardita is allied to cretaceous species, and so is one, at least, 

 of the Nautili. 



The thin band of basaltic trap resting upon the Cardita Beaumonti 

 clays, although less than 100 feet thick, is almost certainly identical with 

 the great Deccan and Malwa trap formation, which covers so enormous an 

 area in Western India, and which extends from Western Chutia Nagpur 

 as far as Kachh. The belt in Sind has been traced for about 22 miles, 

 always occupying the same position above the olive clays and beneath the 



