the Eastern Portion of the Basaltic District of India. 557 



pulverulent lime to a crystalline rock. The water is probably derived from a great depth, the 

 springs having, as already stated, the same temperature as those of Urjunah, and not being ma- 

 terially diminished by the failure of the annual rains. 



Sandstone forms the surface rock in different directions over the surround- 

 ing country, but I had an opportunity of examining it carefully only at Won, 

 eight miles north of Kair, its junction with the limestone being concealed 

 by basaltic soil, mixed with calcedonies, fragments of that rock, schist, and 

 of a coarse puddingstone, which I did not find in situ. The hill of Won 

 is composed of sandstone, dipping in all directions from the apex, and vary- 

 ing in colour from white to red and yellow. It contains also ferruginous 

 grains or scales, either in seams or disseminated through its substance. In a 

 fragment of this kind much resembling the cement of the Bangnapilly diamond 

 breccia, a fossil was discovered having a compact structure and deep black co- 

 lour, and it is probably a portion of a hollow, compressed vegetable, the centre 

 of which is filled with the sandstone. It is the only instance that has come 

 to my knowledge of a fossil being found in the sandstone of southern India; and 

 as the rock corresponds in geological position and mineralogical characters 

 with the diamond sandstone, the fact is of considerable interest, even if the 

 formations were not found to be continuous, as will be stated hereafter. The 

 specimen is deposited in the Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 



Sandstone, argillaceous limestone, and schist constitute the building-stones 

 of the surrounding country, which is much buried under basalt, and a black 

 alluvial soil containing calcedonies, jaspers, &c. A few miles south of Chick- 

 nee*, (where the fossils were again met with,) the red schist found above the 

 limestone south of the Urjunah hot-springs and in various places of the dia- 

 mond districts of the south, reappears, intermixed with protruding masses 

 of basalt, which have altered it in the most singular manner, — the lime of 

 which it is in part composed, being converted into a fine crystalline mineral, 

 in which the red clay is enveloped or diffused, giving the rock and even hand 

 specimens a very striking appearance. Near Chicknee, the schist rises 

 shghtly towards a basaltic ridge, in which the fossiliferous chert is hkewise 

 imbedded. The schist is divided into minute rhombs by vertical partings, in 

 which veins of calcareous spar from an eighth to half an inch thick have been 

 formed, and give it a beautiful, reticulated appearance. Lime is found in the 

 schist, and portions of the red clay are enveloped in the crystalline limestone, 

 which contains no magnesia. 



The fossils occur on the surface, or are imbedded in nodular basalt over several miles, being 



* Fossils were first found at Chicknee by Mr. W. Geddes, May, 1829. 

 4c2 



