572 J. G. Malcolmson, Esq., on the Fossils of 



position, and appearance to the fossiliferoiis cherts of the Nirmul Hills. Sivalingapah lies consi- 

 derably to the west, but nearly in the same latitude as Nirmul. 



The only other locality where fossil shells have yet been discovered, within or near the great 

 basaltic district, is five miles south of Rajahmundry, a large town on the Godavery, a little above 

 the alluvial plains of its Delta*. They occur in some small hills ranging nearly W. and E., and 

 composed of conglomerate and red sandstone supporting wacke, overlaid by limestone con- 

 taining shells, which is again covered by basalt. The shells are in the best condition in the 

 upper part of the limestone ; of many only the impressions remain, but the oysters, which are the 

 most abundant, are well preserved. The basalt and some specimens of the chert, jaspers, &c., 

 from these hills, presented to me by Dr. Benza, resemble the varieties found with the freshwater 

 shells of the Sichel range, and the hills in which they occur having the same direction, are pro- 

 bably connected with the eastern termination of that range. They are evidently associated with 

 the sandstones of the diamond districts to the north of the Kistnah, and with the continuation of 

 the eastern ghats ; thus confirming the opinion above expressed, of these mountains being of more 

 modern elevation than is supposed by some geologists. It is impossible to separate the western 

 ghats from the eastern in any theory that can be formed, as they diverge from the same point, 

 support the same table-lands and the same stratified rocks; and where these mountains meet at 

 the Neilgherry Hills, the hornblende schist has been noticed by Dr. Benza to dip in opposite direc- 

 tions from the eastern and western mountains. 



In the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. iv., p. 565, and Plate XLVIII., fossil shells 

 are figured, which bear considerable resemblance to some specimens of Unio from the Sichel 

 Hills, but not sufficiently to identify them. They form part of the Dadapoor collection of Sub- 

 Himalayan fossils, so ably investigated by Lieuts. Baker and Durand, and are stated by Mr. 

 Prinsep, in a note, to be identical with specimens collected by Colonel Burney with the bones 

 of the Mastodon, &c. in Ava. He adds, that they probably belong to the large and thick species 

 of Cyrena noticed by Professor Buckland as occurring in a blue and marly clay near the locality 

 of the fossil bones collected by Mr. Crawford (Geol. Trans., 2nd Series, vol. v.) ; but I found 

 the specimens of these shells in the Society's collection, to differ both from those of the Sub- 

 Himalayahs and of Central India. 



Mr. Pentland, in the same volume of the Geological Transactions, makes the following observa- 

 tions on Indian tertiary deposits : *' How far the same formation may be prolonged in a southerly 

 " direction along the peninsulas of Malacca and of Hindoostan it is impossible to say ; although 

 " we possess proofs of its existence at Madras, where it contains the same species of shells as on 

 " the Brahma-putra, and at Pondicherry, where it envelopes the great masses of silicified wood 

 " found near that city." (p. 394.) The formation on which Madras stands is, however, erroneously 

 referred to the tertiary epoch, being a recent alluvium, accumulated by the joint action of the rivers 

 and breakers, and containing the same shells as now inhabit the mud of the salt-water inlets and 

 sea shore of the Carnatic. 



With regard to the age of the silicified wood of Pondicherry, no facts have yet been ascertained 

 which can justify any conclusion. It is, however, to be hoped, that a gentleman familiarly acquainted 

 with the tertiary and volcanic rocks of Greece and Italy, will soon communicate positive informa- 

 tion regarding the geological relations of the sandstones containing the silicified trees and the 

 fossil shellsf , the conical hollows, obsidians, and other indications of volcanic action said to exist 

 in that neighbourhood. 



* Dr. Benza on the Neilgherries, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, p. 435., Aug., 1835. 

 f The shells I have seen differ from those of Central India. 



