146 Mr. Fraser's Journey from Delhi to Bombay. 



white quartz, running- from north to south, and clipping at an angle of about 10°. 

 The prevailing rock is still quartz : but we find in it the same various admix- 

 tures of sand, so as to make it approach to sandstone in appearance ; the 

 diaphanous sort however predominates^ varying- in colour from reddish-white 

 to blueish-grey. The veins of quartz are sometimes very numerous ; they 

 are irregularly distributed, and vary in thickness from a quarter of an inch to 

 a foot. 



The fort of Alwur is situated on the loftiest of these hills, and may be 1200 

 feet in height from the plain ; the highest of the rest do not rise above 1000 feet, 

 but in general they are lower. One of the remarkable characteristics of this 

 portion of the range, its regularity of height, is conspicuous on looking down 

 upon it from the superior height of Alwur fort, from whence all the hills 

 appear to rise nearly to a level, stretching out with this uniform appearance 

 far to the west and north-west_, and in fact quite bounding- the view in these 

 quarters. 



The same range also runs nearly south about twenty miles further, to Raj- 

 guhr, which is situated in a basin among the hills on the eastern boundary. 

 The composition and structure do not materially vary; but we found mica-slate 

 in some places, and I was informed that a fine-grained black slate, used in 

 sculpture to adorn their buildings, was found in the vicinity. 



From Rajguhr to Amber near Jaypoor, a distance of about seventy miles, 

 in a west-south-west direction, the country varies little from that already de- 

 scribed ; consisting- of sandy plains and valleys deeply indented with water- 

 courses, and uneven in their surface, with a few spots of rich clay or mould, 

 Avhere cultivation is scantily carried on ; insulated peaks and clusters of den- 

 tated hills, here and there rising from the general level. The rock generally 

 approaches near to the surface, and often appears above it in a state of decom- 

 position, falling into coarse sand, consisting of quartz, mica, and felspar. In 

 passing through a ghat *, about thirty miles from Amber, we saw a single 

 small hill, composed entirely of a white stone, which we were told was marble ; 

 and limestone in plenty certainly is found in the vicinity. The other hills dif- 

 fered in no respect from those already described, the strata pointing to the north- 

 east and east, and the rocky faces being chiefly to the south-east and east. 



The hills at Amber and Jaypoor do not vary from those already mentioned, 

 but are not so lofty as those about Alwur. The predominating rocks were still 

 quartz and granite ; and the stone commonly used in building is granular 



* Ghat signifies a mountain pass. 



