Mr. Fraser's Journey from Delhi to Bombay. 149 



was over a heavy yellow sand ; and here water is found at moderate depths. 

 The low clayey bottoms are fertile ; being naturally moist^ and i^enerally co- 

 vered with a saline efflorescence. In the higher clayey tracts, on the con- 

 trary, water is found only at very great depths, and the soil is useless, because 

 out of the reach of irrigation : towards Nagore water is obtained at a depth of 

 from eighty to a hundred feet. Approaching that place, the sand becomes 

 more grey and coarse, being mingled with kunker and gravel ; and through- 

 out the whole way only one or two insulated peaks of rock are seen, which 

 are all within thirty miles of Ajmere. Within about twelve miles of Na- 

 gore, a small hill occurs about sixty feet high, which is formed of quartz nearly 

 * of the same nature as the predominating rock of the hills we had left. 



There is good reason for believing that a large portion of the country around 

 Nagore rests on a bed of coarse red sandstone ; which is found at various 

 depths near that town, and colours part of the soil, and all the water in the 

 tanks. All the buildings of that city are formed of this stone, from quarries 

 dug within the walls and in the vicinity. Water is here in some places found 

 at a small depth, and remains throughout the year in tanks dug for the pur- 

 pose, not artificially made water-tight. 



Nagore is built on a kunker bank, which produces nothing for more than a 

 mile round a great part of the city. The view to the westward is as dreary as 

 can be conceived ; a succession of barren sand-hills spotted with brown and 

 blasted-looking bushes ; and towards this quarter water is more scarce, not 

 occurring within the depth of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet 

 from the surface. 



The under stratum of red sandstone continues from Nagore to the south- 

 ward ; and as we journeyed from that place to Jhodepoor, it tinged the soil in 

 most places, except where the hard kunker bed occurred* : it is a heavy, 

 dull, coarse red stone, inclosing a good many crystals of quartz. About forty 

 miles from Jhodepoor, and fifty from Nagore, this sandstone rises to the 

 surface, and various small hills are observed on either hand, which soon unite 

 in ranges of no great height and not very continuous. These hills also are 

 composed of the red sandstone varying from fine- to coarse-grained, and are 

 evidently nothing but the strata of the great bed, which rise occasionally above 

 the general level of the country, but are quite horizontal in position. The 

 hills never exceed from three to four hundred feet in height, and are seldom 

 so high ; their tops seem perfectly table-form, and if any where a rock or peak 



* The specimens from this place were unfortunately lost. 



