150 Mr. Fraser's Journey from Delhi to Bomhai/. 



rises above the general levels it is merely an additional stratum parallel to the 

 rest. 



The country from this point becomes undulated irregularly, the rock fre- 

 quently approaching the surface ; and the soil, when not a deposition of clay 

 in the hollows, consisting generally of sand, the detritus of the hills. The 

 scanty soil of the hills is likewise generally sand : there is also much calcareous 

 kunker over the country ; and occasional rich loamy valleys, in some of which 

 water is found within a few feet of the surface. 



An irregularly undulated tract of country, of fifteen or twenty miles in 

 breadth, occurs between the hills just mentioned and those on which Jhode- 

 poor is situated ; and the appearance of the two ranges differs considerably. 

 The latter hills are more rough and bare of soil, and consist of two sorts of 

 rock; the one a freestone, sometimes resembling the red sandstone, but vary- 

 ing from its dull-red colour to a yellowish-grey, and from a very coarse gra- 

 nular to a fine-grained compact texture. This stone is easily split into slabs 

 of any required thickness and dimensions, and thus answers many of the pur- 

 poses of wood in a country where there is hardly any to be had. — The other 

 kind of rock is clay-stone porphyry ; either liver-coloured, with pale reddish 

 spots, or of a grey colour ; both varieties containing numerous small cavities like 

 air-holes. The fracture of this rock is irregular : when fresh it is hard ; but 

 it softens, cracks, and falls into dust upon exposure to the air ; and the edges 

 and angles of the blocks falling off, leave only roundish lumps. 



It was not very easy to determine the relative positions of these two kinds of 

 rock ; but, from all the circumstances, I felt disposed to conclude that the por- 

 phyry overlies the sandstone ; and I never saw sandstone above it. In some of 

 the hills however there was no sandstone, the rocks consisting entirely of this 

 porphyry, the liver-coloured sort being uppermost; and in others nothing but 

 sandstone could be traced. The loftiest of these hills do not appear to exceed 

 360 or 370 feet in height, and 200 may be more near their general eleva- 

 tion. They stretch a good way towards the west, but I cannot say how far. 

 They are also seen for several miles to the northward and southward ; and 

 numerous insulated peaks and considerable masses appear fading into distance 

 in the latter direction. 



For the next thirty or thirty-five miles from Jhodepoor towards Mewar, in 

 the direction of south-south-east, the country resembles that already described ; 

 presenting a succession of sand-hills with clay in the intervals. A few small 

 rocky hills which rise above the surface, consist in some instances of the clay- 

 stone porphyry, in others of the sandy stone of Jhodepoor. To the south- 



