198 Captain J. Franklin on the Geology of a Portion of BundelcumJ , 



Reilli, and in other places : it occurs also plentifully in the Nermada river in 

 various parts; but the largest mass 1 have seen of it is near the Janni Ghat, 



It is composed of rounded fragments of vvacke, basalt, sandstone, and occa- 

 sionally of other rocks, varying from the size of a pea to that of an ordinary 

 o-rain of sand, and cemented by calcareous matter. When the particles are 

 fine, the rock in some respects resembles calcareous sandstone, and has suf- 

 ficient cohesion for architectural purposes. Its stratification is always hori- 

 zontal, the coarsest parts being the lowest ; and, as it reposes on all the other 

 rocks, it is evidently the latest formation. At Beragurh it may be seen in the 

 high banks of the river resting on the primitive strata, and is itself covered to 

 the depth of thirty feet only by alluvium. 



Having- thus given a description of my route, and a brief compendium of 

 my observations, as they were made on the spot, I will now venture a few 

 general remarks on the conclusions I have drawn from them. 



The late Dr. Voysey observed that, " he had reason to believe, partly from 

 personal observation, and partly from specimens obtained from other sources, 

 that the basis of the whole peninsula of India is granite. He had traced it 

 along the coast of Coromandel, lying under iron-clay ; also in the bed of the 

 Godaveri river, from Rajamandri to Nandair ; and he had specimens from the 

 base of the Seetabaldi Hills of Naypore, from Travancore, Tinnivelli, Salem, 

 and Belhari*." To this may be added Mr. Sterling's account in his memoir 

 on Cuttack, where he says, "The granite where my specimens were princi- 

 pally collected, appears to burst through an immense bed of 'laterite' (iron- 

 clay) rising abruptly at a considerable angle f." 



These are recorded facts on the southern side of the central chain ; and on 

 the northern side it may be observed that Neridar, Narhat, Hirapore, Adjygarh, 

 and Callinger, all of them points in the same belt of sandstone, attest that 

 granite is the basis of those hills ; and a series of specimens from the latter 

 place may be seen in the Benares Museum. The sandstone indeed becomes 

 thicker to the eastward of Callinger, and the granite is not seen for a con- 

 siderable distance ; but the cataract of Billohi, and the pass of Kuttra, exhibit 

 strong indications of its being at no great depth below ; and, accordingly, it 

 again re-appears, and eventually becomes the prevailing rock in the district of 

 Ramgarh. 



Though I am convinced that granite is very near the surface in many parts 

 of the tract which has fallen under my observation, yet there is a series of 

 primary stratified rocks intervening between the granite and the secondary 



* See note, Asiatic Researches, vol. xv. p. 123. Art. "Diamond Mines of Southern India." 

 t Asiatic Researches, vol. xv. p. 178. Art. " Orissa Proper, or Cuttack." 



