192 Notes Illustrative of the 



%2 feet, the rock seemed to be pegmatic, as nothing but 

 quartz and felspar were distinguishable, and judging from 

 its appearance the atmospheric action had probably reached 

 a farther depth of 8 or 10 feet, making in all from 30 to 35 

 feet of solid rock penetrated by this destrbying power. It 

 may be mentioned as an interesting fact, that the contents of 

 the excavations in this vicinity were frequently auriferous, 

 and small quantities of gold were obtained by washing. 

 This is by no means an unfrequent occurrence in the Mysore 

 country. In blasting sienite at Chinapatam, a village about 

 40 miles from Bangalore on the road to Seringapatam, I 

 occasionally observed considerable quantities of gold dis- 

 seminated in small particles over the fractured surfaces, and 

 at one time in the vicinity of Wynaad this metal was ob- 

 tained from a rich yellow earth in quantity sufficient to em- 

 ploy a number of labourers, and to yield some return. 



Travelling eastward from Bangalore towards Oossoor the 

 country presents but little either of natural beauty or scienti- 

 fic interest. The beds of the nullahs occasionally exhibit 

 a variety of laterite, whose formation seems to have been 

 materially due to the transporting agency of water. The 

 prevailing rock being the sienitic granite, its decomposition 

 has supplied a large quantity of quartzy pebbles which 

 are strewed over the fields in every direction. A rush 

 of water after heavy rains transports these to the adjoining 

 nullahs, whose clayey bottoms form a matrix in which they 

 become imbedded, and during the dry season the whole 

 hardens into a compact mass, exhibiting the characteristics 

 of one of the varieties of the laterite. Detached and water- 

 worn fragments of the other varieties were occasionally met 

 with, but no extensive deposits were observed in situ. 



The hills in the vicinity of Oossoor were found to be com- 

 posed of the universal sienite, exhibiting occasionally with 

 the addition of mica the striated appearance of gneiss. 

 Large veins of pure white quartz and dykes of greenstone 

 traversed the main rock in different directions, without how- 



