226 Observations on the 



to the spot with Mr. Cunliffe, of the Civil Service. The time which we 

 were enabled to devote to the investigation was unfortunately short 

 and it might certainly have been committed to more scientific and ex- 

 perienced hands. I trust, however, that the facts which we were fortu- 

 nate enough to collect were not altogether unimportant, and that, im- 

 perfect as our researches must necessarily have been, they may pave the 

 way to more interesting discoveries. 



Before proceeding further, I may as well mention, that, although the 

 geology of India has generally been considered uninteresting on account 

 of the absence of fossiliferous strata, Pondicherry is not the only loca- 

 lity in the south of the peninsula where fossils are to be met with in 

 abundance. In the inland district of Trichinopoly marine shells are also 

 found imbedded in limestone, and the kindness of Mr. Onslow has put 

 me in possession of several interesting specimens, of which notice will 

 be taken hereafter. 



The village of Seedrapett, the site of the shell limestone which is the 

 subject of the present notice, is seven miles west of Pondicherry, and 

 Trivacary is about eight miles to the west of Seedrapett. The form of 

 the country may be characterized as an undulating plain : the limestone 

 formation is flanked both on the east and west by one of the red sandy 

 soils which on the one side forms the low mounds of Trivacary, and on 

 the other the ** red hills" of Pondicherry, the latter being perhaps a 

 continuation of the same formation which contains the silicified wood. 

 If this be the case, it is evident that the limestone rests upon a basin or 

 depression of the red sand ; but owing to the absence of sections, and 

 the imperfect means we had of ascertaining the position of the strata? 

 this fact is by no means laid down as established, but is merely suggest- 

 ed as a point for future investigation. 



The petrifactions of Trivacary have been often described, especially of 

 late ; it is only necessary therefore to state, that they consist of numerous 

 silicified trees, some of them of vast dimensions, resting, more or less 

 buried, on low bare hills of a friable red sandstone. The hills are 

 grouped in a circular form, and the petrifactions in many instances re- 

 tain a perfect resemblance to the trunks of fallen trees. The red hills 

 are bounded by others of a dark granite, the line of demarcation being 

 very distinct. The trees, however, are not found reposing on the hillocks 

 at Trivacary alone, but we observed them at a distance of at least three 

 miles from that place, imbedded in the red sand, on the road to Seedra- 

 pett. We were totally unable to discover any other fossil, or any 

 indication of such a thing, in the red soil which so abounds with the 

 silicified wood. 



