480 Geological Remarks between [Sxpr. 
ridge of basalt affecting the columnar form is seen resting upon a 
lighter coloured stratum, which shews by its state of decomposition, 
its great antiquity. From all I have been able to see or learn of this 
formation from others, it appears every where to preserve great uni- 
formity of character, and resembles (as stated by Mr. Lyzut when 
speaking of it on the banks of the Nerbudda) the currents of prismatic 
lava in Auvergne. Currents of porous lava, cones of cinders, scoria, 
pumice, ashes, all those products that peculiarly belong to modern vol- 
canic formations, are wanting. We meet every where with a compact 
heavy basalt, with olivine sometimes and augite crystals imbedded, and 
agates, chalcedony, and jasper in great variety and abundance. And 
though some of the currents appear to have taken the lowest ground, yet 
their outlines are so worn down and effaced, and their surfaces are so 
deep in soil and vegetation, that it is difficult to assert even this with 
certainty. 
About a mile distant from Sagar many white blocks appear- 
ed by the road side, which I at first mistook for a kind of trachyte, 
from the peculiar rugged appearance of them : add to this, that crys- 
tals are disseminated in the porous earthy base, leoking just like the 
crystals of glossy felspar in that mineral. On minuter inspection, 
however, it is nothing but limestone. Its softness, its strong efferves- 
cence in acid, and specific gravity, (2.67) separate it from every sub- 
stance with which it might be confounded. Besides the form I have 
mentioned, it sometimes becomes altogether earthy, and then reminds 
us of the most common form of deposits from calcareous springs : at 
other times it is altogether crystalline, and then passes into a fibrous 
form, resembling satin-spar, or calcareous alabaster. It has been 
deposited at the side of a couleé of basalt, and it is here that Capt. 
S.LEEMAN discovered the remains of palm trees changed to a brown- 
coloured flint, or rather jasper. As one kind of palm tree (the date 
palm, I believe) yet commonly grows by the side of most running 
streams in this part of the country, we have no reason to suppose 
any change of climate to account for their appearance here. The 
manner, however, in which they are scattered through the soil is not 
so easily explained. They are usually found above the solid stratum of 
calc-tuff, and a trunk is seldom found entire ; but they are in sharp angu- 
lar* fragments, as if they had been shattered by a violent blow: with 
them are pieces of the calc-tuff, which is found below. In the short 
distance from. Patteria to Sdgar we had met with two of these for- 
* Nor do we find traces of any such substances disseminated through the 
tufaceous limestones, as is commonly the case in volcanic tuff. 
