708 Note on the Asurhdr of the Rdjmahal Hills. [Dec. 



to the expense of carriage, did not find it advantageous. His overseer gave me 

 a piece of it crystallized, which differs, in some respect, from any calcareous 

 spar that I have seen. I myself found no crystallized matter in any of the 

 asurhar. This substance is also found close adjoining to the hot sources of the 

 Angjana river, and by the natives has been wrought to a trifling extent. It is 

 in a stratum, about a foot thick, lying on loose siliceous stones, to which it ad- 

 heres, and is covered by about a foot of soil, mixed with stones. So far as I 

 saw, it contained no animal exuvia. 



" On the stones, through which the hot-water issues, both of the sources of the 

 Angjana, and at Bhimbandh, there adheres a tufaceous matter, so like this asurhdr 

 that I at first sight concluded it to be the same ; but on trial, I found that it 

 does not effervesce with the nitric or muriatic acids, and is probably of a siliceous 

 nature." — Ed.] 



My attention was first directed to Asurni by the Superintendent of 

 Buildings having requested me to search for limestone in the neigh- 

 bouring hills. I heard from natives, that Captain (late General) 

 Garstin had procured lime from that place to build the Government 

 granary at Patna. 



I proceeded there in November, 1819, and encamped 12 days in 

 the valley. 



Natives who had worked for General Garstin, and subsequently 

 for Mr. Christian, described the lime rock as a large mass at the 

 foot of the hill, of considerable height, inclining over to the north, so 

 as to afford shelter when it rained ; and when it was quarried, they 

 placed fire underneath, to heat the stone, and then poured water from 

 above, to burst it. 



I conceived some remains of a stratum might be found, and had a 

 trench excavated some distance along the base of the hills, another 

 intersecting it up the slope, but could only find incrustations on the 

 fragments of siliceous stones, some nodules imbedded in the scanty 

 soil, a few of them crystallized; but all were indiscriminately called 

 asurhdr by the natives, without reference to form, merely from the 

 porous texture. 



I found a superior sort of tufa at various places in the valley, and 

 remarked that each lump formed invariably, as if from percolation, 

 round the roots of the sal-hur tree, thickest near the tree and thin 

 towards the edges, and in many instances extending along the thin 

 roots, assuming a cylindrical form, but not perfectly round : these 

 were also called asurhdr. 



The lime from this species of tufa was considered so good, that 

 the Superintendent wished for a large quantity, for the purpose of 

 white-washing, but the cost of transit across the hills was too great. 



I availed myself of the " Jellinghi," passing the other day, to send 

 you a sample of actynolite; it is only a few inches long, but generally 

 the pieces are two or three feet long and a foot thick, standing verti- 

 cally on each other to a great height, presenting a precipice of 

 columns, near to Asurni. 



