1842.] Tract between Bellary and Bijapore. 931 



surface is broken by the protrusion of a bed of milky quartz, rising 

 into a broken ridge of small hills ; from which a gradual, but stony, 

 descent leads to the decayed town and fort of Tawurghirry. Springs 

 of fine water abound, and with numerous rivulets, maintain an almost 

 unfailing supply of water. The latter feed the Tumbuddra, the bed 

 of which constitutes the drainage line in this part of the Nizam's 

 territories. Judging from the quantity of hanker found on the banks 

 of these tributaries, a large proportion of lime must be conveyed by 

 their means to the Tumbuddra, and thence to the ocean. The regur 

 continues to cover the surface of the plain, with but few breaks, from 

 the Tumbuddra to Umaluti, a distance of upwards of twenty-four and 

 a half miles, though not perhaps to the depth seen in many parts 

 of the Ceded Districts. This circumstance might probably be account- 

 ed for by the slopes here having a greater angle of inclination, ren- 

 dering the superincumbent soil more liable to the denuding effects 

 of floods, streams, and the heavy monsoon rains. The regur thus 

 becomes blended with the alluvium washed down, and is seen as a 

 stiff greyish mixed clay. Both the alluvial red soil and regur are 

 impregnated with muriate of soda and natron. Salt manufactories 

 are seen scattered over the country on the banks of the rivulets. 

 Beyond Umaluti to Tawurghirry, the soil consists of the debris of 

 granitic rocks ; and is sandy, gravelly, or stony, according to situation, 

 and state of disintegration. Near the bed of the Tumbuddra, I have 

 before remarked, that the subjacent rock is gneiss and its associated 

 schists. Quitting the bed, these rocks are less seen, while granite 

 and greenstone constitute the prevailing rocks from Chuloor to Uma- 

 luti ; the former occurs in bosses, knolls, and detached hills, with tors 

 and logging stones, the latter in dykes and loose boules. From 

 Umaluti to Tawurghirry, the granite rises in a more decided manner 

 from the surface, taking a south-easterly direction. One of the most 

 considerable of these elevations, is a range of hills a little south of 

 the Tawurghirry road, called the " Caradi Guddi," from being infested 

 by a number of bears, which are attracted to this neighbourhood by 

 the fruit of the dwarf date, that luxuriates in the low moist valley. A 

 bed of white and red quartz assumes the form of a low ridge, covered 

 with jungle, and over which the road passes, called by natives, from 

 its white appearance, " Pilla Guddi;" and running S.S.E. Some of 



