IRON. 19 



be of purely inorganic origin, formed by sublimation of hydrocarbons 

 along old lines of fracture in the igneous rocks — as Weinschenk 1 and 

 Walther 2 maintain that some of the Ceylon graphite deposits are,— or 

 possibly from carbon derived from the absorption of carbonaceous 

 sediments by the igneous magma before consolidation. 



In the immediate vicinity the gneiss is traversed by several pegma- 

 tite veins from three inches to a couple of feet across. These dykes 

 follow the strike of the country rocks — north-westerly — and are fairly 

 felspathic with frequent occurrences of biotite and black tourmaline. 



The Densurgi graphite deposit was discovered by the late Gopi 

 Guru who was then tahsildar and afterwards superintendent of the 

 state. As near as I can make out, about fifteen years ago he dis- 

 covered it and called the attention of the villagers to the color of the 

 streak of the mineral which at his suggestion was used as surma in 

 place of antimony for darkening their eyes. In this way under the 

 name of surma patar the graphite has become well known in central 

 Kalahandi. My attention was called to this outcrop by the Naib 

 Tahsildar of the state. It is remarkable that the commercial and 

 scientific importance of this promising deposit has remained hidden up 

 to the present, for neither the villagers nor the state officials had any 

 idea of its possible utilization for industrial purposes. 



(«).— Iron. 



I have not met with any large masses of iron ore in Kalahandi 

 state though village smiths among the Hindoos of the Soo.foot plain 

 usually smelt their own iron. The ore used is as a rule nodular 

 concretionary limonite which they dig up from the alluvial deposits, 

 In one village, Olatura near Madanpur, I found one of the local iron 

 smelters using a hematite which he obtained in situ in a hill near by. 

 The rocks of this hill resemble in many respects those classified by 



1 Zeitschr d. deutsch Geol. Ges. 1889, 359. 



2 Abh. d. k. bayer. Akademie der Wiss. II cl, XXI Bd, II Abth. 



