1034* Memoir on Indian Earthquakes. [No. 144. 



smaller one of the same form, but of not more than half its size, by a 

 sort of causeway, some fifty paces in length. The third bears the 

 appearance of a cone, having been depressed and broken, and covers 

 a greater extent of ground than the others. All three towards their 

 bases are indented by numerous cavities which reach far into the in- 

 terior : their sides are streaked with channels, as if water had flowed 

 from them. On ascending the summit of the highest one, I observed 

 a basin of liquid mud, about one hundred paces in circumference, 

 occupying its entire crest. Near the southern edge, at intervals of a 

 quarter of a minute, a few small bubbles appeared on the surface : 

 that part of the mass was then gently heaved up, and a jet of liquid 

 mud, about a foot in diameter, rose to that height, accompanied by a 

 slight bubbling noise. Another heave followed, and three jets rose ; 

 but the third time only two. They were not of a magnitude sufficient 

 to disturb the whole surface, the mud of which at a distance from 

 the eruption was of a thicker consistency than where it took place. 

 The pathway round the edge was slippery and unsafe, from its being 

 quite saturated with moisture, which gives the top a dark coloured 

 appearance ; on the southern side a channel, a few feet in breadth, 

 was quite wet from the eruption having recently flowed down. I 

 was told that every Monday, the jets rose with greater rapidity than 

 at other times, and then only did any of the mass ooze out of the 

 basin. The entire coating of the hill appears to be composed of this 

 mud, baked by the sun to hardness. No stones are to be found on 

 it, but near the base, I picked up a few pieces of quartz. Crossing 

 the ridge which connects this hill with the least of the three, I climb- 

 ed up its rather steep side. In height or compass it is not half the 

 height of its neighbour, and its basin, which is full of the same liquid 

 mud, cannot be more than five and twenty paces in diameter: the 

 edge is so narrow and broken, that I did not attempt to walk round it. 

 One jet only rose on its surface, but not more than an inch in height 

 or breadth : but a very small portion of the mass was disturbed by its 

 action, and although the plain below bore evident marks of having 

 been once deluged to a short distance by its stream, no eruption had 

 apparently taken place for some years. At times, the surface of this 

 pool sinks almost to the level of the surface of the plain, at others it 

 rises so as to overflow its basin : but generally, it remains in the quies- 

 cent state, in which I saw it: two years previous, it was many feet 

 below the crest of the basin. On my way to the third hill, I passed 

 over a flat of a few hundred yards, which divides it from the other 

 two. The sides are much more furrowed by fissures than theirs are, 

 although their depth is less : and its crest is more extended and irre- 

 gular. On reaching the summit, a large circular cavity, some fifty 

 yards in diameter is seen, in which are two distinct pools of unequal 

 size, divided by a mound of earth, one containing the liquid mud, 

 the other clear water. The surface of the former was slightly agitated 

 by about a dozen small jets which bubbled up at intervals, but in the 

 latter, only one was occasionally visible. A space of a few yards ex- 



