508 Notes, chiefly Geological, [No. 163. 



Tallapodatoor . This village stands in a plain on the right, or South 

 bank of the Pennaur, about twelve miles W. N. W. from Chittawaripilly. 

 The Gundicotta hills flank its North bank, from which they are about 

 three miles direct distance. At their base I found a siliceous greenish 

 slate which, higher up the ascent, is capped by tubular masses of sandstone 

 dipping conformably at a slight angle of about 4° to N. E. The gene- 

 ral direction of the strata, and of the chain itself, is nearly S. E. The 

 laminae of the slates also run S. E., and are intersected by nearly vertical 

 joints at short distances running E. S. E. These fissures pass into the 

 superjacent sandstone. Cavities, which have apparently once been 

 filled with a ferruginous earth or clay, are here frequent in the faces 

 of the sandstone cliffs. 



Concretions in the Sandy banks of the Pennaur. The steep bank of 

 the Pennaur near Tallapodatoor is composed of a thick accumulation 

 of sand, silt, quartz, and jasper pebbles, and kunker. The latter is 

 seen often in stalactiform concretions in the substance of the sand and 

 silt, which have been formed by the infiltration of water charged with 

 lime. In many instances these concretions have formed round the stems 

 and roots of grasses, some of which are still vegetating within their 

 stony case ; but by far the greater portion have withered, passecj into 

 dust, and fallen out leaving cavities or casts. 



Small dunes of sand are seen in this vicinity on the South bank of 

 the Pennaur drifted by the N. W. winds. 



Tarputri. At Tarputri, the next march, are two handsome pago- 

 das, dedicated to Chintal Raya and Ram Iswara, elaborately decorated 

 with sculptured bas-reliefs representing the exploits of Rama, and the 

 adventures of the Indian Apollo, Krishna, and other mythological 

 events. Among them is a figure holding a bow, made like the Grecian 

 bow, a form rarely met with in Hindu sculpture. The unfinished 

 gateway of dark basaltic greenstone presents a mass of graceful sculp- 

 ture scarcely excelled, in my opinion, by any thing in the ruins of 

 Bijanugger, or Mahavelipur, though on a much minor scale. 



The three Sassanams or inscriptions on stone in these temples, which 

 I had copied, were in the Telugu character and language, may bear 

 date severally 1429, 1431, and 1435 of the Salivahana era, and the name 

 of the then reigning sovereign at Bijanugger, Narsengha Rayel. 



