1845.] across the Peninsula from Mangalore. 647 



blende schists, penetrated occasionally by trap- dykes, constitute the 

 formation, overlaid here and there by patches of laterite or kunkur, on 

 which rests the surface soil. The latter is usually reddish and sandy. 

 Sometimes these deposits are wanting, when the substratum consists of 

 the gravelly detritus of the subjacent rocks. At Belladaira a large bed 

 of ferruginous quartz occurs. Country bare looking. 



Chinrayapatam was anciently a Hindu town of some importance, and 

 governed by a Bellala prince. There is still a busti here to the 24 Pir- 

 thunkars. The fort was greatly added to by Hyder and Tippoo ; but 

 after all is of no real strength. The Hindu sculptures in the interior 

 are for the most part executed in the potstone of the surrounding 

 formation. Inscription on stone, dated 1400 A. S. 



Ootradroog. The mass of granite on which stands the Droog or 

 fortress, is somewhat saddle-shaped, and runs nearly N. and S., it termi- 

 nates abruptly at either extremity. The northern extremity, crowned 

 by the citadel, is a sheer scarp of rock nearly 200 feet high : its base is 

 rugged with large precipitated masses. The southern extremity is also 

 fortified, and the two forts are connected by two walls running along 

 and enclosing the entire length of the ridge on which stands the re- 

 mains of a small village. 



From the top is a fine view of the peak of Sivagunga, the highest in 

 Mysore (4600 feet) ; and of the great rock of Severndroog. The granite 

 is similar to, but less porphyritic than, that of Severndroog. 



Ootradroog was stormed in 1791, by Colonel Stuart, just previous to 

 the first siege of Seringapatam. 



Severndroog. From Ootradroog I proceeded to Maugri, which has a 

 handsome pettah, originally built by Kempye Goura, the founder of the 

 fortress of Severndroog ; and thence ascended the stupendous mass of 

 granite on which stands the small pagoda and fort of Severndroog. The 

 country for a considerable distance is wild and woody, abounding with 

 low hills and rocks, among which a porphyritic granite prevails. The 

 intervening vallies watered by the Arkawati and its tributaries, are in 

 general well cultivated. A magnetic iron sand is found in the beds of 

 almost all the rivulets, and smelting furnaces are numerous throughout 

 this romantic tract. 



The base of the great porphyritic mass of Severndroog is surrounded 

 by tall forest trees, below which grows an underwood in which the 



4 s 



