136 Note on Patna Boulders. [No. 2. 



Note on Patna Boulders. By Captain E. L. Ommanney, Executive 

 Engr. 3rd Division, Lower Provinces. 



Considerable interest has been excited by the discovery, near Niema- 

 nadowah Dak Bungalow, 14 miles from Patna, of a large quantity of 

 round balls or blocks of stone similar to those met with in the beds of 

 mountain torrents, or on the sea coast. 



2. At first this circumstance was thought to afford additional proof, 

 if any were wanting, of the former junction of the Soane and Ganges 

 at Patna, as it was supposed that no torrent inferior to the Soane could 

 have brought down pebbles of this size, measuring on an average five 

 inches in diameter ; but as the Soane, as far as I have been able to ascer- 

 tain at present, does not bring down stones of this size, and is about 9 

 miles distant from the spot, it seems probable that these stones, sand 

 and gravel may come under the denomination of Alluvium or Diluvium, 

 and have been originated locally, that is, been derived from rocks within 

 a few miles of the spot where they are now found. 



3. The nearest rocks are the Barabar hills of which the granite 

 peak of Kowa Ddl forms a conspicuous object, and are distant about 

 30 miles south. 



4. The slip or train from which they have been excavated is 1400 

 feet in length by 10 or 12 in breadth. They are imbedded in a kind 

 of bluish clay, resembling marl, at a depth of from 1 to 4 feet. 



5. The stones are not all of the same kind, some being more round- 

 ed at the edges and oval- shaped than others, and of different colors 

 from black to grey and white, but they all appear to be of granite of 

 different qualities of grain. 



6. The very coarse-grained stones, seem quickly to decompose on 

 exposure to the air. 



7. The stones do not lie at the bottom of a valley, but on rather 

 higher ground than any in the immediate vicinity, some of an oval form 

 lie on their flat sides with the largest diameter nearly east and west ; 

 but some lie on edge without regularity, chiefly across the direction of 

 the train, and separated from each other by a small quantity of mud 

 or clay. 



8. The sand and gravel is composed of a mixture of particles of 

 various substances, quartz preponderating; the grains are of middling 



