410 Notes, principally Geological, [No. 162. 



In some places nodular spheroidal concretions, about the size of a 

 nutmeg, of quartz rock are seen imbedded in a mass of sandstone, 

 around which the arenaceous particles of the rock are arranged in con- 

 centric bands of different shades, like those in agates. This concentric 

 segregative structure is particularly observable in the more ferruginous 

 portions of the rock. 



Ripple marks are very common on the larger exposed surfaces of the 

 sandstone strata. The table-land on the summit of the hills is a wild 

 looking tract, covered with long grass and bush, which is burnt every 

 year and produces good crops of turmeric. 



Fortress of Gundicotta. The cliffs on the South of the Pass, and 

 near its middle, are ascended at the ruins and tombs of Allahabad by 

 a steep zigzag path to the once celebrated fortress begun by the Hindu 

 sovereigns of Bijanugger, greatly enlarged by Aurungzebe's and Kut- 

 tub Shah's famous General, Mir Jumlah, and added to by Hyder and 

 Tippoo. 



After the fall of Bijanugger in 1564, the fort was still retained by 

 Nursing Raj, nephew of the slain Hindu monarch Ram Raj, from 

 whom it was taken after a severe siege by Mahomed Kuli Kuttub 

 Shah, king of Golconda, or rather by his General Mir Jumlah. It 

 was subsequently annexed to the Patan government of Cuddapah by 

 Neknam Khan, and afterwards given up to Hyder when he reduced 

 this part of the Balaghat. It was ceded to the British by the treaty 

 with the Nizam in 1800. The fortifications are extensive, and con- 

 tain a handsome Chuhar Minar, military magazine, and mosque, a 

 small town, and the ruins of a temple to Mahadeo; to whose shrine 

 Ferishta tells us 100,000 Hindus of Bijanugger used to make an an- 

 nual pilgrimage and offer gifts of great value. Besides the two paths 

 by Allahabad are the other approaches to the fort, viz. one by an easy 

 ascent from Jummulmudgoo on the East, and the other from Chitty- 

 wanripilly by a steep and rugged ascent just practicable for horses. 



Figure-stone quarries of Reddadoor. Proceeding Westerly from the 

 Pass of Gundicotta, I passed along the plain on the left bank of the Chit- 

 travutty river to the hill pagoda of Reddadoor, nearly eight miles W. by 

 S. from the base of the Gundicotta hills. Limestone, passing into argil- 

 laceous shales and schists, constitutes the rock in the plain. The ridge 

 of Reddadoor is about a mile in length, running in an E. by S. direc- 

 tion : it consists of argillaceous slates alternating with a finely lami- 



