THE MOTUR GROUP. 47 



east of Umbara, between the Hingladevi and Barkoi fields, and in the 

 Pench river by Jatachaper (E. Lon. 78 46') and Chicklee, the clay 

 has been removed and the ground is thickly strewn with the nodules. 

 The clays at the time of deposition must have been of a very calcareous 

 nature, and the carbonate of lime has since been separated out by 

 segregation from the mass of the clay. As a rule, the clays are split 

 up into numerous polygonal fragments by irregular joint planes. 

 They are also somewhat saline, and exposures in cliffs and banks are 

 much frequented by cattle and other animals who lick up the clay 

 with avidity, and must swallow large quantities of it, as their excre- 

 ment is often of a decided red tinge owing to the admixture of the 

 coloured clay, which has passed through their bodies. The water 

 from wells sunk in the clay has also a slightly bitter taste, and that 

 from one well at Pala-Chowrye is undrinkable on this account. The 

 clays are not confined to any particular horizon in the Motur group, as 

 they occur immediately above the Barakars in the Pench river and 

 also on the top of the Motur hills, by Motur village, where the trap 

 covering has been denuded away. The appearance of the clays so 

 immediately over the Barakars may to some extent be due to over- 

 lap, as further to the west there is a sandstone intermediate between 

 the two, but the source from which the material was derived was prob- 

 ably to the west and only the fine material was carried out to the east. 

 The clays form the greater part of the low ground, through which the 

 Pench river flows after leaving the Motur hills, till it passes across on 

 to the trap. The country to the north of the Pench river, as far as the 

 trap, also consists to a great extent of these clays. They are much more 

 prevalent at the eastern end than towards the west, the limit to which 

 they extend in great force being about the line of the Kanhan 

 river. 



The sandstones which are in greater force towards the west of the 



area, though also occurring to some extent at the 

 Sandstones. . . . 



east, are at times undistinguishable from the 



sandstones of the Barakars, but the felspar contained in them is fre- 

 quently less decomposed than is the case in the Barakars. The sand- 



( 47 ) 



