4 J foote: geology of the bellary district. 



village snuggles into the front of the hill. It is well worth climbing 

 and of extra interest, because the scene of a defeat of Tippoo 

 Sultan, who tried to take the drug by coup de main, but failed 

 and drew off his troops in disgust at the bold defence made. 



To the south-east of Viran Drug the Kudligi line of hills divides 



into two lines, of which the eastern is much the higher and bolder, and 



includes the famous old stronghold of Jerramalla, one of the strongest 



and most important drugs in the country in pre-British times. Jer- 



ramalla Drug crowns a very fine hill which rises 



J en to a height of 2,742 feet above sea-level, and 



some 800 feet or so above the surrounding plain. The rock is a 

 typical non-porphyritic granite of moderately coarse texture. It is 

 far more shut in by other hills on all sides but the east than the map 

 (sheet 59) would lead one to suppose, and is a most inaccessible 

 place from the south at least. The panorama from the summit is 

 very extensive, and it commands the best and most instructive view 

 of the southern slopes of the Sandur hills that I am acquainted with. 

 The line of the Kudligi hills comes to an end four miles south-east by 

 south of Jerramalla Drug. 



The tract lying between Jerramalla, Ujinni, and the Mysore boun- 



_ L , , , dary is, in its northern part, eminently granitic. 



Tract south of Jerra- J r •> © > 



malla. the Byradaver Drug and Haurkabauvy gudda 



being the principal hills of that rock. Further south and south-east 

 the granite forms no striking eminences, and near the boundary to 

 the south-east of the conspicuous quartz-crested Nimbalgiri gudda 

 black hornblendic gneiss with pink felspar laminae makes some show 

 and extends for two or three miles east, and is then replaced by horn- 

 blendic granite, well-banded, which extends to Hosshalli. From 

 Hosshalli this hornblendic band extends up north by west towards the 

 Haurkabauvy massif. It is greatly cut up by pegmatite. 



To the east of Hosshalli, associated with ordinary granite, is a long 



narrow belt of a kind of quartzite which hasagree- 

 Lokakaira quartzite. .... ... f , , 



nish tint imparted to it in parts from the presence 



of numerous grains of epidote ; in other parts it is cream-coloured. 



( 42 ) 



