1859.] Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillali Humeerpore. 373 



causing ridges varying from a single rock to hills of several hun- 

 dred feet in height, to rise in all directions out of the plain of hlack 

 land, which seems the natural face of the country. 



The rock so appearing is, in all instances, primary : — granite 

 traversed in many places by veins of quartz running North and 

 South. This is of all degrees of coarseness — in some places of the 

 finest grain — in others so loosely held together by the feldspar as 

 to decompose, giving character to the surrounding soil. That a lit- 

 tle harder, affords, on the side exposed to the weather, a convex 

 surface in general ; and in other places, from the suppression of the 

 mica, quartz, or horne-blende, it assumes the character of syenite 

 green stone, and clink stone, the green stone being particularly 

 abundant about Mahoba Khass. 



Soils. 



The soils of Bundelcund have been so fully described by Messrs. 

 Allen, Muir and Edge worth, that I can only give a resume of what 

 they have already written. 



The chief varieties, here as elsewhere, are Mar, Kabur, Pundooah 

 (called in Humeerpore, Purwah and Parooah) and Rakur. 



Mar is a rich black soil, occurring generally in plains of many 

 hundred biggahs in extent, said by Dr. Adam to contain more argil- 

 laceous earth and carbonized vegetable remains than is fouud in 

 lands to the North of the Jumna. It is peculiar for its power of 

 retaining moisture, and the rifts and cracks, which its contraction 

 through drought causes. In the rains, it forms a mire of so clayey 

 a nature, as to render roads made through it impassable. It is 

 hence reserved exclusively for rubbee crops ; wheat, gram, and al 

 being the principal. 



Kabur is very similar to Mar, but lighter both in character and 

 colour. The crops on it are not so good, gram being the favourite. 

 It is not much sought after by cultivators ; it bears high rates, and 

 is very uncertain ; an excess, or want of rain being equally injurious. 



Pundooah is a light earth of a yellow brown colour, very favour- 

 able for cotton and almost exclusively used for sugar-cane in conse- 

 quence of its fitness for irrigation. 



Of Balcur there are two kinds, termed " motee" and " patree." 

 Of the former more will be said when treating of rates, as it does 



3 c 



