TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY. 



fertility and slightly different levels. Where 



deposit s'" ' 



s are raised, sandy and barren or covered v 



even lakes, with a rich vegetation of aquatic plants. The marshy 

 depressions m I I j,,, lirs/ > 



17. That part of Shahabad in the Northern tract has no marshes 

 or lakes whuli so often chara • , r districts, nr, m t or, „m 

 bed of the Ganges (nee 



18. The great uniformity of level of the Ganges plain is evident 

 from the elevation at the junction of the Gandak being only Kks ft. 



j 450 miles ! The vege- 



19. Hills in the south of the Northern area.— The districts bordering 

 the Ganges on its southern bank are more diversified. Except Patna 

 ha7 art Sf" ^ ' ' '' ' Even Patna 



but these sntei 



boundary of the Patna district. Thev reach 1472 ft elevation at 

 Hand,., Hill, and consist of schists and slates with massive beds of 

 quartzf 

 Gayal 



but they are geologically 



unimportant isolat ,.., v;l alluvium. 



parts of considerable a 



mil, and varying to foliated gneisses and schists as in the Central 

 tract. Damuda rocks occur al least of Pathar- 



gatta the Damuda sandstone i basaltic trap. 



as in the neigh b ,.. [„ t },e southern division 



also a broad and well-raised belt of limestone extends along the bank 

 of the Ganges about 60 miles from near Monghvr to Ooleone. It is 

 about 2 miles broad and the town of Bhagalpur is situated on it, 

 Its botany does not appear to have been specially investigated, but 



