Vol. 56.] LIMESTONES FROM KATHIAWAR, ETC. 573 



by the south-westerly monsoon wind from the present coast-line r 

 as is believed by Prof. Blake to have been the case with the Kach 

 deposits described by him. The calcareous grains that form the 

 Junagarh rock must, in that case, have travelled at least 30 miles 

 overland. But the rainfall near Junagarh is much greater than 

 that in Kach and the western portion of Kathiawar, where the 

 south-westerly monsoon brings but little rain ; and there is scarcely 

 any vegetation (except what is the result of> artificial irrigation) to 

 obstruct the path of the calcareous particles on their way from the 

 coast. In Central and Eastern Kathiawar the grass and other 

 quick-growing vegetation, which soon spring up under the rains that 

 accompany the south-westerly wind, would effectually obstruct the 

 passage of the calcareous material to the interior of the country. 

 It is true that in the hot weather before the rainy season a sea- 

 breeze blows in the daytime on the coast and reaches Junagarh early 

 in the afternoon, but it would hardly be strong or continuous enough 

 for our purpose so far from the shore. Even if it were, or if the 

 character of the rainfall had changed since the Junagarh Limestone 

 was formed, 1 there is another and quite as formidable a difficulty to 

 meet. Unlike the Kach beds, which, when they are at any con- 

 siderable distance from the sea, contain a large proportion of 

 extraneous material derived from the intervening country, the strata 

 at Junagarh are on the whole remarkably free from foreign matter 

 except for a few fragments derived from rocks in the immediate 

 neighbourhood. It is impossible to believe that this calcareous 

 material could have been blown for 30 miles over barren plains, 

 without bringing with it a very large admixture of sand and dust. 

 If therefore we accept, as I believe we must, the view that the 

 Junagarh Limestone represents material accumulated by the trans- 

 porting action of the wind, we must assume that at the time when 

 it was formed the present site of the city of Junagarh was close to 

 the margin of the sea. The land must then have been approxi- 

 mately 150 feet lower than at the present day ; and a considerable 

 elevation of the peninsula of Kathiawar must have since taken 

 place — part of the same movement that has raised the Miocene beds 

 of the southern coast-line high above the sea. 



The Junagarh beds cannot be of any great age, as their forami- 

 niferal fauna does not differ materially from that now living in the 

 adjoining seas (see Mr. Chapman's paper, p. 585) ; but it is probable 

 that they are much older than similar beds nearer the coast, and 

 were formed at a time when Kathiawar was an island or group of 

 islands entirely separated from the mainland. 2 



1 The same considerations apply if we suppose that the calcareous grains 

 were brought by the north-easterly monsoon from the sea which in com- 

 paratively recent times must have bounded Kathiawar on the north. It seems 

 not impossible, however, that the deposits on Chotila Hill came from that 

 direction. 



2 Halfway up the central mountain of Girnar is the habitat of a small 

 gasteropod, Canvptonyx Theobaldi (Benson, 1858). It is the only species of the 

 genus, and no other locality for it is known. Its nearest ally, Otina,liyes within 



Q. J G. S. No. 223. 2 q 



