396 COAL AND LIGNITE, &c. 



shall conclude with an opinion, that it approximates to the red marl, or new 

 red sand-stone of English Geologists. That it is daily forming, is a matter 

 of no doubt whatever, but we must refer those beds alternating with the in- 

 clined gravel strata, to a catastrophe which has totally inverted the order of 

 thino-s, and evidently placed the Dehrah and Karda valleys between the 

 debris and the parent rocks of the primary ranges. The vast slips and 

 fallings of these Hills, provide boulders and gravel for the beds of the moun- 

 tain streams, which must, of course, be undergoing a proportionable degree of 

 elevation, in the depressions of the Hills themselves. This annual supply of 

 new gravel may also account for the quantity of lime stone which is found 

 in the beds of these streams, and which, after the annual rains, leads mer- 

 chants and lime burners to the Ghats for the purpose of collecting and burn- 

 ing the stone. 



A total absence of organic remains, a feature of the new red sand- 

 stone of England, with the variety in color, impregnation with calcareous mat- 

 ter, and presence of carbonaceous, are points of comparison, assimilating it 

 with the red marl of England. 



It may also be observed, that a singular and striking peculiarity of these 

 Hills exists in their peaked and pointed tops, resembling the outline of a pri- 

 mitive formation, more than that of simple stand-stone and its accompaniments. 

 This peculiarity of appearance is, I consider, owing to the extensive distribu- 

 tion of clay and carbonate of lime, which protects it from undergoing the 

 rapid decomposition and disintegration that would necessarily attend upon 

 the sand-stone, if unaccompanied by these ingredierits. 



