IN BUNDELKHAND. 119 



even villages are built on them — he says also, that " the water of the 

 wells is brackish," a strong indication of their saliferous nature, and fur- 

 ther " that the country about Banganpilli is sandy and stony, and that 

 the stones are chiefly conglomerates, composed of silicious materials." 



With respect to the rock in which the matrix of the diamond is found, 

 his description is as follows — " the solid rock of the hills (which by the 

 bye is not quite destitute of diamonds,) is an aggregate, consisting chiefly 

 of a coarse grey hornstone, with rounded pebbles of the same spe- 

 cies, but of a fine variety of stone, or of jasper, of different colors ; at some 

 depth, this rock becomes ferruginous sandstone, the grains of which are 

 finely cemented together, and this kind of stone usually forms the roof of 

 the floor of the mines; the floor is generally of a reddish brown color 

 with shining particles, and strikes fire with steel ;" again he says, through 

 this solid rock the miners must make their way before they arrive at the 

 diamond matrix. 



Dr. Voysey's account of these mines is " that the diamond matrix," 

 in its rocky state, is " a sandstone breccia ;" it lies under " compact sand- 

 stone, differing in no respect from that which is found in the main range, it 

 is composed of a beautiful mixture of red, and yellow jasper, quartz, chal- 

 cedony and hornstone, of various colours, cemented together by a quartz 

 paste, it passes into puddingstone composed of rounded pebbles of quartz^ 

 hornstone, &.c. cemented by an argillocalcareous earth, of a loose friable 

 texture, in which the diamonds are most frequently found." 



The apparent discrepancy in these accounts is not irreconcilable — but 

 Dr. VoYSEY is most distinct in his description, he says that the rock un- 

 der which the diamond matrix is found, is compact sandstone, and that it 

 differs in no respect from the sandstone of the main range, he did not see 



the 



