1837.] 



through the Northern Circars. 



descended from the top of the hill, and in a few minutes enveloped it 

 in obscurity. I waited patiently for some time, but, seeing no prospect 

 of the weather clearing, I pushed on towards the summit, and proceeded 

 about twenty minutes, groping my way all the time, both on account of 

 the darkness from the fog, and the slippery nature of the path, which 

 was full of loose stones, rendering my advance difficult and laborious. 

 At last, seeing that there was no hope of the speedy clearing up of the 

 weather, and the time for departure approaching, I descended ; break- 

 ing some specimens from the blocks on my way. They were of gar- 

 netic gneiss, the garnets decomposed, assuming the cancelliform struc- 

 ture. The direction of the strata was E. and W. 



Garabunda, March 2. — Four miles before reaching this place, I 

 remarked, just in front of us, a very black looking hill, apparently form- 

 ed of a single enormous block, of an oval form ; one third of the broad- 

 est part of which was buried under ground. At a distance of two or 

 three miles I took it for basalt; but, on nearing it, I saw no fissures, 

 no columnar structure, no step-like sides, but, an uniform, convex sur- 

 face. It was about 400 feet high, and when we came abreast of it, 

 another hill, not so lofty, was perceived behind, very convex, and lying 

 against the eastern side of the former one (PI. 17 fig. 8). These enor- 

 mous monolithic masses were unsrratified,with no trace of split or fissure,* 

 the natives call these rocks Chittabunda. Being hardly half a mile 

 from the road and one from our camp, I went to examine it leisurely. 

 On a nearer approach it was evident that they were formed of por- 

 phyry, composed of very large, well defined crystals of pearly felspar, 

 imbedded in a paste of hornblende (No. 52). On the convexity of the 

 lower rock to the east, were scattered many tabular masses of the same 

 porphyry, of different angular forms, such as rhombs, cubes, parallele- 

 pipeds, &c, all evidently portions of the thick concentric lamina?, into 

 which this porphyry exfoliates. The most striking of these tabular 

 masses is seen in the eastern side of the highest of the two hills, where 

 it hangs from the precipitous face of the rock by a very precarious 

 hold (PL 17 fig. 9). 



The crystals in this porphyry are very large, many of them being 

 two or three inches long, and many lines thick. It is worth remarking, 

 that nearly all of them are placed in the rock in the same direction, 

 and parallel to each other j at least that is their position on the surface, 

 and I could not see any of them crossing each other, or having different 

 directions. The hills on the opposite side of the road, about a mile 

 from these porphyritic masses, differ in aspect from them, being covered 

 with impenetrable jungle, so as to conceal all rocks, that might project 

 on their slopes and summits. Notwithstanding which, judging by the 

 few blocks, fixed and loose, near the road at their base, they are of 



