1840.] 



Carboniferous Stratum at Baypoor, 



24S 



colour, and was discovered accidentally, at the base of the laterite cliffs 

 on the sea-shore at Cannanore, in February 1830. The cliffs are about 

 fifty or sixty feet high. Iheir upper portion consists of the usual 

 indurated dark red ferruginous clay ; but, as the depth from the surface 

 increases, the colours become greatly brighter and more variegated, and 

 the claj^oft and sectile and full of moisture; water in several places 

 penetrating through the cliff. The aluminous or carbonaceous stratum 

 is near the base of the cliff, and from the moisture it has a perfectly 

 black appearance. I do not recollect any appearances of fossil vege- 

 table matter — nor was I then aware of the Qailon deposits— and, being 

 unwell, did not repeat my visit. 



" The carboniferous deposit in Travancore, was pointed out to me in 

 1832, when on a visit. It is near the village of Vorkully, about fifteen 

 miles S. of Quilon, and in the cliffs immediately on the sea-shore. The 

 cliffs are here about eighty feet high, quite perpendicular, the upper 

 portion consisting as usual of the indurated dark red laterite; gradually 

 changing, as the depth from the surface increases, into bright and varie- 

 gated colours, as at Cannanore. The carboniferous bed here is very 

 conspicuous. It lies in an inclined position ; the upper part of the bed 

 about sixty feet from the top of the cliff, and the lower portion within 

 five or six feet of its base, and easily accessible therefore. It was full 

 of moisture, and water streamed from it. Above and below the bed, to 

 the very base of the cliff, is composed exclusively of these variegated 

 laterite clays. I do not think that the carboniferous stratum passed be- 

 low the surface of the beach; if I recollect correctly, it terminated 

 abruptly within five or six feet. It was quite insulated, and of a lenti- 

 cular form, five or six feet thick at the most. The specimens of fossil- 

 ized wood, both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous, and the shale or 

 clays of this stratum, have already been forwarded to the Society, t 

 may add that the laterite in which these carboniferous beds have been 

 discovered, appears to repose, as throughout Malabar, immediately on 

 gneiss, masses of which appear in the sea, close to the cliff at Vorkully, 

 and are to be found also in abundance within a few miles S. of the 

 deposit at Cannanore."— W, C. 



