y 



184a J On ihe Geology of Cutch. »13 



texture of the strata varies from a coarse, loose sandstone to a compact 

 and extremely hard quartzose grit and conglomerate, cemented by fer- 

 ruginous matter, some specimens being almost black. 



Iron Ore, — In this formation, the iron ore smelted for commerce is 

 procured. It is found in different parts of the country, but has been 

 principally extracted near the town of Doodye, opposite the S. W. ter- 

 mination of the Bunnee. It there occurs in small lumps, which are of a 

 spongiform texture, small specific gravity, and are very frangible. The 

 natives, however, value this variety more than the heavier, from its yield- 

 ing wilh greater ease to their imperfect means of smelling. 



Manufacture of /row.-— In extracting the metal, layers bf very sntal] 

 pieces are disposed alternately with others of charcoal, in a rude open 

 furnace, and exposed to the blast of two small bellows made of sheep- 

 skins. The metal, when fused, falls into a hole at the bottom of the 

 furnace, whence it is transferred to an inclosed furnace, and subjected 

 to similar blasts, until brought to a white heat, when it is taken out and 

 beaten into a bar. No flux of any kind is used. A considerable quan* 

 tity of iron was, at one time, made from a totally different description 

 of ore, found near the village of Punundrow, in a plain which extends to 

 the sea or eastern mouth of the Indus. This plain is bounded to the 

 south by low hills covered with fragments of basalt, being outliers of a 

 basaltic range further to the south-east. The surface of the plain is 

 composed of a fine smooth gravel, composed of comminuted particles of 

 iron ore, and has every appearance of having been, at no distant period, 

 covered with water. The b'on ore is found near the surface of the low 

 liills above mentioned, in small tabular fragments imbedded in a purple- 

 coloured earth ; and those pieces are selected, which give a bright streak 

 on being struck by a pointed instrument. Externally the ore is of a pur- 

 ple colour, and internally presents small dark blue fibres, arranged at 

 right angles to the surface of the specimen. In another place a variety 

 occurs, which resembles small fragments of tile, but has the same inter- 

 nal structure. It is very hard, and of considerable specific gravity ; and 

 is said by the natives to have yielded a much greater per centage and 

 much better iron than the ore found at Doodye ; but the manufacture 

 of it has been suspended, owing partly to the scarcity of fuel, and partly 

 to English iron being procured at a cheaper rate, as well as in much more 

 convenient forms. 



Coal. — Coal has been found in this formation in various places, but 

 not in beds sufficiently thick to be worth working. It was first dis- 



