358 



Geology of the Deccan. 



[Oct. 



stone, properly so called, in the Dukhun. The only specimen of com- 

 pact limestone met with by me was in the bed of the Beema river near 

 Pundurpoor. It was an insulated, amorphous, gray mass, four or 

 five feet in diameter. I looked upon it as an aggregation of the 

 pulverulent particles of the lime disseminated in the neighbouring 

 banks. 



Crystalline Limestone. —Lime in a crystalline state occurs only as an 

 imbedded mineral in the amygdaloidal strata, in quartz geodes, and in 

 the nucleus or compact part of masses of mesotype or stilbite. It is 

 rare, compared with the preceding varieties. 



Loose Stones. — Another feature of Dukhun is the occurrence of im- 

 mense quantities of loose basalt stones, as if showered upon the land j 

 also masses of rock heaped and piled into mounds, as if by the labour 

 of man. Their partial distribution is not less remarkable than their 

 abundance. For the most part, the stones have a disposition to a 

 geometrical form, and it is by no means rare to meet with prisms 

 of three or four sides and cubes almost perfect : stones with one or 

 two perfect planes are very common. Their texture is close-grained 

 and the colour verging to black. 



At Dehwuree, Hungawaree, Behloondee, Kothool, andDytneh in the 

 Ahmednuggur collectorate, they are very abundant. At the last place 

 they cover fields several acres in extent, so thickly that the black fer- 

 tile soil on which they rest is not discoverable : they vary from an 

 ounce to several pounds in weight. Amongst these t picked up a per- 

 fect square prism. In neighbouring fields, most unaccountably, there 

 is not a stone to be seen : patches of sheet rock occur in their vicinity. 

 Other localities are the top of the Neem Durra Ghat near Ahmednug- 

 gur; the junction of the Beema and Seena rivers below Mundroop ; 

 right bank of the Seena at Kurmaleh ; between Kurjut and Meeruj- 

 gaon; and generally it may be stated that the precipitous slopes of 

 the low table-lands of theDesh (open or flat country) are very strong 

 and rocky. For ten miles between Jeetee and Soagaon, Ahmed- 

 nuggur collectorate, the fields, and even the road, are so thickly 

 strewn with large basalt stones as to render cultivation difficult and 

 travelling penible. 



Rocky Heaps.— -The singular heaps of rocks and stones above notic- 

 ed occur at Kanoor, Patus, Kheir, between Kurjut and Meerujgaon, 

 and at other places in the Desh, but not in the Mawals, or hilly tracts 



