372 



Geology of the Deccan. 



[Oct. 



" there the basis rock." Ceylon is exclusively granite and gneiss ; 

 finally, I observed granite rising through laterite at Calicut on the 

 Malabar coast. With these facts before us, we can scarcely question 

 the truth of Dr. Voysey's opinion ; an opinion involving the belief, 

 with reference also to the extent of trap, that the whole peninsula of 

 India and Ceylon, covering an area roughly calculated of 700,000 square 

 miles, is of igneous origin.* 



Sedimentary Rocks. — I am not aware of the existence of any sedi- 

 mentary rocks in western India, south of Baroach, excepting such as 

 have probably originated in the consolidation of comparatively recent 

 alluvium. 



Recapitulation. — I close this paper with a recapitulation of the cha- 

 racteristic geological features of the peninsula ; namely,— the amazing 

 extent of the trap region, and the horizontal position of its stratified 

 beds the granitic basis of the whole country ; trap veins in granite ; the 

 absence, as far as is known, of that uniform series of rocks which con- 

 stitutes the formations of Europe ; the extended and peculiar nodular 

 limestone and laterite formations ; the occurrence of pulverulent lime- 

 stone in seams ; and finally, the non-discovery hitherto of the fossil re- 

 mains of extinct animals within the limits of the peninsula. 



A few words are necessary in explanation of the sections (Plate 9) 

 which accompany this paper. They represent two principal spurs from 

 the ghats, and converge to the same point at the junction of the Goreh 

 and Beema rivers. In strictness they are not sections ; — ramifications of 

 the spurs, and hills at short distances north and south of the central 

 vertical plane being inserted : they partake,'therefore, of a slightly per- 

 spective character, but this does not affect the general correctness of 

 their geological features. Fig. 1. comprises the range of hills between 

 the Under and Beema rivers, and has a length of about seventy-five 

 miles. Fig. 2. shows the mountains between the Bore ghat and the 

 source of the Mota river, and extends nearly eighty miles. The len gth 

 and elevation are expressed by different scales, and from this cause the 

 outlines of the mountains are not rigidly correct. A bare outline is 

 traced from the ghats westward to the sea, for the purpose of showing 



* More extended observation proves this universal prevalence of granite. Dr. Beuza 

 found it at the summits of the Neelgherries, and in the plains, and we have specimens 

 from the Goomsoor mountains on the eastern coast, and from very many other localities. 

 — Editor Madras Journal, 



