1837.] 



from Punah to Kitlor. 



.383 



thirty feet below the surface, contains drusy cavities of crystallized 

 quartz, the appearance of which, in digging wells, indicates that water 

 is near. 



A clay-iron ore, of a dark-brown colour, is found at this depth ; 

 and is sometimes penetrated, by circular canals, which have been 

 pervious to water. 



The amygdaloid rock, accompanying the iron ore, is similarly 

 penetrated; but its canals are filled up by spiral pieces of white 

 chalcedony. 



Calcaneus carbonate, denominated chuna, abounds on the banks 

 of the water courses ; and is seen occasionally in alternate strata with 

 an impure bole, called by the natives " geru." Chuna is also found, 

 in the form of calk-tuff, in the beds of the nullas ; and is seen vene- 

 genous in the basaltic and amygdaloid rocks at the village of Lonud, 

 where calcspar is also found in veins. 



Green-stone, heliotrope, agates, and horn-stones, are to be met 

 with in the beds of the nullas, and on the banks of rivers. 



On the surface of the amygdaloid, and immediately below the 

 soil, specimens of rock crystal are occasionally discovered. They are 

 attached to the quartz veins, which run through the amygdaloid of 

 theDekkan east and west, corresponding in this respect with the 

 hills of quartz-rock, which we afterwards meet with at Padshapur. 

 The basalt of the Dekkan occurs both in columnar and globular 

 forms, and varies in colour from a bluish grey to a deep black. The 

 latter kind is capable of receiving a high degree of polish, and is 

 employed by the Hindus for the interior of their temples. 



Along with the basalt and amygdaloid, there is a determirately 

 aggregated rock of a grey colour, which is found in beds : its struc- 

 ture is porphyritic ; and the disseminated crystals appear to be felspar, 

 sometimes associated with calcspar. A somewhat similar rock, but 

 of a red colour, is also distributed in beds through these hills. Of 

 this the structure is amygdaloidal. 



Where the formation is traptuff, common opal is to be met with. 



From Pusasaoli to the banks of the Ghatparba, the mineralogical 

 nature of the country is little different from what has been now de- 

 scribed. Chalcedonies are fewer, and columnar basalt becomes less 

 common the farther we go to the southward. Jaspery clay-iron ore 

 and red hematite appear more frequent, and are'paiticuhuly abundant 

 near the town of Mulgaon. 



At the village of Argul, only a few hundred yards from the 

 north bank of the Ghatparba, the country changes. The rock here 

 has some likeness to sandstone, but is in fact aggregated quarts- 



