FORMATION OF KUNKUK. 
47 
his Map of India), whose channel abounds with every va- 
riety of agate and siliceous pebble. 
The calcareous concrete, formerly mentioned, which the 
natives term Kuiikur, occurs between Sehorra and Punnah- 
ghur ; but the finest specimens of the kind are got on the 
banks of the Ganges, from Ghazapore to Caunpore. This 
Kunkur, the calcareous tuffa of Werner, which is so 
abundant every where in the soil of India, deserves no- 
tice. On taking up a piece from the ground, its irre- 
gular figure, from the knoblike projections, or mulberry 
surface which it exhibits, leads to the inference, that 
it must at one time have been in a state of fusion or 
solution ; — that fire or water has been the active instru- 
ment in its formation ; — a stalactite, or rather a stalag- 
mite, and a slag from the furnace of the founder, or a 
cinder from a blacksmith's forge, presenting a similar ap- 
pearance. It appears to be a product of the latter agent 
chiefly, or the joint effect of moisture and dryness, on the 
calcareous and other earths, in the succession of hot or dry 
and rainy seasons which occur in this country. 
The calcareous earth abounding in the soil, is, during 
the rains, alternately exposed to the full action of water, 
and the direct rays of a powerful sun; and the union 
which is thus effected, is rendered more perfect during 
the succeeding dry and hot months. It is not so easy 
to explain from what source the calcareous ingredient 
has been originally derived, as limestone-rock does not ap- 
pear susceptible of decomposition from exposure, in the 
manner of most other rocks in India ; — such, at least, as I 
have seen preserving its structure at the surface, and dis- 
playing an extraordinary degree of compactness. The ex- 
tensive strata of kunkur found in the great plain of Hin- 
dostan have been evidently formed by the waters of the 
Ganges ; and it is highly probable their materials have been 
