THE SANDSTONE HILLS OF THE NERBUDBAH. 51 
surface in such a manner, as to appear to have proceeded 
from a vast depth , and to have originated at a great dis^ 
tance from where it was feh by myself. This earthquake 
was general over India ; but its sensible eifects were most 
remarkable in the Guzerat district, wheref it seems to have 
been destructive, and to have created much alarm. 
The Gondwana range of hills is considerably higher than 
the other, rising, near Sohagpore, to an elevation of 800 
or 1000 feet (or probably much more, as 1 had no means 
of ascertaining this but from their appearance at a distance) 
beyond the level of the valley. I have been informed, by 
a friend, who entered these hills against the insurgents 
in the end of last campaign, that rich valleys lie between 
riiany of them, and an extensive table-land often covers 
their summits. The plain of Puchmerry, where the head- 
quarters of the Ex-Rajah Appah Sahib were fixed, dur- 
ing the rains of 1818, is an elevated table-land of this 
description, covered with the most beautiful verdure, 
and having many large trees scattered over its surface, 
reminding one of an Enghsh park more than a scene 
in the burning climate of Hindostan. Extensive beds 
of iron-ore were found here by the gentlemen who accom- 
panied the troops ; and from the appearance of the hills, I 
think it highly probable that they abound in various mine- 
ral productions. Iron is exceedingly scarce and dear in 
tliis part of India, and the reduction of the ore becomes 
therefore an object of importance. There is no want of wood 
to accomplish this, and I have every reason to believe that 
coal exists in the same hills, and near the situation of the 
ironstone. The specimens of coal sent, were found in the 
bed of the Towa river, which runs through these hills, 
and falls into the Nerbuddah, a few miles east of Hus- 
singabad. I examined the banks of the Tov/a, where the 
specimens were got, but could not discover any appearance 
