1830/3 
of the Bhartpur District. 
115 
England, and even our best marked conglomerates, are generally characterised by 
the compactness of the cementing median). We have rocks of the new red sand- 
stone formation, assuming the appearance of nearly pure quartz rock ; and the old 
red sandstones, I suspect, occasionally exist in the' same form. These remarks, 
however, require further proof : my own experience has been far too limited to 
entitle me to draw any conclusions of a general nature, and I have thrown out these 
hints in the hope of directing the attention of some other of your correspondents 
to the subject. 
The geology of the more recent sandstones of Bhartpur may be best studied at 
Rapbas, a town situated about 32 miles, in a north-westerly direction, from Agra, 
The accompanying section of one of the quarries, (for which I am indebted tothe 
kindness of a friend,) will give you an idea of the mode of occurrence of the rocks 
in this position. Besides the Rapbas quarries, there are others near the villages of 
Jugndr and Bussai, &c. all of which places lie within a limited patch of country, 
which exhibits an undulating surface, and which is marked by several low ground- 
ed collines, formed of the sandstones. 
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As far as I have been able to ascertain the fact, there are no deposits of rock salt 
or gypsum in the Bhartpur district. The soil, however, is impregnated to a great 
depth with saline particles, and a saline efflorescence very generally appears at the 
surface. The great majority of the wells, too, are brackish. From these sources 
are manufactured large quantities of a salt called by the natives phari nimac , (a 
name, by the bye, very indefinitely applied to several saline compounds,) which is 
extensively used by the poorer classes as a condiment. The salts collected at the 
surface, together with a certain quantity of the saline soils, are washed with water 
from the brackish wells ; and the solution, thus prepared, is left to evaporate in 
pits, dug for the purpose, which are lined with a thin coating of lime. The salt is 
deposited in cubic crystals, many of which are very perfect and colorless : the prin- 
cipal ingredient in its composition is chloride of sodium. On a rough analysis the 
presence of chloride of sodium in large quantities, sulphate of soda and carbonate 
of soda in much smaller proportion, and a minute quantity of iron, were detected 
in the saline water. The salt has a bitterish taste, and the crystals are occasion- 
ally tinged with iron. 
The wells from which the salt water is drawn, vary in depth, from 42 to 6-1 4 feet ; 
the richest water being that which is procured at a depth of from 57 to 60 feet. 
This last yields, according to circumstances, from a chetidm to 1 4 pice weight in 
the seer, (i. e. from 1 to 3 per cent, by weight ;) and one well, drawn by two bul- 
locks, will produce, in a season, from 100 to 1000 pallahs; a pallah or bullock load 
being equal to about 3^ maunds, at 90 sonat rupees to the seer. It is said that the 
water below 65 feet is also saline, but that the salt from this docs OQt form into 
separate crystals, but is left in a solid cake at the bottom.. 
