PART 1.] 
Blanford: Geology of Sind. 
15 
Although the relations of the fossils named above appear, on the whole, to be Eocene 
rather than Miocene, there being a predominance of species such as Natica patula, N. sigare- 
tina, OstreaJlabeUula, Valuta jugosa, <fcc., found, or represented by closely allied forms, in 
Eocene beds in Europe, there is a considerable admixture of species with Miocene affinities, 
such as Siliquaria Granti, Solarium affine, and Echinantlus (Glypeaster ). Of the two 
characteristic species of Nummulites also, one, N. sublcevigata. is peculiar, being unknown 
out of India, whilst the other, N. garansensis, is met with in the lower Miocene beds of 
France.* 
It should not be forgotten that the fossiliferous beds are at the base of the Nan group, 
and if, as appears probable, these are high Eocene, the upper portion of the division may, 
very possibly, be of Miocene age. 
The rocks of the Nari group extend nearly throughout the Khirthar range, forming a 
belt of lower hills along the western base of the main ridge. This belt varies greatly in 
breadth, but is rarely less than from two to three miles across, except in the extreme north, 
close to the frontier, where these beds are cut out apparently by a fault, or squeezed into a 
narrow belt, a few feet in width, and in the extreme south, where they appear, in places, to 
have been removed by denudation. On the Gaj river, the tract of country occupied 
by upper Nuinmulitic rocks is about three and a half miles wide; on the Nari Nai, from 
which its name is taken, it expands greatly and is six miles broad. The same rocks occupy 
the broad valley of the Angai stream south of the Nari, and, sweeping round the northern 
termination of the Bhit range, form the greater portion of the valley to the eastward 
Their area in this direction has, however, yet to he ascertained. They are largely developed 
in the broad valley of Chorlo and Malirri running south from the Manchhar Lake, and they 
are met with again about Tatta, but they do not appear to be found east of the Laki Kara 
and Eri range between Sohwan and Kotri. They, however - , occupy a large tract of country 
near Jungshahi, and are represented in many parts of Kohistan. Their area towards 
Karachi remains to be determined. 
5. Gaj oe Supei-nummuxitic Gboup. 
Above the sandstones of the Upper Nummnlitics there is found a group of highly 
fossiliferous limestones, sandstones, and shales, distinguished by a very different fauna, 
from which Nummulites are entirely absent. This group is easily recognised by beino - 
composed of several thin bands of hard limestone, usually of a brown colour, hut occasion¬ 
ally white, with sandstones and shales iirterstratified, in bands of small thickness. The 
limestone weathers into ridges which may frequently be traced for miles amongst the outer 
hills of the Khirthar range. 
The most characteristic hands of limestone are about the middle of the formation. 
They contain Eehinodermala (especially Breynia carinata) in considerable quantities, and 
they frequently abound in corals. The EeMnodermata appear, as a rule, to be confined to 
one bed, but further examination is necessary: all that can he positively asserted is, that a 
hand of limestone, abounding in fossil sea-urchins, occurs throughout a large area at 
about the same horizon. Towards the base of the group shales and sandstones prevail, but 
the latter may, as a rule, be easily distinguished from similar rocks in the underlying Nari 
group by being comparatively thin, each bed rarely exceeding eight or ten feet in thickness, 
and by their being interstratified with shales or limestone, often fossiliferous. The upper 
portion of the Gaj group consists usually of calcareous sandstone and hard marls, with 
shales and clay, and the uppermost beds frequently abound in Turritella angulata and 
other allied species of the same genus. In some localities, as on the Maki Nai, and again 
* D'Arch. and Uaime, An. Foss. Num. de 1’Inde, p. 101. 
