PART 3.] 
Blanfovd: Geology of Bomlay Presidency. 
99 
species of Elephas, Hippopotamus, Sus, Equus, Bos, Cervus, c^c., associated with fluviatile 
shells of existing species. The age of these beds is by Dr. Falconer considered to be 
Pliocene. 
A skull belonging to Elephas Namadicus, one of the Narbada species, molars of Bos, 
and some other bones have been found in the banks of the Godavari near Paitan (Pyton) on 
the road from Ahmadnagar to Jalnah; and in the same gravel a well-marked agate flake, 
which has every appearance of human manufacture, was obtained by Mr. Wynne in 1865. 
There is every probability that these bone-gravels are dispersed over a large portion of 
the country, and enormous quantities of bones have been occasionally exposed in the Goda¬ 
vari valley. An elephant’s tusk was exhumed some yeai's since by Dr. Cook near Satara, 
and during the present year (1871) information has been received of the discovery (in Elgar) of 
a rhinoceros skull by Mr. Foote in the valley of the Gatparba near Gokak. It is singular 
that no fossils have hitherto been obtained from the Tapti valley in Khandesh. 
Surface gravels of Sind. —The plains of lower Sind to the west of the Indus and in 
the neighbourhood of the Hahi range are covered over to a considerable depth with gravel, 
composed of limestone and sandstone pebbles derived from the hills. In places torrents 
have cut through thick accumulations of these beds. It is evident that these gravels con¬ 
sist of detritus carried down by the wash of rain and streams ; but from the denudation they 
have undergone in places portions of them must bo of considerable antiquity. No organic 
remains appear to have been found in them; but they are worthy of closer examination than 
they have hitherto received. 
Laterite of the Konlcan. —The laterite of tho western coast is of later date than that 
of the Deccan; aud its derivative nature is proved by the occurrence of sand and small 
pebbles; yet, except in being more sandy, it closely resembles the older rock, from the detritus 
of which it may he partly derived. It occurs as a thick bed capping the traps and forming 
a plateau at a general elevation near Eatnagiri of botween 200 and 300 feet above the sea. 
It had once covered the whole country ; hut numerous ravines have been cut out of it by 
streams. At Eatnagiri there is a bed of white clay containing remains of plants below the 
laterite. 
The mode of formation of this rock in the Konlcan is nearly as obscure as in the 
Decean; hut its position in this case renders it more probable that it may have been origin¬ 
ally a submarine formation, deposited at a period when the Konlcan was at a lower level and 
the sea washed against the cliffs of the western ghats. It is not easy to say whether this 
really was the case, hut there is no improbability in it. The deposit may have been greatly 
changed by subaorial action after its emergence. 
Laterite is not found far north of Eatnagiri, and near that place only extends about fif¬ 
teen to twenty miles inland. It extends farther towards the foot of the gli&ts near Phonda 
ghat, but in Sawantwari is again limited to a band ten to fifteen miles broad. It covers a 
considerable area in the Goa territory. 
Patches occur at a lower level scattered over the country ; but these consist of a kind 
more mixed with gravel and sandstone. The peculiar character ol this rock and the tendency 
of the detritus from it to reconsolidate must always be borue in mind when examining it. 
Alluvium of Sind, Kanhh and Grujral. —In tho north-western part of the Bombay 
Presidency there are extensive alluvial plains to which, in a sketch ol the geology of Western 
India, a few words must be devoted. The sands and clays of which they consist are 
river-valley and delta deposits, washed down by the streams, and accumulated in the lower 
portions of their course aud at their mouths'. By far the most important of these compose 
the great plain extending to the east from the Indus. 
