Records of the Geological Surrey of India. 
[vol. iv. 
bO 
near Polavaram, below the great gorge in the metamorpkic rocks through which the 
river runs. At Pangadi near Rajamandri the sandstones are covered up by the bedded 
dolerites of the Deccan trap, just as, 300 miles iu a direct line to the north-west, the same 
sandstones, in the districts of Chanda and South-east Berar, disappear beneath the same 
traps on the eastern verge of the great basaltic area of the Deccan. 
The proportion of the enormous extent of sedimentary rocks in the valley of the 
Godavery and its neighbourhood, which is occupied by the valuable coal-bearing beds of 
the Damuda group, appears, so far as research has hitherto extended, to be extremely small. 
Here and there along the boundary of the sandstone tract, beds are found with the mineral 
character of the Barakar group of Bengal. Such is the case near Chanda, and the same 
beds occur at Lingula, above the first barrier, and at Madavaram below it; and in each 
case where these rocks have been observed, coal beds, sometimes of little or no value it is 
true, have been found associated with them. It is highly probable that further examination 
will show the presence of theso valuable beds in several places where they have not hitherto 
been detected, but the search is difficult, because the surface of the country in which the 
sandstones are found is greatly concealed by a thick covering of sandy clay and sand, 
derived from the disintegration of the soft argillaceous sandstones. 
The lower Panohcls of Bengal, to which the name Panchet should perhaps he restricted, 
appear to be represented by rocks of similar mineral character in the Godavery valley, 
but further examination of these beds is necessary in order to determine their position 
in the series and their relations to the limestones containing fish remains, which are met 
with in several places near Sironeha. 
The Talchirs, at the base of the great series, precisely resemble their representatives 
elsewhere, but the unconformity between them and the Damudas appears to be greater 
than usual. 
These formations, the Barakars, Pauckcts, and Talchirs, together do not take up a 
tenth part of the area occupied by the sandstones. The great hulk of these consist of 
coarse argillaceous sandstones and grits of no very marked character, with hard ferruginous 
hands. The few fossils found in them, chiefly Vertebmria, Catamites, and Glossopteris, 
are identical with Damuda forms, but the mineral character of the beds taken as a whole 
is always slightly and sometimes remarkably different from that of any true Damuda beds, 
as found elsewhere, while the fossil plants seem to preclude the idea of associating these 
rocks with the Pan diets, the flora of which, so far as it is known, is very different. One 
of the most striking distinctions between these bods and the Damudas proper is the absence 
of coal and of any carbonaceous matter in the former, even the plant remains having 
lost their carbon and existing as mere impressions. It appears, therefore, desirable, both 
for scientific and economic reasons, to apply a distinctive term to these beds, restricting 
the name Damuda to the group or groups which usually contain coal. For these reasons, 
1 proposed some years since the name of K&rnthi beds for some rocks near Nagpur which 
belong to this group. The name has since come into more general use on the Survey, and 
it has become necessary briefly to repeat the reasons for first adopting it. The Kamthi 
group is intermediate in position between the Barakar and Pan diet groups 
So far as their geological examination has progressed, the immense mass of argillaceous 
sandstones which occupy so large a proportion of the country in Chanda and South-east 
Berar appears to belong to the Kamthi group. Tiio same is probably the case with the 
sandstones of Sironeha and those on the right bank of the Godavery, which have, however, 
hitherto remained unexplored. The beds extending south of the Godavery towards Ellore 
and R&jamandri appear to me to differ in no important respect from the rocks in Chanda. 
