PART 3.] 
Oldham : Geology of the Central Provinces. 
69 
bed exposed on the back of the anticlinal. I do not think that this band of coal-bearing 
rocks belongs to the Barakar group. I rather think it belongs to those younger beds of 
the Damiida series so largely exposed along the south base of the Pachmari range, and in 
which as yet no coal-outcrops of any promise have been found. Or, it may possibly belong 
to the Mahadeva series. I was not fortunate enough to find any fossils to determine 
this point; and owing to the isolated position it will be a very tedious matter, if even 
possible, to work out the question stratigraphically. 
Camp, | 
May 1871- J 
Sketch of the Geology of the Central Provinces, by T. Oldham, P. R. S., Supdt., 
Geological Stirvey of India. 
[In connection with the valuable series of Gazetteers which are now in course of pub¬ 
lication under the authority of Government, the Geological Survey have from time to time 
afforded information to the officers charged with their compilation. This has frequently 
been on isolated points, but we have also been urged to give general and sketchy out¬ 
lines of the geology of the various provinces viewed more as a whole. Such sketches are 
necessarily brief, being very limited in the space intended for them, but they may be useful 
to others as giving a more general outline than separate reports could do. It is, therefore, 
in contemplation to reprint these in the present series of records. Of those which have 
been already furnished, that of the Central Provinces has appeared soonest. It is now given 
here. It was written entirely without a single map or record for reference, and very hurriedly 
under great pressure for time. Others of Orissa, North-Western Provinces, Bombay, &c., 
will follow. ] T. O. 
To give a general description of the geological structure of the Central Provinces in any 
Diversity of the geological character of the detail would involve the necessity of entering upon 
country. a discussion of the geology of India at large, as 
these provinces contain representatives of almost all the formations known to occur within 
Indian limits, although frequently these are much better seen in other districts, and ought, 
therefore, more correctly to be described in connection with the locality where the most typical 
sections occur. In the very brief notice which follows I am therefore compelled to pre¬ 
suppose a certain amount of acquaintance with Indian rocks, and the classification of them. 
It is only necessary to state that the few descriptions which follow have been drawn up under 
great pressure as to time, and while actively engaged in field work of an important and 
intricate nature, and away from all maps and records. 
The Central Provinces, divided into nineteen districts, naturally group themselves into 
General correspondence of geological and separate areas, corresponding to well-marked physical 
physical areas. features. These again have in a similar way a 
general agreement with the geological structure. To the north the districts oi Sugar and 
Damoh arc altogether on the Vindhyan plateau, and a large part of their surface is 
formed of the deposits to which the name Vindhyan has been given. These are, however, 
concealed over considerable areas by the overflowing volcanic rocks of the great Deccan trap 
area. Physically also these districts (as is all the Vindhyan plateau) are connected with the 
country to the north, all the drainage of the area being into the Ganges valley. Imme¬ 
diately to tlx: south of the Vindhyan escarpment, along the marked depression of the 
Narbada valley, lie the four districts of Jabalpur, Narsinghpur, Hoshangabad, and 
