1877.] Chandrasekhara Banurji —The Kaimur Range. 19 
Hornstone, which may ordinarily be mistaken for chlorite, is found in 
many layers along the face of the precipice at the Tuttula Kund, four miles 
west of Tilauthu. I am informed that this stone is also met with at Jadu- 
nathpur on the southern edge of the range ; and four miles west of the Jcho 
or recess, a hill of the same mineral projects into the Son and causes rapids. 
The black crests on the limestones, or bands of shales near Bijayagarh, led 
to the belief that coal existed in the Kaimur range. The report origi¬ 
nated, so far back as 1837, with a Mr. Hyland, and Mr. Osborne of the 
Opium Department was deputed to investigate. But Mr. Osborne’s, as well 
as later, investigations have shown that the similarity of the shales with coal 
ends unfortunately in the appearance, as they are perfectly incombustible 
and mere argilacious matter. 
The sacred cave of Gupta is an opening in a calcareous hill where the 
flags are thin and white, approaching in appearance to unpolished slates of 
marble. 
Gneiss and Quartz are remarkably absent in the Kaimur Bange, although 
they occur in the North West, in the Yindhyas, and the ridges south of the 
Son. 
From what has been written above, it may easily be imagined that the 
stones of the Kaimur Bange consist of two principal layers. The upper ter¬ 
race is the so-called Kaimur sandstone. The lower the limestone with 
bands of ‘ pencil’-coloured shales at places which were mistaken for coal. 
Major Sherwill estimated the thickness of the sandstone layer at Bohtas at 
1,300 feet, but towards the west, the escarpments are reduced to 6 or 700 
feet. The thickness of the shales at Durgavati and Bijayagarh varies from 
200 to 150 feet. They are quite black and brittle. 
“The stratigraphy of the hills”, observes Mr. Mallet, “is very simple 
on the whole, the various bands being spread horizontally over wide areas, 
and it is only in a few special regions of disturbance that the geology is 
at all complicated. Taken generally, the upper Yindhyas are made up of 
several thick masses of sandstone with alternatives of shale which in litho¬ 
logical character frequently preserve a remarkable uniformity over immense 
areas.” 
The southern edge of the range appears to be higher from the fact that 
almost all the rivers that take their rise on the plateau flow towards the 
north, none going towards the south to the Son. The two more important 
of these streams are the Durgavati and the Karamnasa. 
The Karamnasa, notwithstanding its seemingly crystal water, is a de¬ 
tested stream. In a country where almost every stream is a good nymph 
of the valley, and melts and flows either to fertilize its banks or to puri¬ 
fy sinners, the Karamnasa forms an exception. Its water is unholy, and 
a dip into it is sufficient to destroy the virtues of the simple savage and 
