highly stratified, and vertically disposed; the layers seldom exceed 11 in. in thickness. The specimens from this locality are marked A. Nos. 1, 2, and 3, are loose specimens from the plain; 2 and 3 would be found, I think, to enter into the hills. The superstratum of the hills is a sandy clay marl, which continues nearly the whole way to Neempanee. [See notice at the foot of this article.-ED.] No. 4 is a specimen of the only limestone found near Baitool; it rises abruptly about 10 feet from the bed of a nullah of calcareous sandstone. The limestone No. 5 occurs lying on the right of the road about 5 miles N. of Baitool, and crosses the road at the bottom of a small ravine. The pudding stone No. 6 appears about 10 miles from Baitool, to the east of the road, elevated above the plain a foot or so only ; it is exceedingly hard, broken with great difficulty, and chips off then in thin flat conchoidal pieces. After crossing the nullah at Neempanee, the trap rock No. 7 rises above a black alluvial soil, and rounded masses of 10 and 11 are scattered about. Farther on, the road becomes full of ravines, and the gneiss, 11, is found in mass, but in intimate connection with the unstratified rock 10. The trap 10 in many places shows itself superincumbent on 10 and 11. At the top of the Neempanee ghát, the granite, No. 9, forms nearly the whole summit of the hill, mixed, however, with 10, and the northern descent of the ghát is principally composed of this latter. After passing the ghát at the banks of a nullah, is a low hill of granite and greenstone together, 12 and 13. This latter occurred also above the Neempanee ghát, shooting up through the soil in roundish masses, and near Baitool, to the N. E. of cantonments: the walls of the fort of Keeslah have been built with the same stone. It is met with occasionally proceeding north, intermixed with quartz, until arriving near to Shahpoor, where common trap reappears, and thence the remainder of the road is over a sandy clay soil. 3rd Division.—The 3rd division includes the country between the Machna river and the nullah, one and half mile south of Keeslah, and is bounded on the W. by the small range of Jamgurh hills, which is a ramification from the Mahadeo hills, after they change their direction to the S. W. After passing the Machna at Shahpoor all traces of granite are lost, and the sandstones B, 1 and 2, become very general. The sandstone strata extend with very little interruption from Shahpoor to Keeslah, and to the foot of the Bhoragurh and Jamgurh hills, frequently showing themselves above the alluvial soil, and traversed occasionally by veins of quartz and trap, as at a nullah half way between Shahpoor and the Bhora nuddee, where a trap vein (No. 4) about 12 yards wide passes through the sandstone from a S. E. direction. It forms the bed of the nullah, and can be traced for a considerable distance. The trap dyke is itself intersected in various directions by No. 5 in veins not exceeding 3 feet. The specimens B, No. 3, were taken from a vertically disposed mass about 10 feet in width, which crosses the road on descending a low hill of sandstone, No. 2. The quartz runs E. and W., and is with great difficulty broken across the laminæ. About 4 miles from the Machna river and 3 miles up the Bhora nuddee, are the seams of coal displayed on both banks of the stream under a thick bed of sandstone*. All the small nullahs run over sandstone beds. After crossing the Bhora nuddee, trap again immediately occurs and continues for a mile and half to the base of a hill of sandstone. The trap is traversed by a vein of calcareous spar, No. 6, about 6 inches wide: no trap appears farther north, and after crossing the sandstone hills, the road passes over a black alluvial soil, which continues to the river N. of Keesla, and the only rock met with is sandstone grit, No. 7. 4th Division. The 4th division comprises the low range of hills between Keesla and Putroda, forming the pass to the valley of the Nerbudda. These hills form a part of the great range of Mahadeo hills, which at this point form a salient angle projecting to the north west. After crossing the nullah north of Keesla, the road lies over kankars or tufaceous limestones for a short distance, until reaching some low hills where commences a mica schist formation with and without garnets, and interstratified with whitish and greyish limestones, granular and micaceous. The road is thickly strewed with loose limestones and kankars. Little mica slate occurs in the low ground, except passing into or intimately connected with micaceous limestone. Specimens C 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, were taken from the immediate vicinity of the road, and their positions are so confused and intricate that I could not attempt to describe the order in which they are arranged. Granular limestone and mica slate appear to form the main rocks, but the whole are intimately blended together and alternately passing into each other. No. 2 apparently composes the entire mass of two or three low hills. Nos. 3 and 4 form some undulating land near No. 2. On the E. of the road near these rocks are abundant specimens of a greenstone rock, in * See notice of specimens of the same coal received from Captain OUSELEY. Journ. As. Soc. vol. ii. p. 435. K appearance being hornstone crystals imbedded in lime. The garnets in the mica slates are, as far as I have ascertained, all imperfect, soft and ochrey colored. The limestone specimens 5 and 7 occur very generally along the west of the road, and 7 forms a hillock by the side of a nullah about 15 feet high, irregular and steep; 6 and 8, specimens of micaceous limestone or of mica schist and limestone passing into each other, are found in the banks and beds of nullahs. 10 forms the top of a small hill west of the road near the end of the pass towards Putroda; it appears to repose on a substratum of mica slate. The specimens marked D, are from the neighbourhood of the HatheeDoab hill and pool. D 1.—is the limestone burnt for use for the works at Hoshungabad. D 2.—is an abundant rock extending E. and W. and up the road to Baitool. The Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9, form the hill of Hathee-Doab; 6 forms the base, and 8 the summit of the hill. D 1, 2, and 4.-Compact limestones found on either side of the Hathee-Doab hills; the quartz, 3 and 6, are scattered about on the road to Hathee-Doab; 5 forms the foot of the hills, 9 and 10 are loose specimens met with here and there. 5th Division.-The 5th division extends from Putroda to the Nerbudda at Hoshungabad. After passing through the hills a rich field of cultivation opens to view, and the rocks are lost under the deep alluvial soil of the valley of the Nerbudda. South of the river two insulated mounds of new red sandstone, rising abruptly from the plain about 1 miles from cantonments, are the only rocks which show themselves on this side of the river, and they are shoots from the northern or Vindya range which, opposite Hoshungabad, are of this formation. In excavating two wells of the depth of about 70 feet at Hoshungabad, no rock was met with, but the coarse calcareous conglomerate common in the bed of the Nerbudda. At the junction of the Towa river with the Nerbudda, 4 miles above Hoshungabad, sandstone ridges cross the river, and 60 miles below, at Hindia, the river is traversed by a basaltic dyke, and the intermediate rapids between those two points are formed of sandstones and coarse conglomerates, rising in some places several feet above the level of the river; opposite the cantonments the bank is formed of the conglomerate, and has all the appearance of the ruins of old uncoursed rubble work, E. The specimens N and J B are from the road by Jamanee to Boorda, and from Neelgurh, a hill lying to the E. of the road from Jamanee. Nos. 1 and 2, I B limestones lie under the trap No. 3, I B : the limestone 4, I B, is at the foot of the ghát: fine grained sandstones 5, 6, I B, cover the ascent, in which trap is again met, with indurated clays and sandstones, as 5; 6 and 10, I B, form the beds of nullahs between the ghát and the coal strata in the Bhora nuddee. Specimens referred to in the above account. A. No. 1, granite, large, irregular, of white quartz and silvery mica." A. 2 and 3, mica schist. A. 4, foliated tufaceous limestone. A. 9, large-grained granite flakes of sil- C. 5, white granular limestone. C. 6, limestone with mica. C. 7, granular limestone, as 5. C. 8, a dark-brown stone, lime and mica. C. 10, a hornblende rock. C. 11, mica schist passing into lime. A. 10, a dark red, small grained syenitic D. 2, crystallized limestone. A. 11, gneiss, dark, small mica in layers. A. 12, grey granite, dark mica decomposing. A. 13, much hornblende, white quartz, and perhaps felspar mica, one or two spots. B. 1, very fine-grained sandstone, with thin veins of quartz and quartz crystals in bunches. B. 4, brown wacken, containing large crystals of ? B. 6, dark aluminous shale, travers- B. 7, hard sandstone grit. C. 2, ditto do. with garnets, & contorted. C. 4, hornblende crystals, with specks of mica greenstone. D. 3, a schistose granular limestone, D. 4, calc. conglomerate. D. 6, quartz rock, grey. D. 7, ditto ditto, resembling a silicious conglomerate. D. 8, 9, ditto ditto. D. 1, flinty whitish limestone. D. 3, common white quartz. D. 4, striped red and white ditto. D. 8, a limestone conglomerate. D. 10, black clay, slate. E. conglomerate of the bed of the Nerbudda. I B. 2, 3 and 7, grits. Nos. 5 and 7 conglomerates. No. 5, A white tufaceous limestone, imperfectly crystallized. [The specimens are deposited in the Museum of the Asiatic Society.] IV. Further Information regarding the Siah Posh Tribe, or reputed descendants of the Macedonians. By Munshi Mohun Lál*. I had the pleasure to despatch to you a small account of Herat, which I hope has met your approbation. We are now at the ancient place called Jalalabad, which was one of the capitals of the Macedonian dynasty. At this spot I happened to meet the great Mufti, who often came to see Dr. GERARD, and has lately travelled into the country of the Siah Posh; or, as he called them, Kafirs." He kindly gave us the following accurate though brief account of the above tribe : 66 From Jalalabad he went to Karún, and from thence to "Cha Ghul Serai." Having passed through the valleys called Darah Nur, Damunj, and Vakul, he arrived the third day at the village named Katar, occupied by the Siah Posh. The inhabitants, whom he called the masters of beauty and charms, came to see him, and were surprised at some feats of his horse: this animal is hardly known in the country of Siah Posh. Their dress is of goat skin, and their hair hangs down to their shoulders. They drink wine as well as water, and never sit upon the ground, but only in chairs. This shows perhaps that they are the descendants of ALEXANDER THE GREAT. As to their religion, they worship idols, either made of stone or woods, which they call Búruk, or Maha Dev. They wear an iron ring in their ears, and a string ornamented with shells, round their necks. This seems to be the custom of the Hindu Jogis, or red-dressed beggars in India. They sacrifice cows on their holidays, as the Muhammedans do in the day of Eeduzuha. If a stranger happens to ask them where is God, they point with their fingers towards the west or Mecca. They read the Muhammedan kalimeh to please the Musulmans, and at the same time confess themselves to be Kafirs; in short, their religion is not known. They never intermarry with their relations, as the Hindus do; the ceremonies of the wedding are very singular. They bring their wives unveiled on their shoulders, dance, run, and jump in the streets, (like a jackass, as the Mufti says,) while they are accompanied by crowds of men and women, who play upon drums and flutes, and make a great noise. The parents of the girl are exceedingly pleased to see the husband using his great endeavours in jumping, as they think him the most intimate lover of his wife. They have made a public house, where they send the pregnant women before their accouchement, and keep them forty days there. No * See Lieutenant BURNES' notice on the tribes claiming descent from ALEXANDER THE GREAT, in the second volume of the Journal, page 305. |