334
INDORF, .STATI'
constitute Holkar's dominions. The principal rock in Malwa is
Deccan trap, weathering superficially into the black soil to which the
region owes its great fertility. Near Râmpura, east of Nimach, Vin-
dhyan rocks of both upper and lower series are exposed, in addition to
the Deccan trap. The districts south of the Narbada, largely occupied
by the northern spurs of the Satpura Hills, consist principally of Deccan
trap. North of the Narbada, the denudation of the Deccan trap has
proceeded far enough to bring into view an interesting sequence of the
underlying rocks, including gneiss, Bijàwars, and Lametas. Gneiss
occupies a large portion of the Nemawar district, being overlaid, north
of Chandgarh, by Bijâwar and Vindhyan strata. Between Katkilt and
the Kanar river and at other places near Barwaha, peculiar fault
breccias occur either within the Bijawar outcrop, or separating the
Bijawars from the Vindhyans. The matrix of the breccia is usually
siliceous, but often contains a large admixture of hematite. Strata
belonging to the Lameta or infra-trappean group cover a large area
around Katkût. They are mostly sandstones underlaid by conglomer-
ates. Round Katktit the Lameta beds are unfossiliferous and probably
of fresh-water origin; but north of Barwaha, at. the Ghatia quarries, the
conglomerate underlying the sandstone contains marine fossils identical
with those found in the cretaceous limestones east of BAGH known as
the Bagh beds. The exposure at the Ghatia quarry marks the eastern-
most limit reached by the sea in which the Bagh beds were deposited.
The Lameta group contains excellent building stones. The sand-
stone quarries at Ghatia north of Barwaha, and those situated on the
banks of the Kanar river, east of Katkùt, have supplied a great deal
of the material used for constructing the Holkar State Railway. One
of the limestones is a rock made up of fragments of marine organisms
resembling corals, known for that reason as coralline limestone. It
constitutes a stone of great beauty, which has been largely used in
the ancient buildings of MÂNDU, for which it was obtained from the
old quarries near Chirakhan. This locality has been famous geologi-
cally since x856, owing to the discovery there by Colonel Keatinge
of the Cretaceous fossils which settled the age of the Bagh beds.
The low rocky hills of northern Indore often bear a :stunted jungle
containing Butea frondosa, Acacia arabica, A. Catechu, and A.
leucophloea, and many shrubs, such as species of Grewia, Zizyphus,
Cap Paris, Carissa, and Tamarix. In places where the forest is taller,
the leading species are Bombax malabaricum, Sterculia urens, Ano-
geissus latifolia and A. pendula, Dichrostachys, Prosopis, and species
of Cordia. Farther south are tracts with principally salai (Boswellia
serrata) and a thin scrub jungle of Flueggea, Phyllanthus, Antidesma,
and similar shrubs. Still farther south occur typical forests of the
Central Indian highland class, with teak, sdj (Terminalia tomentosa),
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