368 ADDITIONAL NOTICES. [June 27, 1859. 



that if we had begim the evening with them we might have descanted upon 

 them for a good hour with great satisfaction. Let me, however, state that the 

 brothers Schlagintweit were selected to perform these services in the East by 

 my iUustrious friend the late Baron Humboldt. And why ? These gentlemen 

 had ascended peaks of the Alps which no other persons had climbed, and had 

 made themselves acquainted with phenomena with reference to the mountain 

 system of that country which were before that unknown to geographers. It 

 was, therefore, felt that they were especially capable of undertaking the exami- 

 nation of the range. I think we have reason to thank them for bringing before 

 us such natural features as are indicated in the beautiful drawings on our table, 

 and I am sure that the Geographical Society does well in recognizing the merits 

 of these distinguished German explorers. 



The President. — It is too late to enter into any discussion. We are much 

 indebted to Sir Roderick Murchison for bringing these drawings under your 

 notice, and our thanks are eminently due to the Messrs. Schlagintweit. 



ADDITIONAL NOTICES, 



1« Geognostic Sketch of the Western portion of Timor. By Dr. Satx)MON 



MiJLLER. 



Commnnicated by John Yeats, Esq., ll.d., f.r.g.s., &c. 



The exterior of the western portion of Timor is very mountainous. Countless 

 streams of various size springing from a central elevated ridge, traverse the 

 island in a northerly or southerly direction. Their beds are mostly strewn 

 with boulders and sandy gravel from different species of rocks. 



The principal mountains of Timor^s western half are of the older Neptunian 

 formation, systematically designated the greywacke group. 



a. The greywacke limestone, forming in Timor huge piles of rock and 

 steep mountains, some of them rising 4000 to 5000 feet above the sea-level, 

 consists of a thick mass, with flat shelly fracture, commonly of a grey, but 

 sometimes of a red colour, and intersected in all directions with veins of white 

 calcareous spar, often in quantities so large that the original mass almost dis- 

 appears, and the rock assumes a crystalline aspect. Large or small hollows 

 or fissures, covered with pointed rhomboidal crystals of calcareous spar, are 

 not unfrequently found in it. 



The hills and higher elevations composed of this limestone may be easily 

 distinguished, even at a considerable distance, by their characteristic forms, 

 from the rest of the island. Their outlines are mostly very angular, often 

 serrated, and not unfrequently exhibit needle-like and turreted tops, that rise 

 to an imposing altitude. 



h. T'he greywacke sandstone connecting itself immediately with the pre- 

 ceding species of rock, forms mountains less strongly marked by rude and 

 sharp outlines ; yet some of them with conical tops belong to the highest 

 peaks (6000 to 7000 feet) of the island. To them, besides, rounder and more 

 softly swelling lines are peculiar, not unfrequently consisting of long backs : 

 while their declivities are commonly covered with grass, bushes, or trees, 

 through which the naked cliff glistens at intervals. The rock itself is of a 

 grey or ye-Uow-brown colour. The granular specks imbedded in a scarcely 



