GEOLOGICAL FEATURES or tuzr HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS. XXVli 
Indo-Scythic Coins which had been entombed in this oriental Herculaneum, Mr. Prinsep refers to the 
commencement of the Christian era. Capt. Cautley is of opinion that the enormous discharge of sand, 
clay, and shingle from the lower hills during the periods of the rainy season, are gradually causing a rise 
of the country skirting their base, and to this and the action of wind on sand, he ascribes the inhumation 
of this ancient city. The structure of the plains may also be seen in the raised hills which skirt the base 
of the Himalayas, and the banks of the Jumna afford a very interesting series of sections, of which the 
structure may be treated of either with that of the Gangetic valley or of Central India, as some of the 
peculiar formations of the latter seem to extend even to the beds of that river. 
Proceeding from the plains of India to ascend the Himalayas, we every where meet with a lower range 
of hills, which have been variously denominated “the Lower Hills, the Sandstone, Sub-Himalayan or 
Sewalic Hills.” These hills, in many parts, rest immediately upon the Himalayas, but in others are sepa- 
rated from them by a series of longitudinal valleys. The part with which the Author is best acquainted 
is the direct road from Saharunpore to Deyra and the Himalayas, through the Kheree pass, which is 
the broad, generally flat, stony bed of a hill stream, ascending by degrees to the crest of the pass, now 
much cut down, but from which there is a gradual descent to the valley or Doon of Deyra. Along this pass 
flows in a winding course a small stream of very clear water. On either side, and about fifty yards apart, 
arise the hills, and, according to the windings of the stream, are seen sometimes sloping, sometimes 
abrupt ; in the former case, covered with vegetation, in the latter, presenting a barren and precipitous 
display of their stratified structure. These strata dip to the N.E. or towards the Himalayas, at various 
angles from 20° to 38°, and the hills display every variety of appearance, partly from the destroying 
effects of water on so destructible a material, and partly to this being sometimes defended from its influ- 
ence by a covering of a boulder stone. They are formed by a succession of parallel ridges, abrupt towards 
the plains, and sloping towards the Himalayas. In many places, each hill, if separated, might be repre- 
sented by a right angled triangle, the base resting on the pass, the perpendicular facing towards the 
S.W., and the hypothenuse sloping towards the N.E., and corresponding in dip with the strata. This 
side is sometimes continued to the level of the pass; at others, ano‘her hill, with its perpendicular side, 
seems to arise from the middle of the last, and is itself, in like manner, succeeded by a third, forming a 
succession of abrupt and sloping sides, like the teeth of a saw. At Hurdwar, the sandstone character is 
complete, and the rock is sufficiently hard to be used as a building stone. About fifty or sixty feet were 
cut through to make a road between the river and the hills, by Capt. De Bude, of Engineers, at the 
back of whose house, on the Hill, rolled stones might also be seen lying upon the sandstone. These 
hills are composed of a series of clays, of a loose-grained sandstone, with much mica interspersed ; 
beds of gravel and rolled stones, which consist of the debris of every variety of rock: as granite and 
trap-rocks, limestone and clay slates, gneiss, micaceous and hornblende schists; in fact, of all the rocks 
of which the Himalayas are composed. Carbonate of lime is interspersed throughout the formation, form- 
ing stalactites and encrusting leaves, &c. Carbonate of soda is also found effloresced in many situa- 
tions. In some moist situations the boulders are sometimes so soft, that quartz crumbles in the hands 
more easily than a piece of sugar. : 
The gravel and boulders found on these hills are very extensively diffused. They are abundant in the 
series of longitudinal vallies which are bounded to the S.W. by the Sand-stone range, and on the N.E. 
by the Clay-slate formation of the Himalayas. These have been enumerated by Capt. Herbert as the 
Mokowala or Ropur, Pinjore, Kyarda, Deyra, and Patle, all between the Sutle} and the Gograh, and eee ae 
again, that of Chetuan, which lies to the north of Bettiah. They are from twenty to twenty-five milesin 
length, and of variable breadth, the widest being about fifteen miles. They have two outlets for their — 
drainage, and their highest level is usually near the middle. The surface is level or undulating, inter- — 
sected by ravines, or river beds; the rock is seldom seen, except on their boundaries. The soil of the. - 
