10 GEOLOGY. 



appear dipping to the west and leaning towards the granite in 

 those mountains. Laterite, clayslate, mica slate, and granite 

 are found on rising the mountain, and thence to the banks of 

 the Thoungyeen, the boundary of the Province, a gentleman, 

 who collected specimens for me, found nothing but limestone. 

 Capt« Latter mentions sandstone as being abundant in the val- 

 ley of the Thoungyeen, and Mr. Lonsdale says that the valley 

 is bounded on the eastern side by granite mountains. 



THERMAL, SPRINGS. 



The Provinces are well supplied with hot springs ; and some 

 of them are probably not inferior in their medicinal qualities 

 to the fashionable Spas of Europe and America. Though 

 their waters have never been subjected to any minute analy- 

 sis, yet we know there is a great variety in the properties of 

 different springs. They may be arranged in three different 

 classes, — carbonated, sulphureous, and saline. 



CARBONATED THERMAL SPRINGS. 



The hot springs on the Ataran, according to Dr. Heifer's 

 description, belong to the carbonated class. They are situated 

 within two miles of the old town of Ataran, and Dr. Heifer 

 writes : " There are ten hot springs or rather hot water ponds, 

 of which 1 could only examine the nearest, as the access to the 

 others was through deep water at 130° Farenheit. This one 

 was a semicircular pond about fifty feet in circumferance. In 

 one place it was thirty five feet deep. The quantity of car- 

 bonic acid which the springs evolve, seems to render the neigh- 

 borhood peculiary adapted to support vegetable life. — The 

 ground around the spring is strongly impregnated with iron, 

 and the water which runs over the ochre mud has a strong styp- 

 tic taste. The springs on the Ataran approach in their com- 

 position nearest to the celebrated waters of Tccplitz." 



" Their medicai properties would render them excellent 

 remedies in a number of diseases, liver complaints would find a 

 powerful remedy in them. If Amherst should be selected as 

 a resort for invalids, the hot springs on the Ataran could easi- 

 ly* be turned to advantage. In a direct line, they would be 

 only four or five hours distant, and a road could be cut 



