GEOLOGY. 7 



carboniferous and triassic beds completely lap round and replace the older mctamorphics. In 

 his last journey Dr. Stoliczka has shown that another great sedimentary region in the 

 Karakoram area lies between the crystalline Ladak ridge and the gneissic rocks forming the 

 Kuenluen. But in this region no oolitic or cretaceous beds have hitherto been found, the 

 highest fossiliferous rocks observed being liassic.* North of the Kuenluen, however, the pre- 

 sence of a cretaceous formation was detected. 



As occasional reference must be made in the ensuing pages to the names given by Mr 

 Medlicott to particular formations on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, a list of these 

 groups, with their supposed trans-Himalayan equivalents, is appended. It must be remem- 

 bered that the identifications are little more than surmises, 2 and were only suggested as 

 probable by Dr. Stoliczka, no fossils having been found in the cis-Hirnalayan rocks below 

 the nummulitics. 



A?e. da-Himalayan. Trans-Himalayan. 



PLIOCENE . . ") t Mammaliferous. 



f bvwaiiK ...... 



and iNahan ' ^ Deposits of Tibet 



MIOCENE (.(? Karewah, in part). 



f Kasauli (purple and grey sandstones) \ 

 \ Dagskai (red clays, purple and grey/ 

 EOCENE (Nummulitic) Sirmur < sandstones). > Indus or Shingo beds. 



J Sabathu (brown and grey clays and V 

 , x. limestones). J 



TEXAS . . . Krol (limestone) Lalang series. 



CARBONIFEROUS . Infra-Krol (sandstone and carbonaceous shales) Kuling series. 



fBlini (limestone and conglomerate) . . . Muth. 



' X Infra-Blini (slates and sandstone) . . . Bhabeh. 



On the other hand, there is some slight possibility of the Krol limestone being nummu- 

 litic, and Mr. Medlicott at one time, and before the trans-Himalayan rocks had been classified 

 by Dr. Stoliczka, was rather inclined to this view, 3 but he never considered the evidence in its 

 favour of much importance. 



In the following pages the order preserved is that of the journey : first, the notes taken 

 from the diary of the route from the Pan jab to Leh, then the (previously printed) geolo- 

 gical descriptions of the journey from Leh to Shah-i-dula, and from Shah-i-dula to Kashghar ; 

 next, the excursions from Kashghar to the Chadyr-kul and to Altyn Artysh ; and finally, the 

 notes from the diary of the journey to the Pamir, and of the return march from Yarkand to 

 the Karakoram pass. The sections illustrative of the geology of the country are from 

 sketches in Dr. Stoliczka's note-book ; they are introduced, as they serve greatly to explain the 

 relations of the rocks, but it should be remembered that the original drawings are frequently 

 rough, and they may not, in some instances, have been quite correctly interpreted. Should 

 subsequent research show the sections to require modification, the circumstances under which 

 they were prepared: should be remembered. 



Dr. Stoliczka himself spoke of Ms geological results as meagre. This is, probably, the 

 first impression of most travellers : either they have traversed enormous areas composed of 



1 Some obscure unfossiliferous sandstones near Kium, in Changchenmo, and at Aktagh, north of the Karakoram pass, were 

 referred with doubt to the tertiary epoch. 



2 Mr. Lydekker's surveys, made since the above was written, have indicated that some modification is probably necessary in the 

 above list of correlated strata. It appears now more probable that the Krol limestone is carboniferous. Records, Geol. Survey of 

 India, XI, p. 63 



3 Memoirs, Geological Survey, Vol. Ill, p. 170. 



