234 GEOGNOSY OF INDIA. 



phur are formed around hot springs, in the bed of the Ram- 

 gano-a and of the Garjia rivers, in the province of Kemaoon, 

 but mixed with carbonate of Urae, from which it can be 

 readily separated by subhmation. It occurs in considerable 

 quantities in some of the galleries of the lead-mines at 

 Mywar on the Tonse, ui Jaunsar. 



Mineral Oil and Pitch. — These minerals do not occur any- 

 where abundantly. Mineral oil is mentioned as having been 

 observed oozing from rocks of limestone in the range be- 

 tween Sarju and the Ramganga. 



Graphite, or Black Lead. — This valuable mineral has not 

 hitherto been found in considerable quantity in any part of 

 the Himmalehs, although, from the nature of the country 

 and the notices of travellers, it is not improbable that enough 

 of it will be met with for the various purposes of the arts. 

 It occurs in imbedded masses, varying in size from an inch 

 to three or four inches in diameter, in a graphitic mica- 

 slate. 



4. Metallic Minerals. — The Himmalehs have, hitherto, 

 afforded but a comparatively small quantity of ore, owing 

 not so much to the poverty of this vast country in metallif- 

 erous substances as to the neglect of observers, who have 

 been principally occupied with geographical investigations 

 and the collecting of plants. The only metals at present 

 met with in such quantity as to yield a profitable return are 

 copper, iron, and lead ; but besides these there also occur 

 gold, antimony in the state of sulphuret, the gray antimony 

 ore of mineralogists, and manganese combined with iron. 

 We shall now notice, in a general way, these different sub- 

 stances.* 



Gold. — In the Old World almost every extensive range 

 of mountainous country has been found to afford gold, 

 which is indicated either by its occurrence in the sands of 

 rivers and rivulets, or disseminated in diluvia, or through 

 the mass of solid strata. The gold of the Himmalehs oc- 

 curs in the alluvial soil of several mountain-rivers, and one 

 instance is mentioned of its having been observed in grains 

 in granite [at Kedarnath. During the Gorkhali rule the 



* Arsenic combined with sulphur, or in the state of yellow and red 

 orpiment, is imported from beyond the frontiers, for it has not been found 

 in the British dominions. 



