640 



REPORT 1881. 



The peculiar quartz-outcrops of Travancore, supposed by many to be auriferous 

 reefs, are next described, the author having, in his late examination of them fo]- 

 the Government of that State, been obliged to look on these as really beds ot 

 quartz-rock, or felspathic quartz-rock, associated and contemporaneous with the 

 gneisses. A mere trace of gold has been found in a small sample of this rock ; but 

 none was found by ordinary hand-crushing and working. Neither are there any 

 traces of old gold- workings in the area marked by these outcrops. 



Lastly, the economic aspect of the "Wainad field is considered. Mr. King does 

 not see any good reason, on the total results obtained, to think that the average 

 out-turn of gold will ever be appreciably more than that argued for from his original 

 assays, namely, seven pennyweights to the ton. He also does not think that a 

 paying return "can be obtained on less than three pennyweights to the ton. Though 

 very hopeful of the moderate and paying quality of the reefs, he is decidedly of 

 opinion that the results obtained so far do not warrant the wild expectations 

 which have been prevalent in England and India during the last twelve months ; 

 nor do they justify the enormous prices which have been paid for lands and con- 

 cessions. "Beyond the ultimate profitable working looked for by the author, there 

 must be considerable delay (even for nine months more at least) before retarding 

 conditions — such as the settlement of land tenure and mining rights, the obtaining 

 of labour, and the getting of the machinery on the ground — can be overcome. 



11. 0)1, the Geology of the Island of Cyprus. Si/ R. Russell, G.E. 



The physical features of the Island of Cyprus are tsvo great mountain-chains, 

 the axes of which are mainly parallel to each other. These two ranges are as 

 distinct from each other in physical appearance as in geological structure. The 

 southern or Troiidos mountains are rounded in outline, and culminate in Mount 

 Troiidos, G,340 feet above the sea-level. The northern, or Kerynia, mountain-chain 

 rises up from the hummocky ground on both sides, as it were, in one great conti- 

 nuous wall-like cliff, its vertical crags and turret-like peaks projecting upwards to 

 heights of more than 3,000 feet. The hummocky ground at the base of the pre- 

 cipitous cliffs has a most peculiar aspect. "When looked at from above it resembles 

 a bird's-eye view of Alpine scenery ; when seen from the central valley it appears 

 as if the" whole area was covered with an immense number of small volcanic 

 cones. 



The central valley is flat when compared with the mountainous regions, but it 

 is exceedingly irregular and broken. Flat-topped ridges and hills, and conical 

 mounds, form a distinctive feature of this part of the island. The flat-topped hills 

 rise quite abruptly from the low ground, and therefore show more prominently 

 than they would otherwise do. 



The rocks which occur in Cyprus may be classified as follows : — 



Blown Sand 

 Alluvium (recent) 

 Kavara (solidified surface) 

 Raised Beach 



Sand and Gravel (Old River Deposits) 

 Calcareous Tufa and 

 Traventioe 



fprTOCFxr (Kerynia Rock 



Jl-LIOCEM 1 Nicosia Beds 



V Miocene .... Idalian Beds 

 f Upper Cretaceous . Konnos 

 .1 r (Mount Ililarion 



Igxeotjs Rocks 



The oldest stratified rock is doubtless the Mount Hilarion Limestone. This is 

 a verv hard, compact, crystalline limestone, generally of a dark blue colour. It is 

 very difficult to distinguish between the bedding and jointing in this rock, and 



POST-TERTIARY 



TERTIARY 



SECONDARY 



(Limestone 



