Prof. Gregory — Glaciated Surface in the Himalayas. 397 



fortunate in possessing, is destined to play a great part. This has 

 been rendered possible by the great extensions to iron and steel works 

 that have been initiated with Government assistance during the War. 

 These works have been planned on the most modern lines, and possess 

 on the same site by-product coke ovens, blast-furnaces, steel works, 

 and rolling mills. They are designed for the basic process of steel- 

 making and will be fed with home ores. In choosing the sites for 

 these works regard has been paid to the situation of the raw materials — 

 ore, fuel, and flux — required to supply them. On the completion of 

 these extensions there should be no necessity for this country to 

 import a single ton of foreign steel. Before the War something like 

 2£ million tons of steel, in the form of slabs, blooms, and billets, 

 were imported into this country annually, mainly from Germany. 



But for success in this great undertaking cheap ore and fuel are 

 essential and these can only be obtained, in face of the greatly 

 augmented cost of labour and material, which is a legacy of the War, 

 by an all-round increase in efficiency, embracing capital, engineering, 

 and labour — capital by the installation of up-to-date equipment, 

 engineering by improved mining methods, and labour by an increased 

 output per man per shift. 



These are the outstanding problems of the immediate future. 



II. — A Low-level Glaciated Surface in the Eastern Himalaya. 1 



By J. W. Gregory, F.R.S. 



AT Christmas, 1917, I had the privilege, owing to the kindness of 

 the Hon. Mr. W. W. Hornell, of a sho?t visit into Southern 

 Sikkim, during which I observed glacial striation at a lower level 

 than has been previously recorded in the Himalaya. This occurrence 

 is the more worthy of record since striated rock-surfaces are reported 

 as scarce or absent from the Eastern Himalaya even at much higher 

 levels. For courteous help and the use of the library of the 

 Geological Survey of India I am indebted to Dr. H. H. Hayden, and 

 references to some of the literature I owe to him and also to 

 Mr. E. W. Vredenburg. 



1. Ancient Moraines in Sikkiji. 



The existing glaciers of the Eastern Himalaya do not descend 

 below the level of about 14,000 feet (e.g. Hooker, 1854, vol. i, 

 p. 260) ; that they formerly extended much lower has been well 

 known since the journey in Sikkim of Sir I. D. Hooker, who 

 described and figured "stupendous" ancient moraines in the 

 Lachung Valley at about 8,000 feet above sea-level (Hooker, 1854, 

 vol. ii, pp. 103-4), in the Lachen Valley at about 8,800 feet, and 

 across the Yangma Valley at 11,000 feet (ibid., vol. i, p. 232, pi. opp. 

 p. 232). The moraines in the Lachen Vallev have been revisited by 

 Blanford (1871, p. 395), by Bose (1891, p.*219), and by Garwood 

 (1903, p. 298), who records their level as 8,790 feet ; these Lachen 



1 The spelling of the place-names is in accordance with the map of Sikkim, 

 4 miles to 1 inch, Survey of India, 1916. 



