Glaciated Surface in the Himalayas. 401 



about 5,000 feet. Again the long spur to the south of the Kulhait 

 Valley to the north-west of Rinchenpongis hummocked suggestively 

 of glacial action at the height of about 4,500 or 5,000 feet. 



The existence of hill spurs which end in flat triangular facets 

 (Fig. 2), such as are well developed in the Rangit Valley near 

 Badamtam north of Darjeeling, might be regarded as evidence of 

 glacial action ; but the numerous faceted spurs in Southern Sikkim 

 appear clearly due to the truncation of spurs by rivers. As I have 

 remarked elsewhere they are not proof of glacial action. 



Fig. 2. — View from Badamtam across the valley of the Rangit, showing the 

 level-crested ridges of the Sikkim peneplane and two of the spurs (/) faceted 

 by river erosion. 



Another occurrence which should be mentioned in this connexion 

 is a train of huge boulders on the floor of the Rumman River above 

 its junction with the Great Rangit River. One boulder that 

 I measured is eight feet in diameter, and some are larger; they 

 are situated at the height of slightly over 1,000 feet above sea 

 level. The largest boulders are of gneiss, which, according to the 

 map by Bose (1891, (2) ) does not occur on the Rumman River 

 until six miles up stream. The nearest outcrop is three miles 

 away in the valley of the Little Rangit River. This boulder train 

 has been noticed by Bose (1891, (1), p. 68); he attributes it to 

 torrential river action. He remarks that these impetuous rivers 

 can transport enormous boulders far from the parent rock (ibid., 

 p. 57). According to his map the boulders must have been carried 

 six miles down stream ; and yet their forms are subangular. These 

 boulders cannot be due to a landslip, as gneiss does not occur here 

 on the sides of the valley ; and if the boulders had been carried six 

 miles down stream at least their lower surfaces which are protected 

 from the weather should have preserved some trace of water action. 

 That the boulders were deposited directly by ice appears improbable ; 

 but they may have been brought to the locality by ice, and have 

 been dropped at some higher level, and subsequently lowered to 

 their present position during the deepening of the valley by 

 •denudation. These boulders do not prove that ice deposited them 

 where they now are ; and the lowest level for which there is clear 

 evidence of glacial action in Southern Sikkim is that of the glaciated 

 surface below Chakung, at about 3,600 feet above sea-level. 



5. Claims foe Low-level Glacial Deposits in N.W. India and 



in Bengal. 

 Glaciation at a comparatively low-level has been claimed in the 

 "Western Himalayas and in Ea tern Bengal, partly on the direct 



DECADE VI. — VOL. VI. — NO. IX. 26 



