xxxii REPORT OF THE COUNCIL, 1937-38 



aridity, by contrast, especially, with the alternating areas of black cotton 

 soil. Again, during the traverse of Hyderabad State it was possible to 

 observe the distinctions of form between the volcanic region of the Deccan 

 trap and the undulating plains and rounded hills of the Archaean crystal- 

 line rocks with their irregularly weathered tors of granite boulders. 

 One of the escarpments of the trap country was finely seen on the descent 

 to the gorge in which the caves of Ajanta are excavated, and here, as well 

 as at Ellora and in the moat and scarp of Daulatabad fort, the manner 

 in which the basalt on the one hand had lent itself to artificial working, 

 and on the other its resistance to the influences of weathering, was 

 wonderful to see. The area of Pre-Cambrian sandstones which ' have 

 furnished a great wealth of building stone to the architects of ancient 

 India and stimulated their art ' were crossed in the vicinity of Sanchi, 

 and the rough and rather barren quartzites and metamorphic rocks of 

 the Delhi system offered a further contrast both to the Sanchi country 

 and to the rich alluvial plains of the Gangetic rivers, which were traversed 

 northward towards Dehra Dun and eastward to Calcutta. ' The plains 

 rise in gentle undulations away from the river banks, and for miles there 

 is an unbroken succession of fields, orchards, and mango groves, surround- 

 ing clusters of mud villages.' The scenery thus described was un- 

 interrupted during December 29, save where the Rajmahal hills in 

 Bihar rise as outliers of the Chota Nagpur plateaux to the south. This 

 last district was visited by a small geological party, which left the special 

 train at Kodarma on December 29, and proceeding by way of Ranchi, 

 Gua, Jamshedpur, and Dhanbad, arrived in Calcutta early on January 3. 



At two points the route of the special train traversed the rich sub- 

 montane tracts bordering the plains on the north-east, and afforded views 

 of the impressive approaches to the wall-like foothills of the Himalayan 

 mountain-system. The first of these occasions was at Dehra Dun as 

 already indicated ; the second at Siliguri on December 30. Here the 

 railway was left for the ascent by road to Darjeeling, where, at a height 

 of some 7,000 feet above sea-level, the party had the extreme good 

 fortune to enjoy two-and-a-half days (December 30-January i) of perfect 

 weather, in unclouded view of the Himalayan range which culminates 

 in Kangchenjunga (28,146 feet). The party returned to Calcutta in 

 the morning of January 2. 



From Calcutta the President, Sir James Jeans, F.R.S., conveyed thanks 

 on behalf of the party to the following gentlemen who had been instru- 

 mental in arranging for the hospitality and facilities afforded at the 

 various places visited : — 



Bombay : Rao Bahadur V. N. Chandavarkar, Vice- Chancellor of the 

 University. 



Hyderabad : The Rt. Hon. Sir Akbar Hydari, President of the Executive 

 Council and Chancellor of the Osmania University ; the Hon. Nawab 

 Mehdi Yar Jung, political and education member and Vice-Chancellor of 

 the University ; Prof. Kasi Mohamed Husain, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the 

 University. 



Agra : Mr. Zafar Hasan, Superintendent, Archaeological Survey of India, 

 Northern Circle ; Mr. G. Chatterjee, Meteorological Office ; Prof. K. C. 

 Mehta, Department of Botany, Agra University. 



