TRIASSIC SERIES. 9 



distinguishes a series of black bituminous dolomitie limestones of 700 to 

 1,000 feet in thiekness, his ' Para limestone/ in which he found Mega- 

 lodon triqueier, Bicerocardium Himalai/ense, several species of Cliemnitzia 

 of the character of those from the " Esino dolomite/'' and Neoschizodus. 

 Though it is true that we are unable to determine the species, still the 

 association of Megalodon, Bicerocardium, and Oliemnitzia would seem to 

 indicate that our lower triassic division is the analogue of the ' Para 

 limestone/ and thus equivalent to the lower part of the upper trias 

 of the Alps. 



The upper division of the triassic formation could only be distin- 

 guished at a few locaHties by the character of the rocks, or by the 

 appearance of certain fossils. It is best seen in the Sulhud valley or 

 pass, on the Abbotabad road, about a mile and a half below Sulhud. 

 At tliis locality, about one hundred feet of olive-coloured sandy slaty 

 shale, in places very similar to real slate, overlies the dolomites of the 

 lower division. These pass up by soft greenish sandy shales into yellow 

 and brown dolomitie sandstones without fossils, and are succeeded 

 by thin-bedded, light-coloured gray limestones, with intercalated sandy 

 beds having a total thickness of about one hundred feet. 



On the weathered surfaces of these limestones numerous fossils 

 are to be observed, the genera, however, though indicating newer beds, 

 present species generally of no great geological value. They include 

 Nerinea, Neritopsis, Astarte, Opis, Nuculce, Ledce, and Ostrea. 



Similar limestones, but without the underlying shales, are exposed 

 on the south-eastern side of the mountain above Banduh ; they contain 

 numerous Nerinea, some of which are in good preservation, but very 

 difficult to extract. It is probable that exposures of these limestones con- 

 tinue hence towards Dhumtour, but only a very close examination of the 

 mountain would prove their existence, as the occurrence of the fossils, 

 and not the appearance of the rock, here distinguishes the group. 



b ( 339 ) 



