298 "WYNNE : GEOLOGY OF THE SALT RANGE IN THE PUNjXb. 



Building-stones. 



The stones chiefly used for building- along the range are the smooth 

 fine-grained sandstones of the purple sandstone 

 group. These dress well, but being often soft and 

 sufiiciently saline to take up moisture are not so good as some other rocks 

 which are less easy to work. It is stated that these furnished the material 

 used to raise the memorial obelisk on the battle-field of Chilianala (com- 

 monly called Chillian walla). 



A white sandstone, seen on the ascent from Pind-Dadan-Khan to Pid, 

 just after leaving the plains, seemed likely to make a good and handsome 

 building-stone. Many beds of the dolomitic sandstone group appeared 

 also well fitted for use, though not likely to dress so well as the purple 

 sandstones. 



The limestones of the carboniferous and nummulitic groups, and, 

 indeed, some of the more regularly bedded triassic or Jurassic lime- 

 stones, would furnish excellent building materials. 



Putting aside the softer sandstones, and the more shaly or saline beds 

 of any of the sub-divisions, there is hardly one group of rocks above the 

 salt-marl in which durable and easily worked building-stone could not be 

 found, and a mixture of the many different-coloured stones procurable 

 would form handsome ashler walls. Blocks of large size could be obtained 

 from many of the sandstones of the dolomitic group No. 4, or from the 

 formations containing limestone. The group No. 8 furnishes good flags, 

 some of which have been used in the new fortified barracks at Rawal- 

 pindi. Lime can be obtained from one or other of the formations almost 

 everywhere. 



Although there is no scarcity of strong building-stone, the builders 

 of the ancient Salt Range temples (probably Buddhist) generally 

 disregarded all others in favour of the calcareous travertine found in many 

 parts of the range. This, although brought from a distance, seems in 

 some cases to have been preferred to any material nearer at hand. This 

 ( a98 ) 



