GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY. O 



rates of the Upper Pauchets constituting Loogoo Hill, which stands out 

 boldly in the middle of the field, dividing it into two nearly equal 

 portions. 



Nothing can more fully impress the geologist with an adequate 

 sense of the immense power of river-erosion than this hill. Exhibiting 

 to view an accumulation of 1,500 feet of sedimentary strata, above the 

 level of the Bokaro and Damoodah Rivers, we have this enormous thick- 

 ness representing the minimum amount of degrada- 

 Measure of degradation. . i • i i • 



tion which this area has undergone. The appear- 

 ance of the hill is bold and picturesque, presenting on all sides abrupt 

 precipitous falls, A great charm is added to its scenery by the numerous 

 deep and narrow gorges that exist in it, through which purling streams 

 find their way ; and the monotonous stillness around, so eminently dis- 

 tinctive of Indian jungles, is broken at intervals by the many little 

 noisy cascades which rush over the edges of the massive beds, wherever 

 there are sudden falls in the level of the stream-courses. 



The whole country is well wooded; and great stretches of rich 

 foliage occur. Loogoo Hill, and the higher peaks of the Hazareebagh 

 table-land, furnish much excellent timber j and so brisk is iMi' demand at 

 present that the most inaccessible crags are sealed, in order to procure 

 the sissoo and sal, which are the two varieties of trees most sought 

 after. A considerable profit accrues to those zemindars who, for- 

 tunately for themselves, possess the right of felling timber ; but the 

 indiscriminate manner in which cutting is being carried on is very 

 much to be regretted. 



The drainage of this area is effected almost entirely by the Bokaro 



River, which falls into one of the principal tributa. 



ries of the Damoodah — the Koonar. This latter 



stream passes through only a small portion of the eastern part of the 



field, and joins the Damoodah opposite the village of Khetko. Its geolo- 



(41 } 



