KHASI HILLS. 117 



budda and of the Curruckpore hills. My stay in the Khasi Hills did 



not afford me sufficient time to trace ont accurately the boundaries 



of these two groups. 



Sedimentary Deposits. — In ascending the Khasi Hills from Teria- 



ghat, the rocks met with throughout the greater 



Tertiary Sandstones. ... ^ • 



portion of the rise are sandstones of varied mineral 



character. In the lower part, the prevailing colour is a greenish brown ; 



passing on the one hand into a grey, and on the other into a red tint. 



Occasionally we find beds of a light grey or whitish cobur, variegated 



with red and ferruginous spots or patches ; but these are more frequent 



in the upper portion of the series. Beds of shale and shaly sandstone, 



and clays of yellowish and blackish grey -colours, are associated with the 



sandstones. Several of the beds of sandstone are highly calcareous, and 



sometimes pass into calcareous grits. 



On the upper beds of this series the station of Cherra Poonjee is 



placed, and here we find, resting conformably upon 

 Limestone, Coal, &c. 



the sandstone, a series of beds of limestone, coal, 



and shales, to which we shall refer again. 



The sandstone beds are well exposed in the perpendicular cliffs of the 

 valleys adjoining the station. It is not, however, always easy to obtain 

 means of examining the series satisfactorily. The only paths, which pass 

 down the sides of the glens, have naturally been selected where some 

 fallen mass has produced a spur or slope along which the path can wind, 

 but where the rocks are concealed ; while the greater portion of the vertical 

 cliff is inaccessible. Most of the slopes also are clothed with dense 

 forest. It is therefore with some difficulty that the actual succession of 

 the beds is traced out, and I can therefore merely state the general divi- 

 sions of the group. 



At the base, whenever it is clearly seen, and resting quite uncon- 

 formably upon the up-turned edges of the older 



Suocessiou of beds. ,,.,., „ , 



rocks, there is a thick mass ot coarse congLo- 



