INTKODUCTION. 15 



is coming upon rocks of an older date and more durable 

 structure. The strata may be divided into two classes : 1st, 

 and lowermost, sandstone and conglomerate, containing sub- 

 ordinate beds of clay ; 2nd, and uppermost, gravel. 



The sandstone is a whitish grey arenaceous rock, varying a 

 good deal in characters. It is generally of a whitish grey 

 fine quartz basis, containing scales of white and some dark 

 mica. It is incoherent and crumbles easily from pressure of 

 the fingers. In some places the texture is so loose that it 

 looks, where the surface of a cliff has been acted on by the 

 "weather, like well-packed sand. In others, although still 

 loose in texture, it resists a sturdy blow from the hammer. 

 The cementing basis is carbonate of lime, which is upon the 

 whole abundant ui the rocks. In the friable descriptions it 

 is less so; the harder varieties effervesce strongly with acids. 

 In some places the sandstone is extensively coloured by de- 

 composed iron pyrites,' and this especially occurs where it 

 contains lignite, as in the Kalowala pass. Where it comes 

 in contact with the beds of clay, or the strata of conglomerate, 

 the cementing basis is largely composed of argillaceous 

 matter ; and the rock possesses great hardness and tenacity. 

 The sandstone, as above described, forms by far the greatest 

 portion of the rocky mass of the lower hill strata. In some 

 places fine sections are exhibited of great extent. About 

 the middle of the Kheeri pass, a perpendicular cliff rises 

 from the bed of the pass to a height of nearly 2,000 ft. It 

 is of course inaccessible, except at the bottom ; but so far as 

 the eye can detect, it consists nearly uniformly of deep strata 

 of whitish grey sandstone, without conglomerate or beds of clay. 



The conglomerate consists of a clayey and arenaceous 

 basis, in most instances highly impregnated with carbonate of 

 lime, and cementing waterworn fragments of the older rocks 

 of the Himalayahs. Captain Herbert has enumerated quartz, 

 greywacke, granite, hornblende, and limestone : the fragments 

 are usually of no great size. The strata vary in depth from 

 a few inches to many feet, and alternate with the strata of 

 sandstone. They are conformable, and regularly inclined with 

 the sandstone strata. 



The beds of clay are found in the sandstone and conglome- 

 rate, and modify the character of the rocks where they occur. 

 The clay possesses different characters. In some places it is 

 blue and tenacious, mixed up with sand ; in others, yellow or 

 light flesh-coloured, and greasy to the feel. It is generally 

 lumpy and unequal, and rarely shows any appearance of 

 foliation. The beds are of unequal depth, and rarely of any 



' Cautley, loc. cit. 



