18 FAUNA ANTIQUA SIVALEXSIS. 



fibres are carbonised, and the interstices between them im- 

 pregnated partly with siliceous matter, and partly with hy- 

 drated (carbonate of?) iron. 'No other vegetable remain has 

 been seen, and so far as I know no portion of a leaf or other 

 vegetable structure of any kind. In the Timli pass, I came 

 upon a fine section of sandstone, in which from eight to ten 

 feet are exposed longitudinally of the trunk of a large dico- 

 tyledonous tree, one foot nine inches in diameter, and upwards 

 of five feet in circumference. The wood is silicified, part of the 

 bark converted into lignite, and impregnated with crystals of 

 sulphate of lime. 



From the above description it will be seen that the Sewalik 

 hills consistof a succession of beds, irregularly distributed, of 

 sandstone, shingle, and conglomerate, surmounted by gravel. 

 The section will give a general idea of the arrangement of 

 the rocks ; but it by no means professes to be exact in the 

 details (see fig. 1). 



Very opposite opinions have been advanced regarding the 

 age of the Sewalik hill formation. Captain Herbert, from 

 the occurrence of lignite and from the stretch of the range 

 on to the Sutlej, was led to think that it was connected with 

 the saliferous beds of Lahore, and might be identical with 

 the new red sandstone of England. Captain Cautley ad- 

 vanced a similar opinion, more with the laudable object of 

 having the matter agitated than determining it himself; 

 but he has long since dropped it. Dr Govan designated the 

 formation as belonging to the older alluvial deposits of Buck- 

 land. One can scarcely imagine more opposite geological 

 conceptions of a formation. Mons. Jacquemont examined 

 the lower hills in 1831, but I am not aware of any opinion 

 he may have formed regarding them. 



[The manuscript here ends abruptly, but the following 

 passage is extracted from the Essay on Tea Cultivation above 

 referred to, page 11. — Ed.] 



' I regard these hills as an upheaved portion of the plains 

 at the foot of the Himalayahs, and that they are formed of 

 the debris of the mountains washed down by streams and 

 other natural causes. They are covered with vast forests of 

 saul, toon, and fir, and are uninhabited. 



'The soil of 'the Sewalik hills and of the valley of Deyra 

 takes the character of the rocks. It is dry, sandy, or gravelly, 

 with a considerable quantity of calcareous matter, and it ap- 

 pears to me to possess the character indicated for the tea 

 districts in China. 



' The Himalayahs have a direction running from WW. to SE. 

 They consist, on this side of the snowy range, chiefiy of 

 primary rocks inclined at a considerable angle. The dip of 



