174 



FAUNA ANTIQUA SIVALENSIS. 



And, first, in regard to the fact of fossil bones occurring in 

 the Hioondes. No competent European observer has as yet 

 seen them in situ. Moorcroft and Hearsay are the only tra- 

 vellers who have traversed the tract where they are said to 

 occur. They went over the Niti Pass, and thence north 

 across the plain of Chang-tang by Dhapa to Gortope ; thence 

 eastward to the lake Manasarovara and back to !N^iti by 

 another route along the Sutlej, the course of which they 

 followed to Dhapa. Their journey embraced about a degree 

 of longitude and latitude through the tract where the fossil 

 bones are said to be found. But Moorcroft nowhere makes 

 any mention of them ; ' Bijli ki har ' are not even noticed in 

 his narrative. He describes lofty gravel and clay precipices 

 near Dhapa, and states his disappointment at not finding 

 traces of marine remains in them. * He also mentions having 

 found abundance of ammonites at the Changlu river, under 

 the Niti Ghati, on his return route. Captain Webb ascended 

 to the crest of the Niti Pass and procured fossil bones 

 brought from the plain of the Hioondes, some of which, to be 

 noticed in the sequence, are figured in Royle's Illustrations 

 of the Botany of the Himalayahs, PI. III. Mr. Traill,' in 

 his Bhoteah and Kumaon reports, mentions the occurrence of 

 fossil bones, and says they ' would appear to have belonged 

 to some large animal of the ox species, probably the Yak.' 

 He further states ' that the Bijli ki hdr are chiefly found at 

 the crest of the Niti Pass.' Mr. Batten, in his most graphic 

 account of a visit to the Niti Pass,^ says he advanced about 

 two miles beyond the ravine of the Sianki river on the 

 Steppe of the Hioondes and came upon the Ammonite Fossil 

 Groiuid. He subsequently mentions having ' a good many 

 fossil bones from the interior of Tibet and the Mana Pass ; ' 

 but it does not appear that he saw any of them in situ. The 

 fact, therefore, of their occurrence stiU wants the important 

 testimony of direct observation ; but the other evidence to 

 the point is so good as to leave no room for reasonable doubt 

 on the subject. This evidence is as follows : 



1. The concurrent statements of good observers, such as 

 Webb, Traill, and Batten, supported by specimens, that fossil 

 bones are found in the northern faces of the JSTiti and Mana 

 Passes, and the Steppe of the Hioondes.^ 



2. The du'ect testimony of the Bhoteah merchants who 



■ Asiatic Researches, vol. vii. p. 1 7- 



^ Jour. Asiatic Soe. vol. vii. p. 310. 



' Mr. McClelland does not appear to 



have had an opportunity of examining 



these fossils, but he states that ' a skull, 



said to be that of an elephant, was 



brought down from a very high eleva- 

 tion to the Commissioner of Eevenue in 

 Kumaon, during my residence in the 

 province ; but not having inspected the 

 fossil, I cannot answer for the fact.' — 

 Kumaon Inquiries, p. 216. 



