are hot wells; and the island of Bukhur, in lat. 27° 42', consists en- 

 tirely of flint. On the eastern bank of the river, opposite this island, 

 is a precipice of flint, 40 feet high, on which the village of Roree 

 is built. In lat. 28° 55 the rivers of the Punjab fall into the Indus. 

 Still higher up, in lat. 33", at Kara Bagh, the river cuts through a 

 range of hills, described by Mr. Elphinstone as the salt range. The 

 salt is found in layers of about a foot in thickness, separated from 

 each other by thin strata of clay. With the exception of this range 

 of hills, which is estimated to be about 1800 feet above the level of 

 the sea, the district of the Punjab is uniformly flat; but the hilly di- 

 strict is intersected by numerous defiles, presenting vertical strata, 

 which terminate in peaked points Between the river Sutlege and 

 Lahore the country consists of indurated clay, sometimes gravelly. 



At Attoch, much higher up, the rocks by which the Indus is con- 

 fined consist of a dark coloured micaceous slate, which is said to 

 extend to the southward until it meets the salt range above men- 

 tioned. Near this place gold is washed out of the sand of the river. 



At Lahore, in February 1832, the author experienced a very vio- 

 lent shock of an earthquake. Several valleys were choked up by 

 the masses of rock thrown down from the overhanging precipices, 

 and a great part of the population of Badakhshan was destroyed 

 In crossing the Punjab the author observed that several buildings 

 of the Mogul Emperors were decaying from the foundations, and 

 were encrusted with an efflorescence of nitre. Proceeding to the 

 westward from the Indus, he found bituminous coal at Cohat, and 

 that the salt range above mentioned extended across the country 

 into this district. The river of Cabool flows through a very nar- 

 row defile, the rocks of which rise to a height of 2000 feet, and con- 

 sist of sandstone, quartz rock and mica schist, the strata of the 

 latter being vertical. Cabool is situated 6000 feet above the sea. 

 The neighbouring hills are covered with rounded pebbles of all sizes, 

 sometimes loose, at others forming a conglomerate, A beautiful 

 white marble is found near Cabool, and the rocks are occasionally 

 covered with asbestus. 



From Cabool the author crossed the Hindoo Caucasus to Balkh 

 and the plains of Tartarj. This range of mountains is the prolon- 

 gation of the Himalaya to the westward of the Indus. 



Hindoo Koosh is, properly speaking, the name given to the highest 

 peak in the range, the only part of which that is covered with per- 

 petual snow is the Koh-i-Baba, between Cabool and Bameean, from 

 which latter place the waters flow northward into the Oxus. In 

 some of the defiles through which the author passed, the sides rose 

 to a height of 2000 or 3000 feet. The loftiest peak which he ob- 

 served between Cabool and Hajeeguk consisted of gneiss or granite, 

 sometimes deeply impregnated with iron. These formations were 

 succeeded by blue slates and quartz rock, and precipices of micaceous 

 schist. From the summits of the precipices masses of green granite 

 and other rocks had been hurled into the valley below. Further 

 down is a calcareous conglomerate, succeeded by cliffs of reddish 

 and purple coloured clay, and by ridges of indurated clay mixed 



