﻿44 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Dec. 4, 



The river, on reaching Attock, lias to force its way through a narrow 

 gorge between the slate mountains which rise on both banks, and it 

 is only necessary to imagine this gorge closed, to form extensive lakes 

 over much of the country where I have noted the existence of pliocene 

 deposits. 



Crossing the Indus and via Geedur-gullee Pass to Akhora, about 

 eleven miles ; — the Pass nearly half the distance leads through a for- 

 mation, chiefly slate, occasionally showing thin beds of an altered 

 limestone and veins of quartz. The beds are usually nearly vertical ; 

 the dip to the south, with an east and west strike. I saw no fossils ; 

 indeed in both going and returning I was obliged to move on quickly. 



Disengaged from the Geedur-gullee, at about the fifth mile, and 

 near the village of Nuwazeerun, I again noticed the pliocene forma- 

 tion ; the Caubul river has here cut its way through it. On the left 

 bank it appears to be elevated and to form some low hills, rising 300 

 or 400 feet above the river. I was unable to cross and verify 

 this observation, but obtained sections on the right bank down 

 to the slate rocks. First, in descending order, there is a thick bed 

 of yellow marl with numerous individuals of Melania, Pupa, Helix, 

 and Unio, all in a state of decay, usually crumbling to pieces on 

 being taken out. Beneath this travertine (kunkur) there is a bed of 

 conglomerate, included in which I found some pieces of pottery. 

 Next came yellow marl with Sept aria ; below this a thick bed of 

 conglomerate with a calcareous cement, beneath which the yellow 

 marls were again repeated. In the lower conglomerate I found the 

 rib of some large animal (Camel ?) ; it was so firmly held by the 

 cement that I could not free it without fracture ; the cancellated 

 structure of the bone was not entirely filled up, and its mineral state 

 would at once refer it to the most recent geological period. 



From Geedur-gullee the slate hills recede southerly from the Caubul 

 river, forming the southern boundary of the Peshaur valley (or rather 

 basin) . As far as the eye could reach I traced the pliocene formation 

 along their base, deeply cut into ravines by water-courses, and perhaps 

 from other causes ; but, although so broken, the surface-outline holds 

 nearly the same level throughout, except near the base of the moun- 

 tains, towards which there is a slight and gradual rise. Near Akhora 

 I noticed many huge masses of an igneous rock scattered along the 

 banks of the river, but could not discover whence they came. Sec- 

 tions nearer to the town of Peshaur showed beds of the gravel and 

 conglomerate thicker, but in other respects similar. Near Jumrood, 

 and along the base of the Khyber mountains, the pliocene clays are 

 replaced by boulder and gravel, derived chiefly from the Khyber 

 range. The pliocene, however, is found even in the mouth of the 

 Khyber Pass, and the cave dwellings of the Khyberees are excavated 

 in it. 



Owing to the intractable and savage nature of these people, it was 

 impossible to examine the Hill country* ; I was obliged to content 



* Dr. Bow of ray regiment, eager to aid me, mounted his horse, and rode to the 

 foot of the nearest hills with the intention of bringing away specimens of the 

 rock : he had scarcely got there when he found himself suddenly in the midst of 



