﻿1851.] STRACHEY — GEOLOGY OF THE HIMALAYA. 



297 



Associated, in some manner that I am unable to explain, with these 

 outer hills we find, as we advance into the mountains, other beds 

 chiefly consisting of light-coloured sandstones, often containing small 

 seams of lignite and imperfect vegetable impressions, often associated 

 with marls and gypsum, and sometimes with salt springs. So far as 

 I have been able to form an opinion, these beds seem to occur imme- 

 diately along the foot of the great mountains, of which at first sight 

 they appear to form a part, in a position intermediate between them 

 and the outer or Siwalik hills, and forming indeed the northern 

 boundary of the longitudinal valleys I have been describing. These 

 strata contain no other fossils that I have heard of, excepting the 

 vegetable impressions just mentioned. They all dip to the N.N.E. 

 at a low angle, thus appearing to overlie the Tertiary beds of the 

 outer hills and to go below the mass of mountains to the north of 

 them (see Section No. 1). The obscurity of all this is increased not 

 a little by the discovery of what I believe to be the impression of a 

 large Trilobite in a locality on the southern face of the mountains, 

 not far from the place where these sandstones end, and apparently 

 superimposed on them. This fossil has unluckily been mislaid, but I 

 hope to be able to get it again. On the whole, however, I think it 

 appears most probable that there must be a series of great faults 

 along the southern edge of the mountains, by which these confused 

 appearances are produced. As to the inner line of sandstones, it has 

 been surmised, entirely however from their mineral character, that 

 they are of the Saliferous age, and that they may possibly be the 

 extension of the strata containing rock-salt which we find on the 

 same general line further to the west in the Punjab ; it is also possible 

 that they may have some connexion with the fossiliferous strata said 

 to occur near Sabathu*. 



The whole of these deposits, including the outer hills, seem to have 

 a much more considerable development as we proceed from the Ganges 

 westward, both as to altitude and breadth of exposure at the surface 

 (see Map). Thus the outer hills, which in the proximity of my line of 

 section hardly exceed 100 or 200 feet in elevation, reach a height of 

 3000 feet between the Ganges and Jumna, and I believe as much as 

 6000 feet to the west of the latter river. The horizontal extent occu- 

 pied likewise appears to increase in a similar manner. It is then, I 

 think, to a careful examination of the outer ranges of hills in the 

 northern part of our newly-acquired territories in the Punjab that we 

 may look for the solution of the obscurities that now involve the rela- 

 tions of all these beds, and investigations are, I believe, now going on 

 there from which we may hope to obtain much valuable information. 



As we advance along the line of section to the northward we find 

 that we have now entered the great mountain-region, which continues 

 without a break for a distance of nearly 500 miles. The exterior 

 portion of this rises somewhat suddenly to an average elevation of up- 

 wards of 7000 feet, the highest summits exceeding 8500 feet in alti- 

 tude. It consists of a mass of argillaceous schists, grits, and limestones, 



* See Major Vicary's Paper on the Upper Punjaub, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 

 vol. vii. pp. 45, 46. 



