LOfTUS TURKO-PERSIAN FRONTIER. 287 



extending thence in the same direction, east of Kiih-i-Bamu, to the 

 Shirwan River, beyond which I have not examined the region. 



On the west side of the Kalah Kazi Hange (fig. 9), above a small 

 tillage called Chiabur, the strata dip at angle of 45° to the N.E. 

 The arenaceous limestone {^g) lies at the top, and is underlaid by a 

 thick series of schists (4 a and 4 a*), with a few layers of a lighter- 

 grey colour. Lying diagonally in one of the indurated beds, which 

 is itself bituminous, I found a large unshapely mass of a compact, 

 bright, lustrous bitumen ; which at first sight might be mistaken for 

 cannel-coal. Its fracture is foliated ; and its specific gravity much 

 less than coal, but heavier than jet ; it is not electrical by friction ; 

 leaves a slightly brown mark on paper when rubbed hard ; burns 

 when exposed to the flame (but not well) ; and, of course, emits a 

 strong bituminous odour. 



In the centre of the mass was a brown, striated, roundish Carpo- 

 lite, — while the marl close by contained the spinous stem or root of 

 a plant, two inches in diameter, — a small bivalve (apparently a Nu- 

 cula), — and specimens of a smooth Terebratula (resembling T. ear- 

 ned) which were found in a batch in this particular spot, as if these 

 animals had a particular penchant for the plant or mineral. 



It struck me at the time of the discovery that the mineral was 

 derived from a bitumen- spring in the cretaceous sea, around which 

 the Terebratulce had congregated. It is certainly a very curious 

 association of animal, vegetable, and mineral. 



To the east of Kalah Kazi the bituminous blue marls, with asso- 

 ciated reddish and white bands, appear in the plain of Mahidesht, at 

 the south-east extremity of which the Zangalean range intervenes 

 between it and the plain of Kermanshah. The range is composed of 

 yellow fissile limestone (4 b of Section fig. 9), dipping to the N.E. at 

 an angle of 25°, and overlying the marls. The dip of the latter could 

 not be detected, as their outcrop was concealed by debris. The 

 limestone, however, contains numerous Ammonites^ of the same spe- 

 cies as those at Khosrauabad, in the plain of Bishiwah (p. 286), and 

 appears to be overlaid by beds of hard red chert, which rock again 

 appears on the hill W. of the town of Kermanshah, at the burial- 

 ground. 



From Kermanshah towards the S.E. opportunities did not occur 

 of tracing the exact course of the cretaceous rocks. During rapid 

 journeys of the English Commission, beds apparently of this age 

 were observed in several localities. 



The south-western side of the plain of Kermanshah is bounded by 

 a range of low white hmestone hills (fig. 10), through which the 

 united waters of the Kara Sii and the Gamasab force their passage. 

 These limestones dip to the S.W., and are, I imagine, an extension 

 of the Gawarah and Zangalean cretaceous beds, containing Ammo- 

 nites, &c. I did not, however, visit this portion of the chain. 



At Khorremabjid the lofty and imposing range of the Yaftah Kiih 

 rises abruptly from the plain (fig. 4, p. 329), and is, in my opinion, 

 of the cretaceous age. It consists of light-grey or bluish cherty 

 limestone, with alternating and continuous layers of variously co- 



