LIME. 87 



with calcareous matter that the dead leaves and twigs in the bed are 

 thickly encrusted with it. Deposits of tufa have been formed at every 

 little cascade, on which the moss grows out more or less horizontally, 

 and along the sprays which point downwards the water trickles from 

 root to apex and then drips off. Thus little stalactites are formed, each 

 of which encloses a spray of moss in the centre, and which gradually 

 encroaches on the root ; while the plant keeps pace in its growth at the 

 other end, and crowns each stalactite with a living rosette. 



The calcareous matter forming these deposits is derived from various 

 sources; from the dolomite of the Baxas, the calcareous clunches and 

 impure limestones of the Tertiaries, the calcareous sandstones of the 

 Damudas, and the occasional calcareous bands in the Daling beds. 



As might be expected, the largest masses are found along the base 



of the dolomite hills; where there is what I 

 Tufa in Western Duars. . . 



believe may be considered, an inexhaustible supply 

 of lime from this source, independent of the dolomite itself. At the 

 Bandapani waterfall (within the British boundary), where there is a 

 series of rapids and cascades of perhaps 50 feet, the stream flows 

 continuously on a tufa for at least two or three hundred yards, the 

 thickness of the deposit, where seen at the lower end, being 7 or 8 

 feet. There is a thick deposit near the 20th boundary mark, which 

 cements the talus at the foot of the hill into a coarse breccia. Close 

 to the Tursa river there are masses of tufa at the foot of the hills, 

 forming cliffs 30 feet high; and there are numerous masses where the 

 Jangti naddi cuts through the dolomite. These are some of the locali- 

 ties in which I have observed deposits of the kind, but they are no doubt 

 to be found in almost every ravine and watercourse. 



The magnesian and pure lime from the dolomite hills is therefore 

 well worth attention. It might be burned either close to the Tursa 

 (a stream which is navigable for the largest dug-outs to the foot of the 

 hills, and for larger boats to within a few miles of them), and thence 

 taken down to the Brahmaputra, or in the vicinity of Jainti Hill, east 



( 87 ) 



