90 MALLET: GEOLOGY OF DARJILING AND WESTERN DUARS, 



Freestone in blocks of any size could be procured from tbe Tertiary 

 sandstones ; but unless carefully selected its durability would be open to 

 question. There is comparatively little stone from which good ashlar 

 can be obtained in the older formations, The Daling beds are mainly 

 slaty. Good-sized blocks can be quarried from the gneiss in places, but 

 generally it is too schistose to furnish such. A few of the Damuda 

 beds of sandstone are also capable of being worked. 



Slate. 



Shortly after my arrival in the district, my attention was directed to 

 a reported discovery of roofing slate. On examination of the locality, 

 however, I found that the slate was in no way superior to that frequently 

 found amongst the Daling beds elsewhere. From the best slate I have 

 seen, slabs cannot be procured more than a few inches across, with a 

 thickness of a quarter of an inch, and these are too brittle to trim well 

 on the edges. Flagstones, for flooring purposes, could, however, pro- 

 bably be worked in some places. 



Clay. 



The gneiss decomposes superficially into a light brown, very plastic 

 clay. Both it and the clay resulting from the decomposition of the 

 Dalings are used throughout the Darjiling district for making bricks. 

 Some of the Daling slates decompose into a white clay which might be 

 used for pottery. There is a quantity of this material near the right 

 bank of the stream at the debouchure of the Sakkam. I am told that 

 similar stuff is used in Sikkim for whitewashing. 



Steatite. 



I have already (p. 35) alluded to the steatite found amongst the 

 Baxa beds at the debouchure of the Tursa ; which, Major Godwin-Austen 

 states, has been used by the Bhutias for making cups, &c. The locality 

 is across the boundary in Bhutan. 



( 90 ) 



