1836.] Notes on the Geology, #c. of Maulamyeng. 273 



power of the ocean*. As has been already observed, the sandstone 

 rock is regularly stratified : the dip being (generally) to the N. E., 

 and its angle of inclination from 40° to 50° : on the contrary, the 

 limestone that immediately succeeds it is (to all appearance) unstra- 

 tified, or the inclination of its strata discernable only from the fissures 

 in the rock, so great, as to merit for it the appellation of vertical. It 

 may, however, be remarked, that this peculiarity of structure is per- 

 ceptible only in the Joe-ka-beng and Mowmah chains of limestone ; 

 advancing to the N. E., and passing another range of the sandstone 

 before noticed, the stratification becomes more apparent, at the same 

 time, that the line of bearing, dip, and inclination of the strata are 

 exactly similar to the sandstone at Maulamyeng. 



The general structure of the limestone is mural, possessing consi- 

 derable height but little breadth ; the angles of the projecting points 

 are sharp, and as the little vegetation produced is restricted to a few 

 stunted trees and shrubs, the rock has a remarkably rugged appear- 

 ance. 



The height of Joe-ka-beng, the most elevated point of the S. W. chain, 

 is probably as much as 2000 feet above the level of the plain ; it has 

 a small pagoda on its summit, which on a clear day is visible at a 

 distance of 20 miles ; but with this elevation, its greatest average 

 breadth will not be more than 300 feet. The limestone is of a grey 

 or lavender-blue colour, sometimes presenting spotted delineations of 

 white, yellow, ochre yellow, and red; of a fine compact texture, 

 rarely granulated ; fracture fine and splintery ; faintly translucent on 

 the edges ; and frequently intersected by veins of calc-spar, corre- 

 sponding in every essential point with the English " mountain lime- 

 stone," or " secondary limestone" of Jameson. Another characteristic 

 of this limestone is that it is cavernous. The caves are of considerable 

 magnitude, and from their containing (occasionally) inscriptions 

 having reference to the fabrication and sculpture of the several images 

 and temples therein placed, are interesting both to the antiquarian 

 and the geologist. The principal caverns are those at Ytftsey, Tyok- 

 hla, Joe-ka-beng, Damatha, Nyown-beng-zeite v and Phobia. Surrounded 

 with jungle, these limestone caverns are not unfrequently tenanted by 

 birds and beasts of prey. A great quantity of bat's dung is collected 



* The average elevation of the plains above the level of the sea, at high-water, 

 will not exceed six feet at the present time, while it is evident, on examination, 

 that the banks contiguous to the sea, and subject to the influence of the tide, 

 have been continually raised by successive depositions, and are still receiving 

 deposits of silt or saline matter on every high rise of tide, or inundation pro- 

 duced by the freshes during the S. W. monsoon. 

 2 N 



