120 Mr. Verchére on the Geology of Kashmir, [No. 2 
So far, the rocks have been purely igneous. We now meet an 
alternate succession of igneous rocks produced by the decomposi- 
tion and arrangement under water of volcanic minerals. Ash, 
agglomerate and other strata of volcanic ejecta become also much 
more abundant. 
9. A dark blue slate, in places clayey, in others calcareous, and effervescing 
slowly and feebly with acids. It decays soon and forms a depression. It 
Contains no) trace Of oreamisriss: aisle meiee nee este ree cer) eet eas eames 
10. A lumpy brown rock composed of a coarse felspathic paste which 
weathers chocolate-brown and contains a great number of lapilli, mostly black 
and basaltic-looking. It shows thin, lenticular beds of pale grey felspathic 
esh coataining innumerable geodes, filled, some with quartz, some with dark 
augite (?) This stratum is not very hard, and rounds by weathering, so that it 
forms a smooth round boss and not a sharp saddle. Itis about ... 30 ft. 
11. This bed is interesting and presents a very peculiar appearance. 
The rock is a pale grey trachyte in which crystals of dull white 
albite have imperfectly formed and arranged themselves in tufts 
of imperfect crystals forming more or less a star or section, (see 
fig. plate X.) When the rock is polished, (such as is seen in the 
pavement of Srinagar where it is polished by people walking over 
it*) the starry disposition of the crystals is evident enough, though 
in the fresh broken specimen it is rather confused. The rock is ¥ 
passage between a trachyte and a felspathic porphyry. I have 
never seen or read a description of this variety of volcanic rock, 
and I therefore propose to call it ‘ Soolimanite.” On the north- 
western flank of the hill, this bed of Soolimanite is better seen than 
on the other side, and there presents some layers which show well the 
nature of the rock. Some of these layers, rather darker than those 
we have seen on the other side of the hill, contain the starry crystals 
well developed in the centre of the beds only, whilst above and 
below, that is near the lowest and uppermost parts of the beds, the 
* The stone is not abundant, and very few pieces of it are seen in the pave- 
ment of Srinagar. I have seen two however, one in the vegetable market 
near the great Musjid, and the other between the first bridge and the gate of 
the Shere Ganie on the left bank of the Jheelum. 
