10 Geological Notes on the Khasi Sills. [No. 1, 



Eight minutes walk along the ridge S. W. of this brings one upon 

 a sheet of the coarse sandstones, resting on and capping the gneiss ; 

 not more than three feet of the sandstone remains visible ; it is no 

 doubt the same as the lowest beds seen at the base of Lumdekorh. 

 Passing over this little outlier the ridge falls, and the metamorphic 

 rocks are again traversed all the way to Nonglalay ; the path crosses 

 one large stream, and on the descent into this valley, much milky 

 quartz is seen, evidently in thick veins. Close to Nonglalay, rises one of 

 the eminences noticed at Lumdekorh. The lowest beds were precisely 

 similar to those previously noticed. In the scarp, near the top, a few 

 very dark beds gave indication of the presence of the carbonaceous and 

 upper beds, which I have already described. Unfortunately dense jungle 

 and want of time, prevented my paying a visit to the summit of the 

 hill. From Nonglalay the country is seen to fall gradually towards a 

 deep valley on the south. To the south-east again, the second isolated 

 mass Katelao was seen, its scarped features are the same as the one we 

 were under. This last also threw off spurs towards the deep valley 

 of the Um Blay. Down towards this our path wended, following a long 

 broad spur. About two miles down, I came on a thin capping of coarse 

 sandstone, with sub-angular quartz pebbles, the position being due 

 west of Katelao hill. The sandstone was evidently clipping away 

 south together with the level surface of the metamorphic rocks. We 

 thence rather more rapidly descended into a deep valley on the right, 

 the Teniang, backed by a high wooded scarp, the stream flowing through 

 beds of coarse sandstones and conglomerates, being nearly horizontally 

 bedded. The forest is here very fine, the bamboos of enormous length, 

 the tallest certainly I have ever seen. Crossing the Teniang, the path as- 

 cends steeply to the top of the plateau, and descends again a considerable 

 distance, suddenly opening out of the forest upon the high bank of the 

 broad fine river, the Um Blay. Sandstone is seen all the way to this. 

 On both of the intervening ridges, or rather plateaus, one sandstone bed 

 of a very blue colour was conspicuous, the tint generally was precisely 

 the same as that of the beds noticed at Lumdekorh, but here the series 

 had become of very considerable thickness, from 800 to about 1000 

 feet. 



The way looking up and clown the Um Blay, was very pretty, as re- 

 gards its wooded character. The river was nowhere under 100 yards in 



