200 Capt. Huttoris Geological Report. [No. 111. 



The vallies, it must be borne in mind, are not to be attributed, as 

 some have contended, to the gradual wear and tear of the weather, 

 and the streams which now drain through them, but have been formed 

 by the convulsive uprise and disruption of the lofty mountains which 

 form their sides ; the glen or valley being thus a mere ravine or trough 

 lying between them, and furnishing often just room sufficient for the 

 passage of an insignificant stream. 



The existence of the valley is not therefore to be attributed to the 

 abrations caused by the constant action of the waters ; but, on the 

 other hand, the presence of the rivers and streams within them is entirely 

 owing to the configuration of the mountains, which furnishing on the 

 heights vast beds of snow, are ever sending down supplies, which naturally 

 gather in the hollow troughs below, and gradually wind their way to 

 form a junction with some larger stream, which in its turn seeks 

 out the noble rivers of the plains. 



It would therefore appear, that the existence of these hill streams is 

 altogether owing to the previous formation of the vallies by the uprise 

 of mountain ridges, the intervention of a glen or hliud being the natural 

 consequence of disruption in a range, or the sudden alteration of direction 

 of the upheaving power, thus often causing ranges to intersect or to 

 run parallel with each other. Thus the vallies are in no wise the con- 

 sequence of the unceasing action of the streams, which now find a fitting 

 channel in their depths. 



In the present day, these glens usually communicate or open into some 

 other, and the waters gradually escape, but doubtless time has been 

 when their enclosing barriers were continuous, and numerous lakes 

 were formed, until the weight of waters accumulated from the melting 

 of the snows, burst through the rocky walls and so escaped. This is 

 indeed a fact and no wild theory, for the people of different parts of 

 the hills still hold traditions of such events. Dr. Gerard, I think it is, 

 who mentions, that the natives informed him the valley of the Buspa 

 was once closed at the lower extremity, and contained a lake, traces of 

 which may still be seen along the banks of the present stream. A 

 similar lake once occupied the glen in which the town of Soongnum 

 now stands, and thick alluvial deposits containing rounded pebbles may 

 still be seen in some of the higher parts of it ; from the lower portion 

 they have been swept away by the out-rush of the waters. 



Of this, however, I shall speak again hereafter. The dip of the strata 

 is, as might be expected in such a vast and often confused assemblage 

 of mountains, excessively variable ; and although previous travellers have 

 uniformly insisted much on a N.E. dip, it will be quite as often found 



