228 Capt. Button's Geological Report. [No. 111. 



the present day, have proved to be so rich in the exuviae of the now ex- 

 tinct forms which once inhabited these countries. Whether this last series 

 occurs also on the northern side, is a point for future investigation ; but as 

 fossil bones are sometimes brought down by native travellers from the 

 Tartar hills beyond Almorah, it would seem that similar phenomena are 

 to be expected there. 



The inclined position both of the secondary and tertiary series, is clear- 

 ly attributable to the outbreak of the primary rocks from beneath or 

 through them and furnishes to the inquiring mind, a sure and beautiful 

 guide by which the period when these vast mountain ranges first rose 

 upwards to adorn our earth, may be satisfactorily and positively deter- 

 mined. The conclusion, therefore, to be drawn from the facts observable 

 in these strata, are all strictly in accordance with the rules of geological 

 reasoning, and I shall therefore now bring the subject to a close, by endea- 

 vouring to show the reasoning and existing facts to be in unison, and thus 

 fix the period to which must be referred the stupendous and never-fading 

 monuments of Almighty power, exhibited in the vast upheavements of the 

 Himalyan range. 



It is a fact accepted and admitted by geology as indisputable, that 

 where one series of rocks having a horizontal position is found to rest 

 upon another whose strata are inclined, it amounts to positive certainty, 

 that the deposition of the former took place subsequent to the upheaving of 

 the latter ; and vice versa, where both series are found, the one resting on 

 the other at high angles with the horizon, that the deposition of the supe- 

 rior strata took place previous to the upheavement of those by which they 

 are supported. 



Resting on the primary rocks of the Snowy Range, we find on either side 

 the strata of the secondary series thrown into an inclined position by the 

 upheavement of the granite and its usual accompaniments of gneiss and mica 

 slates, proving by their inclined position, according to the above reasoning, 

 that they were deposited previous to the outburst of the former through them. 



Again we perceive, that resting on the secondary rocks the tertiary or 

 diluvial strata of the Siwalik range have also an inclined position, conse- 

 quent on the upheavement of the primary and secondary series, and there- 

 fore, that they too, by a parity of reasoning, were deposited previous to the 

 upheavement of the two former. 



Now the tertiary or diluvial strata containing the fossil exuviae of extinct 

 terrestrial Mammalia are clearly attributable to the effects of the last great 

 revolution which our earth has undergone, and consequently, we derive from 

 the phenomena, presented to our notice in the various formations of the 

 Himalyan mountains, sure and decided data for determining the period of 



