Oct. 1849. LIMESTONE AT CHOLAMOO. 177 



appeared in one part north-west, and the dip north-east 45°: 

 a large fault passed east by north through the cliff, and it 

 was further cleft by joints running northwards. The cliff 

 Avas not 100 yards long, and was about 70 thick; its 

 surface was shivered by frost into cubical masses, and 

 glacial boulders of gneiss lay on the top. The limestone 

 rock was chiefly a blue pisolite conglomerate, with veins 

 and crystals of white carbonate of lime, seams of shale, and 

 iron pyrites. A part was compact and blue, very crystalline, 

 and full of encrinitic fossils, and probably nummulites, but 

 all were too much altered for determination. 



This, from its mineral characters, appears to be the same 

 limestone formation which occurs throughout the Himalaya 

 and Western Tibet ; but the fossils I collected are in too 

 imperfect a state to warrant any conclusions on this subject. 

 Its occurrence immediately to the northward of the snowy 

 mountains, and in such very small quantities, are very 

 remarkable facts. The neighbouring rocks of Donkia were 

 gneiss with granite veins, also striking north-west and 

 dipping north-east 10°, as if they overlay the limestone, 

 but here as in all similar situations there was great 

 confusion of the strata, and variation in direction and strike. 



And here I may once for all confess that though I believe 

 the general strike of the rocks on this frontier to be north- 

 west, and the dip north-east, I am unable to affirm it 

 positively ; for though I took every opportunity of studying 

 the subject, and devoted many hours to the careful mea- 

 suring and recording of dips and strikes, on both faces of 

 Kinchinjhow, Donkia, Bhomtso, and Kongra Lama, I am 

 unable to reduce these to any intelligible system.* 



The coolies of Dr. Campbell's party were completely 



* North-west is the prevalent strike in Kumaon, the north-west Himalaya 

 generally, and throughout Western Tibet, Kashmir, &c., according to Dr. Thomson. 



VOL. II. N 



