402 TERAI. Chap. XVII. 



of Punkabaree determined our visiting the spot ; and the 

 locality being in a dense jungle, the elephants were sent 

 on ahead. 



We descended to the terraces flanking the Balasun river, 

 and struck west along jungle-paths to a loosely- timbered 

 flat. A sudden descent of 150 feet landed us on a second 

 terrace. Further on, a third dip of about twenty feet (in 

 some places obliterated) flanks the bed of the Balasun ; the 

 river itself being split into many channels at this season. 

 The west bank, which is forty feet high, is of stratified 

 sand and gravel, with vast slightly-worn blocks of gneiss : 

 from the top of this we proceeded south-west for three 

 miles to some Mechi villages, the inhabitants of which 

 flocked to meet us, bringing milk and refreshments. 



The Lohar-ghur, or "iron hill," lies in a dense dry 

 forest. Its plain-ward flanks are very steep, and covered 

 with scattered weather-worn masses of ochreous and black 

 iron-stone, many of which are several yards long : it frac- 

 tures with faint metallic lustre, and is very earthy in parts : 

 it does not affect the compass. There are no pebbles of 

 iron-stone, nor water- worn rocks of any kind found with it. 

 The sandstones, close by, cropped out in thick beds 

 (dip north 70°) : they are very soft, and beds of laminated 

 clay, and of a slaty rock, are intercalated with them, also 

 an excessively tough conglomerate, formed of an indurated 

 blue or grey paste, with nodules of harder clay. There 

 are no traces of metal in the rock, and the lumps of ore 

 are wholly superficial. 



Below Punkabaree the Baisarbatti stream cuts through 

 banks of gravel overlying the sandstone (dip north 65°). 

 The sandstone is gritty and micaceous, intercalated with 

 beds of indurated shale and clay; in which I found the 

 shaft (apparently) of a bone ; there were also beds of the 



