xl Report of the Miner alogical Survey [No. 126*. 



be understood from what precedes, is a low tract of variable width within 

 which the river has its bed. These appearances correspond exactly to 

 the banks described as accompanying the rivers in the Doon. 



74. The Terrai may then be considered as a very shallow valley 

 parallel to the direction of mountain land, and the khadirs or low lands 

 of the rivers, as so many transverse vallies communicating with it. This 

 itself is a presumption that the rivers have not formed their khadirs, 

 but this is further established by the fact that the khadir is widest in 

 the vicinity of the mountains, and diminishes as the river flows south- 

 ward, till at no great distance it disappears altogether. At Bhogpoor 

 on the Ganges, the khadir is of great width, yet in the highest floods in 

 the rains, the river never rises to its level. At Durra Nuggur, the khadir is 

 from five to seven miles in width ; such a valley could never have been 

 scooped out by the stream which now flows there. 



75. The Terrai being thus distinguished by a fall or step, is usually 

 considered very low in comparison with the low country south of it. 

 Such however is not the case, although so strong is the deception in 

 looking at the face of the country, that few people can be persuaded of 

 the truth of the matter. Yet a little reflection would be sufficient, 

 without any thing like measurement, to shew that it is a deception. The 

 streams which take their rise at the foot of the Bhabur all flow south- 

 ward, with banks of nearly equal height, and currents of considerable 

 force. And from the Bhabur, which is so high as to be visible to the eye, 

 there is no sudden descent to the Terrai, the line of demarcation being 

 traceable only from the presence or absence of the springs, or from geo- 

 logical considerations connected with the nature of the deposits. 



76. The preceding will, I hope, give some idea of the physical fea- 

 tures of the country I have undertaken to examine, without which the 

 geological description must be in a great measure unintelligible. The 

 two classes of facts are so connected, that it is impossible to separate 

 them ; each throws light on the other ; and if we wish to trace those 

 general relations which furnish the highest and most interesting 

 discussions in this new science, we must begin by taking a clear, as 

 well as comprehensive, view of the physical aspect and arrangement of 

 the surface. 



77. It is my intention to give in the first place the simple geological 

 details as observed, in order that a clear idea may be had of what is ac- 





