xlviii Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*. 



quartz, and is so hard, as to afford sparks ; at Jumnootree, also the prevail- 

 ing masses are gneiss ; quartz rock also occurs, but in subordinate quan- 

 tity. From Jumnootree, 34 a route passes in the bed of the Bhagheerettee 

 at Sookee, reaching in two intances an elevation of about 15,000 feet 

 (Bamsoora and Chaigu Pass.) The whole of this line is gneiss. From 

 Sookee again, in the upper part of the course of the Bhageerettee, we 

 met with scarcely any other rock ; granite I have only seen in fragments. 

 The snowy peaks at the head of this river are distinctly stratified, and 

 have all the appearance of the neighbouring accessible gneiss. In the 

 Jahnuvi, gneiss continues to Neeling, where it is succeeded eastward by 

 clay slate. The valley of the Chor (thief) river, which is a feeder of the 

 Jahnuvi, and springs from that point in which the Buspa also originates, 

 but with an opposite course, appears to be also formed of this rock. 



95. We have now reached the Kalee, (branch of the Aluknunda), 

 and here the recent examination of this tract equally established the pre- 

 valence of gneiss, from Ookee Muth Joola (rope bridge) to Kedurnauth, 

 the source of the river. In this gneiss the mica is often black, and the 

 quartz glassy, and in one solitary instance if I am not mistaken, it admits 

 of hornblende as an ingredient in addition to the other three more usual 

 ones. The most marked varieties in structure or mineralogical aspect are 

 the following : Near Nalaputtun, the laminae are undulated, the quan- 

 tity of felspar diminishes, and I think it passes into a micaceous schist 

 at length by the almost total loss of this mineral; beyond Mykunda, 

 numerous fragments occur of the glandular type before described, and 

 which is afterwards seen in Litee, in an immense precipice forming a 

 beautiful natural section at the foot of the descent to Jilmilputtan. 

 Some of the nodules have even a rounded appearance, similar to that of 

 rolled pebbles ; hornblende occurs in addition to the usual ingredients in 

 specimens obtained between Mykunda and Ukrot Kothee. This rock 

 is also remarkable for containing a peculiar mineral, which I shall pre- 

 sently have occasion to describe more particularly. Near Ukrot Kothie, 

 it has all the aspect of quartz rock, exhibiting, what may be called, a 

 transition into that congenerous formation. It gradually loses its mica, 

 and appears at last to be a mere mixture of quartz and felspar, the frac- 

 ture conchoidal and laminar, structure very obscure. Beyond Gowree 



34 Mr. Fraser, who traversed this route, gives the same account of the rocks, and 

 particularly dwells on the stratified aspect of the lofty peaks. 



