1842.] of the Himmalay a Mountains. lxxxix 



it, which may be seen to constitute the grain of the other, being in 

 fact dull and earthy, like chalk. It is the more abundant of the two, 

 and indeed may be had in almost any quantity. It would probably 

 answer for the preparation of plaster of Paris, though certainly not for 

 statuary. 



196. The other locality is in the bed of a small nullah, which falls 

 into that in which the Dripping Cave is situated. There are some 

 springs in the bed of this stream, which have a strong odour of sulphu- 

 retted hydrogen, and I should notice that the water of almost all these 

 streams deposits carbonate of lime. The gypsum at this locality was 

 described to me as forming a mass incumbent on clay slate, and not in 

 contact with either limestone or the black rock so often mentioned. 

 This mass had a flattened form, and might be called a bed ; a perpendi- 

 cular fissure in the slate was filled with gypsum continuous with the up- 

 per mass, thus giving the idea of a deposit. In my attempts to find the 

 place I was not successful, but I met with many loose masses, and some 

 of rather impure appearance, entangled with the angular debris which 

 had rotted from above, and settled into banks of different heights at the 

 foot of the mountains. It was associated in such a manner, as to 

 leave no doubt that it had been in a state of fluidity when it assumed 

 its place there, and thus we might pronounce with some certainty 

 on the comparative ages of these masses of gypsum, which in this in- 

 stance at least must have been posterior to the formation of this local 

 debris. 



197. We have now again descended to the Doon, where a totally 

 different order of things prevails. It may be useful before proceeding 

 to the Eastward, to notice different detached points at which the same 

 formation of argillaceous schist has been observed. At Riki Khes and 

 along the banks of the Ganges, as far as Deoprag, no other rock is seen. 

 In the route too from Dehra to Teeree, the residence of the Gurhwal 

 Raja, it equally prevails, the several types corresponding accurately to 

 those already described. In particular may be seen the soft variety of 

 various bright colours in the ascent from the village of Manjgaon 

 in Sikimana pergunnah. Excellent roofing slate is general throughout 

 this quarter, nor are the houses ever covered with any other materials ; 

 along the whole valley of the Aglar, it was equally general, occasion- 

 ally presenting however a patch of limestone. The By rath range, which 



