1842.] of the Himmalay a Mountains, xcvii 



lustre. It passes so gradually into talcose schist of the palest colour, as 

 to leave no doubt of their being but coloured modifications of the same 

 rock. In the rock in which the galleries at present worked are situated, 

 a flesh coloured schist is found, of a mixture of talc and quartz. It passes 

 into a subschistose rock of a similar composition, the latter ingredient 

 being in greatest quantity; in fact a talcose quartz rock. This is 

 exchanged a little lower for a dark olive green soft rock, of a schistose 

 structure, but not laminar, the aspect of the fracture being scaly. 

 I think it consists chiefly of hornblende. 



216. The copper mines here are situated in the quartz or talc slate 

 just described, a rock of so soft and tender a nature, as to form a very 

 strong objection to the efficient working of them by its frequent failures 

 in the different galleries. At the time I visited the place, they had all 

 fallen in, and consequently no specimens of the ore were obtainable, 

 except such as could be gleaned from the rubbish lying at the mouths 

 of the several galleries. These pointed to vitreous copper, or the sul- 

 phuret, the richest ore known. Copper pyrites was also observed, and 

 blue and green copper in small quantity ; whether the ore is in the form 

 of veins or beds, it is impossible to judge in the present state of things. 

 The water which issues from the galleries has a specific gravity of 



, is impregnated with the sulphate, and deposits sulphate of 



copper on the stones over which it flows. These mines evidently have 

 been very productive, to judge by the extent to which they have been 

 worked. 



217. On the ridge from which the descent to Boomot commences, 

 micaceous, or perhaps rather an impure talcose schist occurs. It con- 

 tains a good deal of quartz, below this a decided talcose schist 

 appears, of a greenish hue. In the bed of the torrent, at the foot of 

 the ridge, blocks are found of hornblende rock, containing pure 

 hornblende in bundles of needles, and glassy actynolite, in contact 

 with a reddish felspar. I did not, however, succeed in detaching 

 any good specimens; some rolled pieces of hornblende were found, 

 having the closest resemblance to charcoal, in all save specific 

 gravity. In these, the apparent fibre was most commonly curved, the 

 lustre always dull. The rock from hence to Boomot is entirely talcose, 

 being either a granular mixture of talc and quartz, (talcose quartz 

 rock,) which occasionally becomes quite soft, and disintegrating; oc- 



o 



