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



230. These mines are said to produce metal of a better quality 

 than any others within the mountains, and this circumstance I at- 

 tribute to the ore having generally a proportion of calcareous matter, 

 which it is well known is one of the best fluxes, the ore itself being 

 of the most common kind, red iron ore, (rhombohedral iron ore of 

 Mohs.) The clay slate in which most of the galleries are situated, 

 is of a peculiar character. It is generally of a reddish or purplish hue, 

 fine grain, not compact, splits into wedge-shaped schist, and with 

 remarkable facility. There is also a cross cleavage which prevents 

 the acquisition of large pieces ; the spotted delineations which are 

 sometimes observable in it, when viewed hastily, resemble imbedded 

 nodules. They are always of a lighter colour than the general ground, 

 being usually white or peagreen. The shape is elliptical; when they 

 become very numerous the slate passes into an amorphous rock, which 

 has all the aspect of a conglomerate. 



231. From Katsaree to Mehul Chaura, the route turns up a lateral 

 glen, the bed of a feeder of the Ramgunga. The debris is however 

 thick on the mountain sides as well as in the valley, and the rock can 

 only be guessed at ; limestone is seen occasionally at the summit of the 

 ridges. Between Mehul Chaura and Dooara, however, the rock appears 

 in the bed of the stream. The first occurrence is that of the purple 

 scaly schist, which seems of a nature intermediate between micaceous 

 and argillaceous schist. It dips to the East of South. This is succeed- 

 ed by an earthy and subschistose gneiss, which dips S. W. 10°, mica- 

 ceous schist is then found, and resting on it a granitic gneiss which is 

 connected with the series of granite beds so often alluded to, and which 

 will be described presently. The fragments in this valley consist of 

 clay slate, quartz rock ; and latterly mica slate, gneiss and hornblende 

 rock, as also chloritic schist. 



232. We may now return to Punnae, Art. 67, from which place is 

 another route that has been examined, leading down the valley of the 

 Aluknunda. The granitic rock which I have called greenstone, was 

 noticed, as occurring in the bed of the Dhunpore Nullah ; beyond that 

 point the talcose-granular scaly rock is seen to occupy great extent, 

 similar to that which has been described, Art. 221 



It is remarkable here for containing much larger concretions than 

 usual ; some of them have a perfect resemblance to rounded nodules im- 



