56 Geological features of Zillah Behar. [No. 169. 



has laid bare a beautiful bed of gneiss several miles in extent, cross- 

 ing the Behar boundary and entering zillah Ramgurh : but from the 

 great depth of soil and from the dense forest on the banks of the 

 river, I was unable to trace how far it extends east and west. In the 

 Dunghye Pass, gneiss of peculiar beauty is scattered about in every 

 direction. The summit of this pass at the village of Tillee Tand I found 

 to be 1,300 feet above the level of the sea: it is covered with thick 

 forests, haunted by tigers, who destroyed some men of my establish- 

 ment whilst engaged surveying these hills. A spur of this granitic range 

 strikes off from the main body and suddenly terminates in the bold 

 mountain, known as the " Muhair hill," (vide map and vignette.) The 

 volcanic range of hornstone hills appear at this spot to overlay the granite, 

 which again appears on the other side of the hornstone, distant about 

 eight miles. This granite extends westward to ten miles beyond the 

 Koel river, or 120 miles from the mica mines at Rujowlee, varying in 

 height from a hundred to a thousand feet : some of the peaks are bold 

 and imposing, but much of this range is composed of alow, undulating and 

 broken plateau of table land, especially the great mass which forms a 

 spur from the Vindhya mountains and lies in pergunnah Sherghotty. 

 This irregular mass, averaging from five to eight miles in width, is com- 

 posed of coarse granite, covered with a dense jungle of underwood, in- 

 termixed with forest trees, affording an inexhaustible supply of the 

 coarser wood, for building, manufacture of ploughs, yokes, sugar mills, 

 &c. besides yielding a plentiful supply of bamboos, grass, a variety of 

 medicinal herbs, barks, roots, leaves and fruits which are collected at 

 various seasons, and used in the zillah or exported. The wild silk (tusser) , 

 is also collected from the Asun trees (Terminalia alata tomentosa) and 

 exported. The principal tree is the Saloogunje or Sale, a tall hand- 

 some tree, with a smooth shining white bark, high clear stem, wide 

 spreading branches, and of a highly resinous nature, and from which 

 a gum or resin is collected and used as a varnish chiefly by the Palan- 

 quin makers. This tree answers to the description of the North-African 

 frankincense tree. The dhak tree, byre, kheir, mimosa and semul, are 

 the most common trees in these woods. 



The Samba stag (Rusa), spotted axis, neelghaee, tigers, leopards, 

 and a variety of smaller animals inhabit the depth of these woods. 

 At Deoree, a series of low hills are detached from the body of the table 

 land, and are much impregnated with veins of serpentine. Near the 



