302 On the Upheaval and Sinking of land [No. 4. 



We set out on our return about 3 o'clock and soon found ourselves 

 relieved from the intense heat of the sun's rays by the shadow of the 

 lofty mountains. As we returned we had leisure to remark in various 

 parts of the river small accumulations of sand and various nooks and 

 jutting points, but no black alluvium, which renders it probable that 

 the mass of this soil is deposited at and before the entrance of the 

 pass which is at Coloor : we gave the name of Rama's peak to the 

 highest on the right bank, and that of Sita to the highest on the left, 

 and to the other (one-tree hill) Latchman's peak. I was well pleased 

 at the opportunity I had of passing through this lofty ravine. I 

 had entertained doubts previously of the propriety of calling the 

 formation gneiss, the slaty structure being so rare and that of the con- 

 crete massive being much more common. Here I had an excellent op- 

 portunity of observing that they resembled generally the granite hills of 

 Scotland in their peaked summits, and in their angles corresponding 

 generally with that of the fracture of the smaller masses : the general 

 structure of the granite was felspar of a very pearly lustre and easily 

 dividing into rhomboidal pieces ; quartz, and garnets. 



On the General Vibration, or Descent and Upheaval, which seems, at 

 a recent Geological period, to have occurred all over the Northern 

 Hemisphere. — By George Buist, L.L. D. 



The whole of the Desert betwixt Cairo and Suez bears the clearest 

 evidence of having, at no distant period, been under the bottom of the 

 Sea. 



After a fall of rain an efflorescence of salt still appears on its surface. 

 The gravel consists of rolled pebbles, mostly portions of the adjoining 

 rocks. It is every where mixed with sea shells. The Desert at the 

 Centre Station reaches an elevation of 800 feet, and shells are said to be 

 found at the elevation of 2000, both on the African and Arabian side.* 

 This most probably has been elevated at a remote period in comparison 

 with the date of the upheavals along the shores of the Red and other 

 Seas about to be noticed. 



* Dr. Wilson's Lands of the Bible — Dr. HofFmeister's Travels. 



