144 Remarkable Hot Wind in Purneah. [Feb. 



be blasted with great ease ; and also in the abundant supply of water, 

 wood and charcoal. 



The disintegrated nature of the gneiss of the Sub-Himalayan range, 

 must have been produced by sudden exposure to currents of water or 

 vapor, when under pressure at a vast depth, and when intensely hot 

 previously to elevation above the level of the sea, and long previously 

 to the deposit of fresh water alluvia, with which the whole mass is 

 more or less covered. 



The ridges at and around Darjeeling are very steep and narrow, and 

 it would be well worthwhile to run a few narrow galleries through the 

 hills at as an acute an angle as possible, to the dip of the strata, when 

 ores of lead or copper would very probably be found. 



And finally, with the view of ascertaining the existence of auriferous, 

 or argentiferous deposits, I would urge the complete exploration of the 

 mountains, at elevations from 7,000 to 13,000 feet, passing over the 

 merely primitive strata, and carefully examining every yard of the tran- 

 sition rocks, wherever found superimposed. 



A notice of a remarkable Hot Wind in the Zillah of Purneah. — Com- 

 municated by H. Piddington, Esq. 



I heard in the early part of last year (1847) that a very singular hot 

 blast had suddenly destroyed a large extent of Indigo cultivation in a 

 factory belonging jointly to Messrs. Macintyre and Co. of Calcutta, 

 and Mr. R. Cruise, the managing partner ; and on application to Messrs. 

 Macintyre and Co. I was favoured with a sight of Mr. Cruise's letter, 

 from which I made the following abridged extract, preserving carefully 

 of course all that is essential to the subject, and excluding only mere 

 matters of business. 



(Abridged letter from R. Cruise, Esq. to Messrs. Macintyre 8f Co.) 



Delowry Factory, May 28, 1847. 



"What I am about to tell you will appear almost incredible. About 



5 p. m. on the evening of the 25th there came a blast of wind from the 



west like the Simoon of the desert. It lasted only four or five minutes, 



but in that short time did immense mischief, it came right across the 



