DESCRIPTIVE GEOLOGY: SLATE ZONE. 93 



rising gradually as we go along the plateau of the Dore with a gradi- 

 ent of 1 in 66, we find the panorama changing, and the sombre rows 

 of hills on each side of us opening to admit wedges of younger rocks 

 with their picturesque limestone crags or tumbled rocky slopes. 

 Beyond Sultanpoor the valley before us divides, the main branch 

 follows up the course of the Dore, whilst the smaller and steeper one 

 leads over a low divide into the Abbottabad plain. Between the two 

 rises the shapely form of Sirban hill, 6,240 feet. It is of the type 

 known to mountaineers as the "writing-desk/' though it is a compli- 

 cated variety of it. Towards the north it offers a long, steep, and 

 flowing dip slope, and towards the south an array of scarped crags 

 and precipitous falls and ledges of rock. It is classical ground to the 

 geologist, for here Dr. Albert Verchere some thirty years ago plied 

 the first geological hammer Hazara knew, and he was followed by 

 Dr. Waagen and Mr. Wynne, who made a special study of this hill- 

 mass. It also possesses a few historical associations, common rumour 

 crediting a cave under its summit with containing buried treasure 

 belonging to Ranjit Singh; whilst it doubtless formed a good point 

 of espial during the progress of the loot-gathering Dourani rulers 

 and in the later Sikh times. 



At the northern foot of Sirban lies the flat upland valley of 

 Abbottabad at a level of 4,000 feet. It is a fertile oasis, between the 

 rocky heights of Sirban and the low undulating slate hills further 

 north. Abbottabad is the head-quarters of the Punjab Frontier Force, 

 and has been referred to by a recent writer "as one of the work- 

 shops the like of which have fashioned and are fashioning the British 

 Empire." 



The sound of the bugle, the midday gun, and the screaming of 

 transport mules mark the flight of the hours, whilst the parade- 

 ground, the rifle-range, and the rocky hill-sides are seldom empty of 

 troops at drill, at rifle practice, or engaged in mimic battle. A 

 picture of this cantonment would be incomplete without the sturdy 

 supple Gurkha, the fine stalwart Sikh, and the mobile mule battery at 

 work or play among the green valleys and narrow hill-tracks. 



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