322 VREDENBURG: SKETCH OF BALfJCHISTAN DESERT. 



importance assumed by these recent structures, and of the peculiar 

 disposition of the innumerable parallel ravines which scour their 

 slope. Immediately east of Nushki is a remarkable hill consisting 

 entirely of recent conglomerates and gravels up to its summit which 

 reaches up to a height of 4,473 feet according to the map, about the 

 same height as many of the neighbouring ridges of older rocks out 

 of the debris of which it is built. On one side, to the west, the beds 

 of gravel and conglomerate dip towards the plain, at an angle of 

 about 20 , about the same as the slope of the hill ; the eastern 

 side is a gigantic precipitous cliff at the foot of which the river 

 " Khisar " winds its way. It is difficult to understand how these 

 recent beds have been heaped up to such an altitude ; perhaps 

 they represent an ancient fan deposit of the ri\er Khisar itself when 

 the water supply was more abundant, and before its bed was exca- 

 vated to its present depth. Whatever may be its true nature, it is 

 evident that this deposit is, comparatively speaking, of great an- 

 tiquity, for it has been formed under physical conditions widely 

 different from those that prevail at the present day, and it has been 

 considerably denuded since the time of its formation, presenting 

 as it does a steep cliff on one side, and on the other a slope scoured 

 by deep ravines. Yet its formation is posterior to any earth-move- 

 ment in the district, for its beds are absolutely undisturbed, and a 

 very well exposed section at the northern end of the hill shows them 

 resting with complete unconformity upon the Siwalik strata highly 

 tilted in the opposite direction. This is one illustration of a ques- 

 tion which has been touched upon several times, that is, the absence 

 of any distinct evidence of folding within comparatively recent times 

 in this region at least. 



Ranges south-west of Nushki. 

 The great range of shales and sandstones that bears successively 

 the names of Kojak, Khwa^'a Amr£n, and Sarlat, continues south- 

 wards passed Nushki, with the same extremely regular strike S, by 

 E. I have not followed this southern extension ; according to the 

 44 ) 



