RECENT VOLCANOES. 283 



quite similar to many lavas of the Koh-i-Sultdn and the K6h-i- 

 Tafd£n j the peculiar hornblende which characterises so many of 

 these lavas is very abundant in the Dalil lava* 



The volcano Mit Koh, N. by E. of Amir-Chdh and separated 

 from that locality by a broad belt of sand 



Mit Koh, etc. t J f 



dunes, is very conspicuous, owing to its red 

 colour and its isolated position. It has suffered from denudation 

 more than Batil Koh and K6h-i-Dalil, so that it has lost its regular 

 hemispherical shape. It is surrounded by a broad talus very much 

 invaded by wind-blown sands. 



About half way between Mit Koh and K6h-i-Dalil, almost in an 

 exact straight line with them, is a very small volcano not much more 

 than one hundred feet high, which occurs on the south side of the 

 track from Amir-Chdh to Zeh. It consists of a very fine-orained 

 black andesite which becomes red on weathering, together with a 

 few scoriae. It has a crateriform shape, the crater beino- indented 

 by the lava which has not flowed to any distance. Like Batil Koh 

 this little volcano has a very recent appearance ; the lava contains 

 a large number of small crystals of olivine. 



Other Volcanoes. 



The volcanoes above described are but the eastern portion of a 



large volcanic district, which occupies a great pqrt of eastern Persia 



as can be inferred from the narratives of previous travellers. Thus 



.,., . R tne volcano of K6h-i-Basman, also called Koh- 



i-Naushada l and Meh-Koh 2 appears to be 



comparable in size to the gigantic K6h-i-TafdaX Although no 



mentiun is made of any column of vapour similar to the one which 



forms such a conspicuous feature in the Tafdan mountain, yet all 



accounts seem to show that the Basman volcano also exhibits some 



signs of activity. Pottinger gives a most interesting account of a 



thermal spring which occurs at the village of Basman, about fifteen 



miles from the mountain. 3 The specimens of lava which Major 



1 Pottinger, Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde, p. [80. 



2 W. T. Blanford, Eastern Persia, Vol. II, p. 481. 



3 Travels, p. 179. 



(. 105 ) 



