206 GRIESBACH: GEOLOGY OF THE CENTRAL HIMALAYAS. 



ing me daily though never offering violence. In addition to the 

 political difficulties came the fact, that only recently three Tibetan 

 beggar-monks had been murdered by the Nilang people, and relations 

 between the latter and the Tsaprang authorities were strained. 



The Split sections. 



I had originally intended only to work out the geology of the Bhot- 

 mahals of Kumaun and Garhwdi with the adjoining parts of Hundes 

 when I begun my wanderings in the Central Himalayas. But finally 

 I saw that it would be absolutely essential also to visit Spiti, in order 

 to compare the structure of the regions already examined with Sto- 

 liczka's sections; I had hitherto failed to identify the systems and 

 divisions of the Garhwdl sections with those described by our late 

 colleague, whose classification had found extensive use in later geo- 

 logical research in Kashmir, 1 and although I always believed that this 

 classification would have to be modified, I possessed no proof that 

 it was actually wrong on some points. 



I was able to visit Spiti in 1883, and with it brought my labours 

 in the Central Himalayas to a close for the time. 



Spiti is classic ground ; it had been visited and described by our 

 eminent and late colleague Dr. F. Stoliczka. His published sections 2 

 have been until recently considered crucial ones for the geology of 

 the North. West Himalayas, and his nomenclature had been largely 

 applied to the geological structure of other regions of the Himalayas. 

 I have myself no doubt that had Stoliczka been able to revisit Spiti, 

 he would have modified his views on some points, and would, perhaps, 

 have recognized certain horizons which he had overlooked. 



After Mr. Lydekker had freely made use of Stoliczka's nomencla- 

 ture, Mr. Oldham started on a tour through the Spiti valley and North- 

 West Himalayas with a view of correcting certain points in the geolo- 

 gy of those regions which appeared to require revision. Unfortu- 

 nately he did not devote enough time to the sections of Spiti; 



1 Lydekker, Memoir Geol. Surv. Ind , XXII. (1883). 

 a Mem., Geol. Surv. Ind., V. 



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