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Notes on the Geology and Mineralogy of Afghanistan. By 

 Captain Thomas Hutton, F.G.S. 



The route from Ferozepore to Candahar, proceeding via 

 Bhawulpore and Sukkur, affords little to attract the attention 

 of a geologist until he arrives at the latter station ; the tract 

 of country travelled over consisting principally of loose shift- 

 ing sands, heaped up by the wind around the stunted bushes 

 of mimosa, with occasional clearings for cultivation in the 

 jungles, which usually border the river Garah. After pass- 

 ing Bhawulpore however, the country improves vastly in 

 cultivation which is both of more frequent occurrence and 

 much richer than in the more Northern portion of the dis- 

 trict, but the soil throughout appears to be composed of 

 nearly the same river deposits of silt intermingled with 

 vegetable and calcareous matter, while in some places beds 

 of Kunkur underlie the silts in the same manner as in the 

 Gangetic Provinces. The country is mainly, if not altoge- 

 ther, dependent upon the river for the supply of water 

 necessary for irrigation, and is every where intersected by 

 deep canals communicating with the Garah, which during 

 the rainy season fills them by the rising of its waters ; but at 

 other seasons, when the river has again shrunk within its 

 bed, the Persian wheel is used to raise the water for the 

 crops along the banks, while farther inland, it is either not 

 at all procurable, or is scantily supplied by wells. 



During the monsoon many parts of this district are inun- 

 dated, more especially in the low-lying tracts below Bha- 

 wulpore, where I was informed it was not uncommon at that 

 season to see the inhabitants paddling over the submerged 

 fields in small boats. Innumerable land and river shells* 



* These consisted of Pupa indica, with two varieties, P. ccenopicta ; P. bico- 

 lar ; Helix granul at a (of Benson) ; Achatina gracilis; Paludina Bengalensis ; 

 P. prcemorsa ; Planobis indicus, P. compressus ; P. nanus; Melania Pyramis ; 

 and a species of Cyrena. At Roree I found a dead specimen of Pupa pulchella, 

 which occurs living in the Hills around Subathoo. 



