588 Notes on Geology and Mineralogy of Afghanistan. 



crossing the river, and the cultivation which borders it, we 

 proceeded towards the hills across a shelving tract of waste 

 and stony land strewed over with fragments of trap and 

 granite. After traversing this plain we entered a narrow 

 gorge in the mountains, the width of which was only suffi- 

 cient to admit of one horseman at a time, and the rocks 

 composing the sides of the defile towered up to a consider- 

 able height over head. The formation at first consisted of 

 nearly vertical strata of parti-coloured limestones, but these 

 soon gave way to black and frowning masses of basalt, 

 whose sombre hue imparted a gloominess to the narrow 

 passage, which was any thing but cheering. We travelled 

 on through this gorge for several hours, the basalt conti- 

 nuing the whole way on either side, and at length we had 

 to climb the step-like sides of the rock, in order to reach 

 the summit of the defile ; to perform this we were obliged 

 to dismount, and pull our horses up one by one over the 

 broken and crumbling rocks. From the summit of the Pass 

 we looked down into a long valley studded here and there 

 with paltry villages, and bounded in the distance by lofty 

 mountains. The name of this valley was Kakraez. The 

 soil consisted as usual of clay and calcareous sands, scantily 

 watered through the central line, which showed signs of 

 partial cultivation around a cluster of huts or a village, while 

 all beyond was a barren stony desert, rising gradually to- 

 wards the base of the distant mountains. The higher 

 ranges are composed of granite, based generally upon vol- 

 canic rocks ; limestone is also abundant, and has evidently 

 undergone a change from its vicinity to the trap, being 

 usually of a pure white with a foliated structure and highly 

 crystalline. Quartz-rock also occurs, containing ores of yel- 

 low copper and magnetic iron, which are said to be rich, 

 although neither are now worked, (1840). A curious mine- 

 ral is likewise procured from Shah-muksood, the virtuous 

 properties of which are much vaunted by the AfFghans. It 



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