1866.] the Western Himalaya and Afghan Mountains. 121 



Fio\ 4. crystals disappear and are replaced 

 © o- •••■» • „"^ * .-» o -' by amygdala filled with, quartz 

 ^ ^fj. ^ -^ sf ^ * .* ^ ^ (fig- 4.) Other beds again of compact 

 </*-'*"- *"* :*, < trachyte show neither starry crystals 

 nor amygdala in their centres, but 

 have their deepest layers invaded by 

 large amygdala, and their upper- 

 most portion full of small geodes, 

 „ . . having besides a scoriaceous aspect 

 - (fig. 5). 

 Fi 8- 5. I n t i ie middle of this bed of Sooli- 

 manite, some of the cylindrical tubes of quartz described before as 

 gas-vents are well developed, branching in all directions through the 

 rock.— Dip E. 70° about 30 feet. 



12. Slate of various colours, laminated and very false-bedded, often squeezed 

 and twisted. It has been folded, the lower part being nearly vertical with a dip 

 westerly, whilst the upper part dips east 65°. The centre of the fold is much 

 contorted and gathered in zig-zags, and in these contorted parts a great nfany 

 gas- vents (branching cylinders of quartz) are well seen ; some as large as the 

 finger, others of the usual size, viz. a crow's quill 200 ft. 



13. A band of Soolimanite like 11. The slate of No. 12, has evidently 

 been metamorphosed by the action of heat emitted by the band of Soolimanite 

 which covers it. There must have been a considerable period of inaction 

 between the two out-pours of Soolimanite to enable the slate to become collect- 

 ed, and it is evident that the slate was yet in the state of a silty mud at 

 the time of the second eruption and was set bubbling by the heat of the 

 Soolimanite. 



I may here remark that I am satisfied that many of the layers 

 of laterite, cellular slate and ash, which we shall see in this 

 section, are nothing but true sedimentary deposits metamorphosed 

 and rendered amygdaloidal by the bubbling or boiling of the 

 waters which covered them. I had thought at one time, to try and 

 distinguish the beds of ash and volcanic mud which were probably 

 formed as I have just explained ; but I found the work too uncertain 

 and requiring too much time to be worth prosecuting. But no doubt 

 can be entertained that, besides the slate and laterite, many of the 

 beds of the mountains of Kashmir which appear to be volcanic ash 

 or dust, are in reality metamorphosed sedimentary layers. 



