1866.] the Western Himalaya and Afghan Mountains. 177 



Orthidee, etc. It is much fractured and fissured, and is evidently but the rem- 

 nant of larger beds removed by denudation. It dips S. S. W. 50° and it is 



about,... 25 ft. 



Any further beds which may exist are covered by the lacustrine deposit, 

 which is here 150 feet above the level of the Jheelum. 



The Sheri Bal is a small mountain close to the Kamlawan, 

 to which it is united by a connecting ridge. It is entirely composed 

 of the same semi-columnar trachy-dolerite which forms the bulk of 

 the Kamlawan. The compact, smooth, grey, laterite or baked clay- 

 stone, described in the section as No. 2 and 4, is seen extending on the 

 flank of the hill, both to the west and to the east. It forms a conspicu- 

 ous belt along the side of the Sheri Bal, appearing, from the high 

 angle of its dip, to rest against the trachy-dolerite. Some of the 

 volcanic and azoic rocks, described in the section of the Kamlawan 

 as superior to the laterite, were seen on the slopes of the Sheri Bal, 

 but no limestone was observed, it having probably been denuded. 



43. Crossing the valley of the Lidar River, we find the next 

 mountains to be the Hapatikri and Saijnarh group. The whole of 

 this system of hills appears to be composed of limestone. It is 

 continued to the S. W. by a low ridge, which is mostly buried under 

 lacustrine deposits, but rises above these at Islamabad, forming 

 a small hill at the foot of which the town is built. 



The following section (fig. 8) will, I hope, give a good idea of the 

 rocks composing these hills. The section is above the celebrated Tank 

 of Mutton, near which locality the lacustrine deposit is about 120 feet 

 thick. Above the lacustrine we find : 



1. A limestone, coarse arenaceous and apparently much metamorphosed. 

 It contains hardly any trace of fossils, excepting very crystalline rounded 

 bodies which are altered stems of crinoids. The rock is divided into sub-beds 

 by shaly or clayey partings, which are very false-bedded and very hard. Only 

 a few feet of this rock appear above the lacustrine. 



2. Limestone, jointed and cleaved ; but hard specimens have a remarkably 

 compact, smooth appearance, like hornstone. 



These 2 beds dip E. N. E. 20°. 



3. The bed No. 2 becomes gradually bluer and more argillaceous and less 

 cleaved ; towards the top of the bed it is the patchy blue and brownish rock 

 which we have seen before repeatedly. It contains traces of fossils, but no 

 shells sufficiently well preserved to be recognized. It has an enormous thick- 



