186 Mr. Verchere on the Geology of Kashmir, [No. 3, 



The rocks which overhang the well-known Arckbal Garden, near 

 the western foot of the hill, are a rough grey limestone similar to 

 the grey coarse limestone seen on the Islamabad hill, (see No. 27 

 of the section of that hill), full of sand and other impurities. It 

 dips W. by S. 52°. There appear to be beds of shales between 

 the limestone courses, and these shales by their decomposition 

 furnish the fertile soil on which grow the fine forests of those 

 hills. 



The foot of the Arckbal hill is therefore Weean limestone and 

 shales. 



I then proceeded to the small village of Kothair, on the eastern 

 side of the Arckbal hill, in a small valley situated between it 

 and Karpur. The rock of the spur of Arckbal, which extends to- 

 wards Pahaloo, is a whitish or greyish limestone with very few fossils, 

 and interbedded with beds of calcareous slate, apparently belonging 

 also to the Weean group. 



From Kothair, the path to the mines, crosses a couple of small 

 spurs which have a direction S. to N. until we arrive at the ridge 

 which unites Dhar and Tippoo and has a direction W. N. W. — E. S. E. 

 The spurs above mentioned are composed of marly limestone, 

 either lustreless and velvety pale blue or dark blue, weathering frosted. 

 The beds are very badly seen, on account of the ^ vegetation and 

 humus. Where the limestone crops out, it seems to be dipping 

 S. E. or E. S. E. with a very variable but considerable angle. The 

 beds of limestone appear to be separated one from the other by 

 thick beds of shales and slate. The limestone has exactly the appear- 

 ance of that seen a little higher up, and which we shall see contains 

 fossils characteristic of the Kothair bed ; but I failed, however, to find, 

 organisms in the present beds. 



48. The iron-ore is obtained from the sides of the main ridge 

 between Dhar and Tippoo. The ridge presents many beds of very 

 argillaceous limestone of a lustreless bright blue colour, dipping S. S'. W.. 

 with an angle of 45°. This limestone is remarkable for the large 

 number of gasteropods it contains ; it is also rich in corals, especially 

 of the Cyathophyllidce, but the fossils appear generally as sections 

 or outlines on the surface of the rock, and I could not obtain any of 

 them whole. 



