1867.] the Western Himalaya and Afghan Mountains. 39 



whole bottom of the valley is uneven and its southern portion is 

 formed by beds of limestone in which both Captain Austen and Mr. 

 Marcadieu found carboniferous fossils (No. 1.) At the foot of the 

 Pang-po-la the carboniferous becomes covered by a muddy sandstone 

 (No. 2) which is, however, not seen in situ on the northern slope of 



fan c po loo mba 



(valley) 



Section across the Pang-po-loomba (valley) and Pang'-po-la (pass) in Kaksku 

 from a sketch by Captain Godwin Austen (approximate). 



the Pang Po, but of which numerous debris fill the ravines. Above 

 this sandstone is found Jurassic limestone (No. 3), all the way to 

 the top of the pass, full of Belenmites, Ammonites, Rhynchonelhe 

 and Terebratulse. One of the Rhynchonelhe collected there by Captain 

 Austen appears identical with a form very common in the middle 

 Oolite of Sheikh Bodeen in the Punjab. 



Having crossed the top of the pass and descending towards the 

 Tsa Rup (river), the same bed of muddy sandstone (apparently) 

 again crops out. It is there interbedded with thin beds of impure 

 limestone, and in these beds were discovered a great many Belenmites 

 in fine state of preservation. Mr. R. A. C. Austen, to whom the 

 fossils of these parts were forwarded, pronounced some of them to be 

 Liassic, but I do not know whether these liassic forms came from 

 the muddy sandstone bed or from beds inferior to it. 



On the other side of the valley of the Tsa Rup, some beds of lime- 

 stone, much folded and bent, again appear, but they showed no 

 fossils and their age is therefore unknown ; they rest against beds of 

 slate much up-tilted and apparently unconformable to the limestone. 

 At the back of the slate is the great mass of the Ser and Mer 

 chain, attaining immense height and crossed by passes above 16,500 

 feet high. 



75. The Tso Moreri is the largest of many salt lakes which form 

 one of the features of Rukshu. It is 14 miles long and more than 

 15,000 feet above the sea. Its water is very salt and bitter, though 

 Mr. Marcadieu affirms that it contains only one part of saline matter 



