1867.] the Western Himalaya and Afghan Mountains. 45 



discoverer of the bed found there a few fragments of fossils which 

 he regarded as Palaeozoic, though different from any of the carboni- 

 ferous forms which we found together in Kashmir. There is there- 

 fore presumption that this bed is Silurian, though of course it is 

 merely a presumption. I have also assumed that a bed of limestone, 

 seen to the South of Skardo, between that town and the Deosai 

 (plain), is Silurian. We shall see the bed discovered at the Masha- 

 broom, when we describe the Karakoram Chain. 



From Skardo towards the S. E., the Kilas Chain appears to be 

 nothing but a great granitic wall, along the foot of which runs the 

 Indus. Near Lc in Ladak the range is crossed by the Digor La 

 (pass), the road going through a succession of granitic rocks. 



78. Between the Kilas and Karakoram Chains, we find the 

 rugged district of northern Baltistan, the valleys of Saltoro, Nubra 

 Sluiyokh and the Chinese province of Rodok. In the country of 

 the Baltis, the Kilas and Korakoram Chains approach each other 

 to within about 45 miles, as the crow flies, from range to range ; 

 whilst on the contrary the chains diverge as we proceed towards 

 the S. E., the Korakoram chain having apparently a less south- 

 ward direction that the other parallels of the Himalaya. In northern 

 Baltistan, consequently, we find the country covered with mountains, 

 cut with deep narrow valleys and mantled with immense glaciers ;* 

 in Radok on the contrary high plateaux are abundant, and form to 

 ; the north of the Pang Chong Tso (lake) and Pang Chong La (pass) 

 ; considerable plains, 14,000 to 15,000 feet above the sea, arid and rain- 

 less, often not presenting a shrub for several marches ; high deserts 

 on which roam a thin population of nomade Turkomans who graze 

 shawl-wool goats on the scarce and far-between Aghil or grassy 

 vales of these inhospitable regions. 



There is no doubt that these high plateaux are similar in origin, 

 age, and appearance to the great Thibet plateau through which runs 

 the Sutlej, to the north of the Niti pass, and described by Colonel 

 R. Strachey ; and also to the Chang Tang and Rong plateaux of 

 Ladak. All these high plateaux present a horizontal stratification ; 



* " On the Glaciers of the Mustakh Range," by Captain H. G. Austen, 

 F. R. G. S., &c., read before the Royal Geographical Society, London, on the 

 Llth January, 1864. 



