In the HIMALA.YA. §gi 



That thesehills contain abundance of this matter is evident, and althoufrh 

 in my visits to a number of the Ghats or passes, I have only discovered three 

 deposits, viz. one a,iSilam, and two in the Kalawala Pass, eastward of the Jumna 

 river, of which I hereafter make mention, I find so little difference in the 

 rock, which constitutes the formation, and so much of the blue, red, and 

 purplish clays and shales throughout the whole line, that a search more strict 

 than my time or duties will allow, would, I am convinced, enable me to 

 place these carboniferous strata amongst the general formations of the lower 

 ranges. 



Without entering into a detailed Geological Survey, it may be necessary, 

 in elucidation of the present subject, to state, that these hills consist entirely 

 of clays, sand-stones, and diluvial beds of various thickness, alternating one 

 with the other without any appearance of regularity, inclining to the horizon 

 at an angle of from 20 to 35" N. E. The sand-stone, more or less micaceous, 

 occasionally abounding in white mica to such a degree as to modify the 

 appearance of the rock, and as frequently bearing in its composition minute 

 specks of black mica alone, varies from extreme pliablity, to a compact- 

 ness, which, together with its slaty character, adapts it to use in build- 

 ings. It alternates, as I before remarked, with clays of various colours, 

 and of various consistency, and also contains imbedded nodules of these 

 clays from the size of a pea to a foot in diameter. The color, indeed, of 

 the sand-stone, appears to be in a rneasure dependant on that of its adjoining 

 stratum of clay, which frequently gives a consistency of extreme toughness 

 when in connection, terminated by a conglomerate of clay, sand-stone, and 

 frequently carbonate of lime, entangled in a confused mass. This conglome- 

 rate appears to be a leading feature throughout, appearing in distinct strata 

 of variable thickness, and from the adhesive qualities imparted by the clay, in 

 projecting points and abutments to the stream, where the sand-stone, unable 

 to withstand the continued attrition, has been removed entirely. 



4 c 



