KHiNGIL SERIES. 



21 



To the north and west of Kabul metamorphism has affected the 

 rocks for considerable distances, even as far as the summits of the 

 Hindu Kush in the one direction and up to the Helmand in the other. 

 As we pass outwards from Kabul, however, it becomes gradually less 

 intense and more local. In the upper reaches of the Kabul river, the 

 schists of Masai are replaced by slate and phyllite, but crystalline lime- 

 stone is still common, and the small amount of marble that has been 

 used for ornamental purposes in Kabul, as iu the construction of the 

 mosque in the Bagh-i-Babar, is said to have come from Maidan 

 (18, 345). 



Khingil Series. 



Before leaving the Kabul area, it will be as well to refer to the only 

 extensive series of fossiliferous rocks found in that part of Afghanistan. 

 It has already been pointed out that the high range between Butkhak 

 aud Khurd Kabul consists of Upper Palaeozoic and Mesozoic limestones 

 overlying the crystalline schists. A careful examination of these lime- 

 stones would certainly yield valuable results. Unfortunately I was 

 unable to attempt this, as I could only devote a single day to the hill 

 range. The highest point is 11,143 feet above sea level, over 5,000 feet 

 above Butkhak and a little less above Khurd Kabul. I climbed over 

 the ridge from the Khurd Kabul side a short way below the summit, 

 but was so delayed by detours round inaccessible cliffs that it was late 

 in the day before I reached the ridge and I could only devote a very 

 short time to searching for fossils during the difficult descent on the 

 other side. On the north-western side, however, I found limestones and 

 interbedded shale, with badly preserved ammonites and lamellibranchs, 

 which appear to include Meekoceras sp., Ophiceras sp. and Pscudomono- 

 tis sp. Specific determination is out of the question and even the 

 genera are doubtful, but the general appearance of the rocks and fossils 

 is so exactly characteristic of the Lower Trias of the Himalaya that 

 anyone familiar with that stage could not fail to be struck by the 

 resemblance. 



