MANDALAY-LASHIO RAILWAY TRAVERSE. 



311 



mentioned above. Just two miles short of Kyaukme station it 

 cuts through the very end of this dome, and in a cutting here are 

 exposed the richly fossiliferous marls of Konghsa (Loo. 55, E 2), 

 which have yielded good specimens of Encrinurus IvngJisaensts 

 Reed, Orthis bifowta Schloth., Fenestella sp., etc. The rock ex- 

 posed in the cutting is exceedingly friable, and it is by no means 

 easy to preserve the specimens ; but it may be harder further in, 

 and it might be worth while to make a deeper excavation at this 

 spot. From Kyaukme the fossiliferous locality of Manaw (Loc. 52, E 

 2), which lies about 7 miles to the north, at the crest of a scarp of 

 Namhsim sandstone overlooking the Namhsim, may also be visited ; 

 but the band in which Orthis biloba occurs in such profusion is 

 rather difficult to find, as it is only six inches or so in thickness. 



Eastwards from Kyaukme the line runs for several miles over 

 a level plateau. About half-way between 



Kyaukme to Namhsim. t . , T , , . , , , , 



the station and Loihkaw some highly contorted 

 carbonaceous shaly beds are exposed in a trench beside the line, 

 in which specimens of a minute Estheria and fragments of plants 

 may be obtained (Loc. 31, E 2) 'Fig. 6, p. 255). Beyond Loihkaw 

 the line begins to descend towards the Namhsim crossing, and 

 on first sighting the river winds round the end of a lofty prom- 

 ontory of limestone covered with a thick deposit of travertine., 

 through which the railway is carried in a deep cutting. The 

 cavernous nature of the deposit is well seen here (Plate 21). At 

 the eastern end of this cutting Napeng beds appear from beneath 

 the travertine, dipping north towards the river, and outcrops are 

 seen at intervals in the trenches beside the line for a distance of 

 about a quarter of a mile. 



This is the Hson-oi locality (Loc. 13, E 2). The beds are 

 gg . ]g more calcareous than at Napeng, and ar» 



highly fossiliferous in places. Specimens of 

 Burmesia Urata, Protocardia contusa, and the little gastropod 

 Promathilda exilis, all described and figured by Miss Healey, are 

 the most common forms. In a deep ' borrow pit ' between the 

 railway and the cart-road large masses of the blue limestone at the 

 base of the shales may be seen, with corals, Lophosmilia precursor 

 and Isastrcea confracta, visible on the weathered surface. Masses 

 of these limestones also occur on the slopes between the line and 

 the river below. 



