No. 5.— 1849.] GEOLOGY OF CEYLON. 



particles in the form of gravel sinking first, and then the 

 lighter particles held in suspension in the water, were de- 

 posited over the bed of gravel, or, as in some places seen, on 

 layers of various-sized pieces of quartzite and gneiss. The 

 loam is not mixed with gravel ; it is composed of fine sand, 

 just such as the mud of rivers or lakes is composed of. In 

 the lower layers this loam is of a brown colour, but becom- 

 ing darker as it approaches the surface, and after being 

 mixed with the decomposed matter of the grasses which 

 grow on it, the loam becomes nearly of a peaty nature and 

 of a blackish colour. 



In sections along the different roads which traverse the 

 plains, a continuous layer of gravel, from 1 in. to 2 ft. or 

 3 ft. in thickness, is seen lying over the lithomargic 

 hills, and on this gravelly surface the brown or blackish loam 

 is seen of varied thickness, generally from 1 ft. to 3 ft. ; in 

 some places even 5 ft. or 6 ft. of loam is found. In a sec- 

 tion near the Governor's Cottage an interruption appears 

 to have taken place, after about a foot of mud was deposited ; 

 then came over the pure mud masses of gneiss and 

 pebbles, now lying several feet thick, mixed with loam of a 

 brownish colour. Over this mixed deposit is again seen a 

 thin layer of loam such as is found in other parts of the 

 plain, — the whole forming a curious variegated structure. 



The above observations lead me to conclude that the 

 plains of Nuwara Eliya, and perhaps those of higher parts, 

 have once been the channel of a slow winding river or bed of 

 an extensive lake. And it is probable that lower hills, which 

 look like inverted tea cups, were elevated by subsequent 

 upheavals after the waters had deposited the gravel and 

 loam. It is perhaps in this manner only that the almost 

 uniform thickness of the gravel and loam in the valleys and 

 on the tops of the hills can be accounted for. Had the 

 present elevated surface existed while the waters were 



