8 
« *My last letter was, I think, dated Kotgurh the 11th Jane. I was then already on my 
“ journey, and only returned a few days ago to Simla. My colleague, Mr. E. R. Mallet, 
“ remained with me the whole time of our expedition, and begins in a few days his survey 
“ i n Central India towards Bombay. We left Simla on the 8th June, and our journey went 
“ beyond Spiti towards Rupshu and up to Haole on the Indus. I regret that it was im- 
“ possible for us to return to Spiti from Hanle by the Chinese Province of Tshu-Tshu. We 
“ ourselves encountered no difficulty, but the inhabitants declared war upon the followers 
“ who accompanied us, and we received orders from the G-overnment to avoid all contact. 
“ We returned back again through the northern portion of Spiti, and from thence by the 
“ English provinces of Eahul and Kulu to Simla. All the time we enjoyed splendid health, 
“ and as v r e were 18,000 feet above the sea, on the Eanak pass, near the Indus valley, it was 
“ not exactly agreeable in our tent ; the temperature being 18 degrees of Eahrenheit. But 
“ the prospect towards Eastern Tibet and the northern hills was magnificent. We crossed, 
“ however, a still higher pass, the Parang-la, about 19,000 feet high, but were nearly over- 
“ wdielmed by a fall of snow T . 
“ As for what concerns the geological portion of our expedition, I can call it a success. 
“ It is not in the least degree below my expectation. In Spiti, where heretofore only two 
“ formations were known, there are nine clearly established, all, with the exception of the 
“ uppermost, petrographically distinguishable layers, with very characteristic fossils. A 
“ brief sketch is this. Before one reaches the Bhabeh pass (in the Central Himalayan chain) 
“ one finds oneself on Silurian ground, and this formation continues to the Kunzum pass, in 
“ the north-western direction towards Lahul. Upon the Silurian strata lies the Carboniferous 
“ formation, with characteristic fossils, and three separate petrographical subdivisions : 
“ conglomerate and siliceous sandstone, earthy calcareous shales, and quartzites. On this 
“ rests a very extensive series of limestones, the lower strata Trias, with Halobia lommeli, 
“ globose Ammonites, Orthoceras, Auloceras, and many Brachiopods. Upon the Trias lies a 
“ bituminous limestone, with extraordinarily large and massive bivalves, somewhat resembling 
“ the Megalodon triqueter. I obtained, after much pains, a whole example, nearly a foot 
“ broad. Undoubtedly, remains of Gasteropoda are extremely rare, as one sometimes finds in 
« the Kossener strata. I scarcely think that this limestone with the bivalves can represent 
“ anything else than the Rhrntic formation with the Haupt-dolomit. 
“ Again, a limestone with Belemnites, Ammonites (very rare) and many Brachiopods. It 
“ was not possible to identify more certainly, by a mere superficial examination, whether 
“ this limestone is Lias, but I scarcely doubt it, as a Gasteropod at the Parang pass, and also 
“ the Brachiopods, closely resemble and are possibly identical with sundry Alpine fossils in 
“ the Hierlatz Beds. 
“ Over these three limestone formations (possibly more will be ascertained by a future and 
“ further survey) lie the argillaceous and slialey beds, with concretions which contain the 
“ known Spiti Cephalopod fauna ; these are our ‘ black shales.’ These strata have a small 
“ thickness, and, like the following formations, a limited extension in Spiti. But the black 
“ shales are followed by yellowish, generally silieious or calcareous sandstones with Avicula 
“ covf. echinata and an Opis. I consider these strata to be equivalent to the upper Jura of 
“ TSaltheim, &e. Upon this a lighter limestone with Nodosaria, Dentalina, Cristellaria, 
“ and fragments of shale, which, I think, can only Avith the utmost difficulty be regarded as 
* Letter to Dr. Haidinger, dated Simla, 3 Oct. 1864. Sitz. der K. K. Akad. Wien, Band L, Abth. I, pp. 379-382. 
