PAET 3.] 
Ball: On the Origin of the Ktimaun Lakes. 
177 
In the present state .of our knowledge, therefore, no certain conclusion can ho 
drawn from it. But the peculiar character of the basin still remains a subject 
for some speculation, the more particularly so when it is remembered that the 
operations of the present day must tend steadily to obliterate these features by 
the deposition of silt in tho hollows. 
Passing from the lake itself to examine the nature of the barrier at the out¬ 
fall, we find that it is formed of a confused mass of debris, in which some very 
large rock m.asses, some of them ten feet in diameter, occur. Following down 
the bed of the stream, rock in situ is not met with till near the waterfall, or 
at a level which must be considerably below that of the bottom of the lake 
where deepest. I had neither the time nor means for actually ascertaining the 
elevation of the exact point whore rock in situ is first met with in the stream. 
But it is an important jJoint to be determined. The result would, I feel confi¬ 
dent, completely dispose of any belief in the existence of a rock basin. 
Mr. Blanford (L c.), though he does not expressly state his belief that the 
large blocks of stone are erratics, suggests that they may be derived from the 
limestone at the ridge at the head of the valley (Deopathar). He states that 
his “ impression was that the lake was closed by a morraine.” The source of 
these blocks I believe to bo much closer at hand. In great part they have, 
I think, simply tumbled down from tho larpathar ridge and its eastern prolonga¬ 
tion, where not only is similar rock to be seen in situ, but similar detached blocks 
are found on the slopes; one remarkably fine example being seen in the compound 
of Welham house. Others, on the other hand, may have fallen from the ridge 
to the north of the depot, where the already described lenticular masses of lime¬ 
stone occur. The remainder may, I think, have simply been eroded from their 
envelopment of shales at, or very close to, the positions where they are now found. 
Though it is convenient to speak here of these blocks collectively as limestones, 
they vary much in character, and some are highly indurated, but only slightly 
calcareous, mud stones. From these varying characters it may be possible, 
hereafter, to trace their origin individually with considerable accuracy. As to 
the other characters of the debris at the outfall, I in vain searched in it for 
evidence of a glacial origin, and am unable to point to any feature which is in¬ 
consistent with the idea of its having been formed by a landslip. 
Further down the valley, near Joli, some 3,000 feet or so below Naini Tal, 
I observed, when on the road to Ranibagh, that the river has cut through an 
accumulation of boulders and finer debris to a depth of 200 feet or so, which at the 
time seemed to me as possibly of morraine origin. On reading Mr. Campbell’s 
opinion of the same kind of deposit near Kalka, which I have also seen, I 
fear it would require stronger facts than I am in possession of to prove it other 
than diluvial. I merely mention it here in order to draw attention to the fact 
of its existence, with a view to its future examination. 
Bhim^ Tal. —This lake is situated about 6 miles, in a direct line, to the east- 
south-east of Naini Tal. Its elevation is about 4,500 feet above the sea, or 
1,900 feet lower than Naini Tal. It lies at the bottom of a valley between two 
ranges, which strike from north-west to south-east. The northern one is largely 
So oalltjti after Bliim, Sliib or Maliadeo, to whom there is a temple. 
C 
