PART 1 .] 
Annual JR^iml for 1878. 
11 
great mass of the slate series establishes for this area original conditions of uncon¬ 
formity with the central gneiss, like those already exhibited in the Simla region. 
The position of this overlap, against the transverse gneissic mass of Purguil, 
shows, moreover, that this barrier between the Zanskiir and Hundes basins is of 
very old standing, though it may not always (since paltnozoic times) have been 
so pirominent as now. 
Another important observation of Colonel McMahon’s is his reaffirmation of 
Stoliezka’s original identification of the Krol limestone with the Lilang limestone 
of Spiti. This decided opinion, based upon immediate comparisons of the sectiotis- 
in those adjoining regions, although sepai’ated by the great gneissic axis, 
cannot be set aside; it is at least as valid as the very broken chain of evidence 
upon which a different correlation was provisionally adopted in the Manual 
(pp. 595-6). The intimate connexion of the triassic and carboniferous series, 
as urged by Mr. Lydekkcr, will, in the absence of fossils, make the close decision 
of this question a matter of greater difficulty. 
Mr. Theobald made large additions during last season to our collections of the 
Siwalik fauna, the results of which are duly recorded, up to date, in Mr. Lydekker’s 
papers in the Records and the Palteontologia Indica. Mr. Theobald is now 
engaged upon the tertiary zone east of the Ganges in Rohilkhand, at the base of 
the Himalayas of Garhwal and Kumaun. 
Mr. Mallet was deputed in December to report upon some coal seams in Ramri 
Island, reported by the Commissioner of Akyab. Mr. Mallet could not form a 
favourable opinion of the practical value of these measures; the coal is inferior to 
that of Bengal, and the measures are greatly disturbed, and would be very difficult 
to work. Specimens of a very different coal, a bright jetty lignite, were forwarded 
by the Commissioner from the Baranga Islands. The site of this coal has not 
yet been discovered; but the fact that the piece sent is distinctly a piece of 
carbonized wood, suggests the probability that it occurs in isolated logs, and not 
as a continuous seam. The petroleum of this region seems, so far, to offer more 
favourable prospects than the coal. 
My own time was fully engaged throughout the greater part of the year in 
directing the work of the Survey, and in editing the publications, including the 
Manual. Without a fully qualified Assistant permanently at head-quarters to 
relieve me of some of these very important and responsible duties, it is most diffi¬ 
cult for me to undertake effectively the more congenial occupation of examining 
crucial questions in the field. The cumbersome arrangements for camp life, and 
the slowness of moving about in this way, prevent any compensating results being 
obtained within much less time than a full season in the field. At the same 
time I feel that my long experience in field work is not used for the best advant¬ 
age of the Survey unless as partially applied in that way. 
In February I made a short trip to the North-West Provinces, to serve on 
the Committee appointed for investigating into the causes of deterioration of 
land by reh in the Aligarh district. I had many years ago made some partial 
observations on this subject; and I have been again strongly impressed with tbe 
