PART 2.] IVi/une : A geolocjical reconnomancefrom the Lulus. Ill 
Immediately across the Kurram, on the Afghan side opposite to Thai, is 
the very rugged hill of Bakkai’kanch (flint-stone), entirely different in appearance 
from any of the neighbouring ones. It is chiefly formed of masses of hardened 
and altered brecciated beds, some being altered limestone or a silicious rock full 
of angular fragments of hornstone or flint,^ usually mottled or banded with 
reddish or dark pm’ple and gray tints. Others enclose also angular fragments 
of white earthy limestone, as if the whole had once formed flaggy beds ; but the 
fragments now lie at all angles in the rock. Between these beds are purple, 
flaggy and gray or greenish shaly bands of Subathu aspect, layers of a ferrugin¬ 
ous red latcritic rock, and some of very hard thin-bedded limestone without 
fossils. The beds are broken into disconnected masse.s, and the cause of their 
alteration is not far to seek, for everywhere through the hill are numerous in¬ 
trusions of hard, dark or decomposed, variously coarse, ciystalline, syenitic and 
compact trap, weathering down so as to be less prominent than the silicious 
altered rocks. Looking from one of the summits towards the westward, a large 
space among lower hills was seen to bo occupied by cores of the dark crystalline 
trap, the chief sources of which may be in this direction. 
Besides the dark solid traps there are also what seem to be masses of a*gglo- 
merate of trappean fragments, and fine-grained tufaceous traps, alternating in 
beds or layers. It was not found possible to recognise such an association of 
these lava-like rocks with the altered ones as would establish contemporaniety; but 
the entire assemblage has the mixed appearance one would expect to find near 
the core of a denuded volcanic vent. 
Just beneath and in the under surface of one of the brecciated bands near 
the top of the ridge, old excavations were shown, made along the outcrop in 
order to extract a dark, gray and black heavy mineral which soils the fingers and 
marks paper. It occurs in but small quantity and seems to be a mixture of 
graphite with something else disseminated in the breccia; it is used by the 
natives as “kohl, ” and they call it of course surma^. (I have not yet had time 
to examine it closely). 
This is the first instance in which I have met with igneous rocks among 
any of the mesozoic or tertiary groups of the Punjab. The locality is fairly 
wthin the region of the Subathu beds, and those trapps may be but an outlying 
portion of a larger igneous area to the westward towards Khost,* in which direction, 
as well as up the course of the Kurram as far as can be seen, the mountains present 
a softness of outline and a generally bare or witherod-grass-covered aspect, en¬ 
tirely unlike that of the hills around on any other side. 
Chaperoned by a couple of tamo ai'med Waziris, in addition to the guai'd, 
1 visited the scarped outcrop of their hills south of Thai. On the way thithei’, 
a low ridge between the Singroba and Shakkalli streams was found to consist 
* Mucli used by the Yagi tribe.? for gun flints. 
2 This is perbajis the mineral mentioiiLd as antimony occurring at Punjali-i'-Shah Kurram 
river, by Agha Abbas, in Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. XU, p. 595. 
^ I have seen specimens of asbestus from two miles west of Segai Kangah Khost, where 
it is so plentiful the pcoiilc are said to make it into ropes ; the locality is stated to be two long 
day.?’ journey from Thai into Afghanistan. 
